213 Miles From Shea

The Mets look to salvage one game of the series this afternoon against the Cardinals. Last night was just an abysmal night for the Mets who were down 7-0 by the time the Knicks game started. Unlike the Knicks, the Mets were not able to dig deep and stage a comeback for the ages. Maybe last night’s Knicks win will inspire the Mets this afternoon.

Christian Scott has pitched 36 innings over eight starts this season with a 2.50 ERA, 3.11 FIP, 1.306 WHIP and a 165 ERA+. In his last three starts he has allowed only one run from 12 hits and six walks over 16 1/3 innings. He’s struck out 16 batters over this stretch. This will be Scott’s first time facing the Cardinals and no one on the Cardinals roster has faced Scott in a major league game.

Hunter Dobbins is getting the start today for the Cardinals. He’s pitched 13 innings over three games this season with a 2.77 ERA, 3.57 FIP, 1.308 WHIP and a 148 ERA+. His major league debut was a traditional start against the Pirates on April 30th and he allowed three runs over 4/3 innings. His last two outings have been in bulk relief allowing only one run over 8 2/3 innings. His last time out he pitched five innings with 78 pitches. The Mets have the following career stats against Dobbins:

• Francisco Alvarez 2-2, 2B
• Brett Baty 0-2
• Juan Soto 0-2
• Mark Vientos 0-2

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Get On Base! The Mets are doing that thing again where the offense just disappears. On Tuesday night the Mets had five hits and no runs. Last night the Mets had only three hits and scored two runs, thanks to Francisco Alvarez. In addition to the Mets getting only three hits, they worked only two walks. The offense over the last couple of days has been so bad that Bo Bichette and Luis Torrens slipped back to a sub-.600 OPS.
2. Bullpen is still rested! On Tuesday night Gerber and Pérez for three innings of relief. Last night Pérez and Pintaro combined for 4 1/3 innings of one run ball after David Peterson struggled in bulk relief. The Mets big relievers (Raley, Weaver, Brazobán, Minter and Williams) all haven’t pitched since last Sunday. Hopefully the Mets put the bats in a position to use the big guns.
3. Juan Soto. The Mets need their superstar today. Soto lit the world on fire at the end of May, going 13-for-35 with seven home runs over 10 games. In June Soto has gone 3-for-30, all singles with four walks (.100/.206/.100).

Let’s Go Mets!

Tuesday night’s game was not the way to start a homestand. The Cardinals beat the Mets 7-0, getting Peralta to allow six runs over six innings while the Mets batters only recorded five hits. Gerber and Pérez were able to combine for three innings of relief, allowing one run, to keep all of the Mets arms fresh.

The Mets need a bounce back win tonight. They need that type of win where they fire on all cylinders.

Austin Warren gets the spot start tonight with Christian Scott sliding back to Thursday’s game. Warren has pitched 22 1/3 innings this season over 16 games with a 2.01 ERA, 3.55 FIP, 1.119 WHIP and a 204 ERA+. Warren had his first rough outing last Saturday allowing a two-run home run during a two-inning relief stint. That ended up being the difference maker as the Mets lost 3-2. On June 1st he opened against the Mariners and allowed no runs and no hits in one inning of work. The Cardinals have the following stats against Austin Warren:

• Alec Burleson 0-1
• Ivan Herrera 1-1
• Lars Nootbaar 0-2
• Pedro Pagés 0-1
• Masyn Winn 0-1

Andre Pallante has made 12 starts totaling 63 2/3 innings this season with a 3.96 ERA, 4.41 FIP, 1.304 WHIP and a 102 ERA+. In his last four starts he has a 2.95 ERA, 3.95 FIP over 21 1/3 innings allowing exactly one earned run in three of those four starts. He opened his 2026 season against the Mets holding them scoreless over five innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against Pallante:

• Francisco Alvarez 2-3, BB
• Brett Baty 1-2
• Carson Benge 0-2
• Bo Bichette 2-8, 2B, BB, K
• MJ Melendez 3-7, 2B, K
• Marcus Semien 1-6, 2 K
• Juan Soto 3-12, 2B, 2 BB, K
• Luis Torrens 0-4, K
• Mark Vientos 2-6, HR, BB
• Eric Wagaman 0-2, K
• Jared Young 1-2, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. David Peterson? David Peterson hasn’t pitched in June yet. His last outing was on May 31st where he held the Marlins to one hit and no runs over four innings of relief. There’s every reason to believe that he’ll be the Mets bulk reliever this afternoon. Over 13 games this season Peterson has pitched 57 1/3 innings with a 5.18 ERA, 3.01 FIP, 1.587 WHIP with a 79 ERA+.
2. A.J. Ewing. Ewing was the only player with a really solid night at the plate last night going 2-for-4 with a double. Ewing now has a six game hitting streak where he has gone 9-for-22 with two doubles, three stolen bases and three runs scored (.409/.440/.500). Ewing also extended his strikeout streak to eight straight games with at least one strikeout. On a positive note, he has struck out exactly once in each of his last six games (he had five strikeouts in two games to start this dubious streak).
3. Mark Vientos. Vientos went 0-for-1 in his pinch hit last night. On the season Vientos is hitting .212/.246/.368 with a 72 OPS+ and a -0.9 bWAR. He is hitless in July going 0-for-11 over five games with six strikeouts. Since May 21st he is hitting .128/.146/.213. Vientos is now struggling to find playing time between the emergence of Jared Young, and Juan Soto / MJ Melendez doing more of the DH’ing. Here’s hoping Vientos gets a chance tonight and can sieze it.

Let’s Go Mets!

Do you find yourself struggling to stay awake for late night sporting events? Rejoice! The Mets return to the east coast tonight after their final west coast road trip for the season. If you live in the eastern time zone, first pitch for the rest of the season happens at a reasonable time!

The Mets are coming off of a series win in San Diego where Carson Benge had a historic day going 5-for-5 in the leadoff spot. The Mets are still in last place in the NL East, but they have won seven of their last ten and are only five games out of the last wild card spot. They’ll play a Cardinals team tonight who have won four games in a row and are two games above the last wild card spot. Now is the time for the Mets to collapse the playoff race!

Freddy Peralta has made 13 starts this season totaling 72 innings with a 3.63 ERA, 4.01 FIP, 1.319 WHIP and a 112 ERA+. He ended May allowing eight runs over 11 2/3 innings from 16 hits and three walks. He’s coming off of a strong start in Seattle where he held the Mariners to one run over six innings while striking out six. He held the Cardinals to one run over 5 1/3 innings earlier this season in a game the Mets eventually lost 2-1 in extra-innings. The Cardinals have the following career stats against Peralta:

• Alec Burleson 4-21, 2 2B, 2 BB, 2 K
• Nolan Gorman 3-12, 2B, 4 BB, 2 K
• Ivan Herrera 4-8, BB, 2 K
• Lars Nootbaar 4-19, 3 BB, 8 K
• Pedro Pagés 2=6, 2 HR, 3 K
• Jordan Walker 2-9, 3 K
• JJ Wetherholt 1-3, 2 K
• Masyn Winn 3-17, BB, 3 K

Dustin May has made 12 starts this season totaling 66 2/3 innings with a 4.59 ERA, 3.36 FIP, 1.290 WHIP and an 88 ERA+. May went on a tear in mid-April, putting up a 1.93 ERA, 3.02 FIP over 23 1/3 innings (four starts). Since then he has a 4.00 ERA, 2.97 FIP over 36 innings (six starts). He missed the Mets in early April and the Mets have the following career stats against him:

• Brett Baty 2-5, K
• Marcus Semien 0-3
• Juan Soto 2-11, 2 2B, 4 BB, 2 K
• Luis TOrrens 0-2
• Eric Wagaman 1-2, BB
• Jared Young 0-3, 2 K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Carson Benge. Benge had a career day on Sunday, going 5-for-5 with a home run, a triple and three runs scored. He’s now hitting .265/.325/.408 on the season with a 107 OPS+. Since April 23rd Benge has played in 41 games slashing .318/.371/.497. He’s become a fantastic table setter for the Mets and has the ability to set the tone for the night!
2. A.J. Ewing. Ewing was not on the Mets yet when the Mets went to St. Louis earlier this season. Over 25 games, Ewing already has a 0.8 bWAR, which is just 0.1 behind Carson Benge. He’s slashing .259/.340/.329 with a 92 OPS+. His 11 walks already have him tied for 7th on the team. His seven steals ranks second on the Mets. Ewing currently has a five game hitting streak. The only knock on his game recently has been strikeouts. He has struck out at least once in seven games in a row, totaling 10 K’s.
3. JJ Wetherholt. The Mets aren’t the only team being led by exciting rookies. JJ Wetherholt has been a revelation. He’s slashing .246/.358/.395 with a 116 OPS+ and a 2.7 bWAR. He has stolen seven bases this season without being caught at all and has worked 31 walks. Baseball Savant has him in the 97th percentile for baserunning value and 99th percentile for fielding run value. This is going to be a series with rookies driving the narrative!

Let’s Go Mets!

If the Mets win today, they will have a .500 road trip where they played a surging Mariners team and sinking Padres team (that still had a winning record). The Mets had a shot to win the series yesterday but the Mets bats couldn’t get much going against the Padres who slipped by the Mets with a 3-1 victory. Today the Mets are back on their opener-bulk set up with Brazobán starting the game.

Huascar Brazobán worked the Mets out of a jam Friday night, recording 1 1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts. The Mariners hit him around the last time he opened a game, allowing two runs from three hits and a walk over 1 2/3 innings. Overall this season Brazobán has pitched 32 innings over 27 games with a 2.25 ERA, 3.60 FIP, 1.000 WHIP and a 182 ERA+. The Padres have the following career stats against him:

• Miguel Andujar 0-1
• Xander Bogaerts 0-2, K
• Ty France 0-4, 2 K
• Bryce Johnson 1-2
• Manny Machado 0-1, BB
• Jackson Merrill 0-2
• Gavin Sheets 0-2, K
• Fernando Tatís Jr. 0-1, BB

Randy Vásquez has made 12 starts this season totaling 65 1/3 innings with a 3.31 ERA, 4.33 FIP, 1.224 WHIP and a 123 ERA+. Vásquez ended May with a rough stretch allowing seven runs over 10 innings from 14 hits and four walks. In his last start he allowed two runs over five innings. The Mets knocked him out early last season, tagging him for four runs on four hits including a home run over 2 1/3 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Brett Baty 0-1, K
• Bo Bichette 1-6, 2 K
• MJ Melendez 0-2, K
• Marcus Semien 1-3
• Juan Soto 1-5, HR, K
• Luis Torrens 0-1, K
• Mark Vientos 1-1
• Eric Wagaman 0-3, K

Three Things to Watch For:

1. Sean Manaea. Manaea is lined up for a bulk game this afternoon. In his last outing he allowed only one run from a solo homer over five innings of work while striking out four batters. More importantly, his fastball sat at 91 mph last time out, hitting 92 a few times. Manaea seems to be turning a corner in whatever was keeping his fastball slow in spring training. Over 39 innings and 13 games this season, Manaea has a 5.08 ERA, 3.82 FIP, 1.462 WHIP and an 80 ERA+.
2. The Mets are moving up to “below-average”. For most of the season the Mets offense has been terrible. It’s still pretty bad, but there are signs of improvement. In the last few days Bo Bichette and Marcus Semien have finally crossed over to a .600 OPS. That’s still pretty bad, but an OPS below .600 was just torrid. In Yesterday’s lineup the Mets had only only two batters with an OPS .800 and above. Everyone else was below .600. Next milestone – get a few players to get up to a .700 OPS.
3. A Well-Rested bullpen. With Warren closing out yesterday’s game, Raley, Perez and Gerber haven’t pitched since Wednesday. Devin Williams hasn’t pitched since last Monday. Everyone else hasn’t pitched since Friday. With an off-day tomorrow, the Mets will probably try to get everyone some reps in, especially if Manaea’s bulk performance doesn’t go so well.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets try to stretch their winning streak to three games tonight as they take on the Padres for the second game of the series. Last night the Mets took the lead early and never looked back, beating the Padres 5-0. The Mets did this behind strong starting pitching from Christian Scott, and power hitting from Jared Young and Luis Torrens. The Padres have now lost six games in a row. Keep pouring it on Mets!

Nolan McLean makes his 13th start of the season today. Over 66 1/3 innings McLean has a 4.21 ERA, 3.80 FIP, 1.116 WHIP and a 97 ERA+. McLean had two terrible starts in a row in mid-May, allowing 16 runs, 13 earned over nine innings. His last time out was a step in the right direction allowing one run on two hits over five innings against the Marlins. He did walk five batters and struck out only two, which is very unlike McLean. This is his first start against the Padres and no one on the Padres has faced McLean in a major league game.

The Mets face an old friend tonight, Griffin Canning. Canning made 16 starts for the Mets last year totaling 76 1/3 innings with a 3.77 ERA, 4.04 FIP, 1.376 WHIP and a 109 ERA+. Canning ruptured his Achilles last season with the Mets and returned to the field this May for the Padres. He’s had a rough go of it, pitching 27 2/3 innings over six starts with a 7.16 ERA, 5.60 FIP, 1.554 WHIP and a 57 ERA+. In his last three starts he has allowed exactly three runs in each start (tossing between 5 and 6 2/3 innings), which is better than what was happening before. The Mets have the following career stats against Canning:

• Bo Bichette 1-5, K
• MJ Melendez 3-4, 3B, HR, BB, K
• Marcus Semien 9-30, 2B, 2 HR, BB, 6 K
• Juan Soto 2-3, HR
• Mark Vientos 0-5, 4 K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Bo Bichette. Bichette has had back-to-back good games for the Mets going 6-for-8 with a double and a triple. On Wednesday he went 4-for-4 with four singles, driving in three runs. Last night he drove in one run with two extra-base hits. He’s managed to push him self over the .600 line for OPS. Let’s hope this mini-hot streak continues!
2. We have to keep talking about Jared Young. Young had another big night for the Mets yesterday going 2-for-4 with a home run. It was second two-hit game in a row and his third extra-base hit in four games. Young has a .944 OPS and a 165 OPS+. Juan Soto has a 159 OPS+. Jared Young the x-factor?
3. Marcus Semien. Semien had a rough night going 0-for-4 with a strikeout and one GIDP. His OPS for the season dropped below .600 and he was the only hitter in the Mets lineup yesterday he finished game with an OPS below .600. In his last three games he has gone 0-for-12. In the three games before his hitless streak, Semien went 5-for-9 with a double, two home runs and two walks. He also has solid numbers against Canning. Hopefully he can break out of his slump tonight!

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets avoided the sweep on Wednesday, beating the Mariners after two rough games. Now the Mets head to southern California to take on a recently struggling San Diego Padres team who have gone 1-9 in their last 10 games, dropping to a 32-29 record. The Mets are still in the cellar of the NL East and have gone 5-5 in their last 10. For the Mets, this is a good time to catch the Padres. The Padres are hoping the Mets are their “get right” series.

Christian Scott has pitched 30 1/3 innings over seven starts this season with a 2.97 ERA, 3.10 FIP, 1.385 WHIP and a 137 ERA+. He’s been hitting his stride in his last two starts, both against the Marlins, holding them to one run from nine hits and four walks over 10 2/3 innings. He’s also tossed over nine pitches in his last two starts, the first time this season he’s done it. If he’s effective tonight, maybe he can push through six innings. Scott has never faced the Padres and no one on the Padres has faced Scott in a major league game.

Michael King has made 12 starts (68 innings) this season with a 3.18 ERA, 3.84 FIP, 1.132 WHIP and a 127 ERA+. On May 18th King tossed seven shutout innings against the Dodgers. His season ERA was a 2.31 at that point. Since then King has allowed nine runs from ten hits and five walks over 9 2/3 innings. King had a rough start against the Mets last season allowing eight runs over three innings from 10 hits including four home runs. The Mets have the following career numbers against King:

• Brett Baty 1-3, HR, K
• Bo Bichette 6-21, 2B, 2 BB, 6 K
• Vidal Bruján 0-1, K
• MJ Melendez 2-6, HR
• Marcus Semien 3-9, 2B, 2 BB, 3 K
• Juan Soto 1-2, BB
• Mark Vientos 0-4, BB, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. King and Soto. As long as Michael King stays on the Padres, he and the Mets will be linked because of Juan Soto. King was a key piece in the trade to send Juan Soto to the Yankees. King has flourished in San Diego and Juan Soto is in his second year with the Mets. While Soto’s time with the Padres and Yankees were brief, he will forever be connected to Michael King. If tonight’s game was a national broadcast, we would probably hear about the trade multiple times.
2. Bo Bichette? On May 18th and 19th Bo Bichette hit three home runs and went 5-for-10. Over his next seven games Bichette slashed .250/.250/.250 going 7-for-28, all singles. Over his next six games Bichette went 1-for-20 with four walks. On Wednesday Bichette went 4-for-4. Taken in total, from May 18th through Wednesday, Bichette is slashing .274/.333/.435. He randomly has these spikes of production. It’s just been and incredibly strange season for Bichette.
3. Jared Young. It’s June 5th and Jared Young is second on the Mets in OPS and OPS+ (if you don’t count Eric Wagaman). Young is slashing .295/.373/.500 with a 146 OPS+ this season. Since returning from the injured list, Young has gone 6-for-24 with a double, two home runs and four walks (.899 OPS). The only blemish in his game has been 10 strikeouts.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets will try to escape Seattle with a win. Monday night the Mets looked listless, scoring only two runs and losing in their 12th extra-inning game of the year. Last night the Mets just got outplayed by the Mariners. The vibes were heading in a positive direction, but that momentum is quickly evaporating!

Freddy Peralta will try to play stopper tonight. Over 12 starts and 66 innings, Peralta has a 3.55 ERA, 3.96 FIP, 1.303 WHIP and a 114 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed eight runs, six earned over 11 2/3 innings from 15 hits and three walks. The Mariners have the following career numbers against Peralta:

• Randy Arozarena 0-6, BB, K
• Dominic Canzone 0-2, K
• Luis Castillo 0-4, 3 K
• J.P. Peralta 1-3, BB, K
• Mitch Garver 1-5, 2B, 3 K
• Josh Naylor 2-9, HR, BB, 2 K
• Luke Raley 0-4, 2 K
• Victor Robles 2-4, 2B
• Julio Rodríguez 0-2, 2 K
• Patrick Wisdom 1-8, 2 BB, 4 K

George Kirby has made 12 starts totaling 74 innings with a 3.77 ERA, 3.49 FIP, 1.216 WHIP and a 104 ERA+. He is currently leading the league in hits allowed (73), which is not new for Kirby as he did that in 2024 as well. This is the stretch to play Kirby. In his last three starts he has allowed 15 runs, 14 earned, over 17 innings from 21 hits and three walks. The Mets hit Kirby last season scoring seven runs off 12 hits over 4 2/3 innings and have the following career numbers against him:

• Brett Baty 1-4
• Bo Bichette 2-7, 2B, HR, BB, 2 K
• MJ Melendez 2-9, 2B, 2 K
• Marcus Semien 4-27, 2 2B, HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• Juan Soto 3-4, 2 BB
• Mark Vientos 2-2, HR

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Carson Benge, save us! Benge went 2-for-3 with a walk, a home run, and all 3-RBI’s last night for the Mets. It was the fourth time in the last six games that he reached base at least twice. It was the second time in the last four games that he reached based three times. Benge is fully coming into form over the last month.
2. The free-swinging Mets. On Monday night the Mets struck out 12 times, with A.J. Ewing and MJ Melendez each having two strikeouts. Everyone else in the lineup, including Vientos who was a pinch hitter, had one strikeout. Yesterday the Mets struck out 11 times with Jared Young striking out three times. The only players who didn’t strikeout where MJ Melendez (pinch hitter) and Luis Torrens, who didn’t have an at bat. Not a great trend! The Mets are actually the 11th lowest for strikeouts, so the last two days are a bit of a departure from the norm.
3. Freddy Peralta’s Fastball. Peralta’s fastball is in the 89th percentile in run value. He’s using it about the same amount of last year (slightly more than 50% of the time). Hitters are making contact, they’re aren’t ripping it though. His fastball has a .222 BA, the lowest of his most used pitches but a .248 xBA, which is near the highest for his pitches. The slugging is low, sitting at .317. Batters are hitting his changeup with a .362 SLG and his curveball with a .568 SLG.

Let’s Go Mets!

Stop me if you have heard this one before. The Mets went out to the West Coast without an off-day before travel and left their bats in New York. The pitching was strong and was able to send the Mets into extra-innings before losing. The Mets are going to be extremely happy after this road trip when almost all of their remaining games are in the same time zone.

Hopefully the Mets were able to rest up today, ready to reset the series against the Mariners tonight.

Jonah Tong will be getting the bulk work tonight. He’s pitched two games in the majors this season totaling 6 2/3 innings allowing one unearned run off three hits and five walks while striking out three. Tong was striking out the world in the minors before getting called up, posting a 13.0 K/9 rate. Let’s see if that part of his game comes back tonight. This will be his first time facing the Mariners and no one on the Mariners has faced Tong in a major league game before.

Logan Gilbert has pitched 68 1/3 innings over 12 starts this season with a 3.69 ERA, 3.98 FIP, 1.112 WHIP and a 106 ERA+. In the month of May Gilbert was either terrific, allowing no runs in three starts, or rough to watch, allowing 11 runs in his other two starts. In his last two starts he has allowed no runs on seven hits over 11 2/3 innings while striking out 12 batters. The Mets have the following career numbers against Gilbert:

• Brett Baty 1-3, 2 K
• Bo Bichette 4-18, BB, 6 K
• Vidal Bruján 0-4, K
• MJ Melenedez 0-7, 4 K
• Marcus Semien 5-38, 2 2B, HR, 8 K
• Juan Soto 1-13, 2 BB, 6 K
• Mark Vientos 0-3
• Eric Wagaman 0-1, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Huascar Brazobán: For the fifth time this season Brazobán will open things up for the Mets tonight. Over 25 games pitched, Brazobán has tossed 29 innings with a 1.86 ERA, 3.21 FIP, 0.966 WHIP and a 215 ERA+. In his last outing he struck out the side in his one inning of work. He’s making a strong case to be an All-Star this season.
2. Marcus Semien. The Mets struggled to hit yesterday, but not Marcus Semien! Semien went 1-for-3 with a home run. Over his last three games he has gone 5-for-9 with a double, two walks and two home runs. It feels like Semien has started to turn a corner. Tonight he’s going to face a pitcher who has seen a lot and has struggled a lot against. Hot streak vs career data, who wins?
3. Walks and Strikeouts. The Mets are at their absolute worst when they strikeout and fail to work walks. Last night the Mets had 12 strikeouts and worked zero walks. We’ve seen this multiple times throughout the season where they just don’t look competitive, and then that listless look compounds. We’ll be looking to see if that feeling from yesterday spills over into tonight’s game.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to extend their winning streak to five games tonight as they head to the West Coast – again. Last week the Mets finally had an eastern time zone road trip, for the first time this season. Today they start a road trip to Seattle and then San Diego. We only have to suffer incredibly late games one more time!

The Mets and Mariners are both catching each other on the upswing. The Mariners, who have struggled for a large portion of the season, have won eight of their last ten and six straight. They are two games over .500, have a +30 run differential and are in first place. The Mets are coming off of a sweep of the Marlins and are coming off of a solid month of May. Let’s start this trip strong!

The Mets announced yesterday that today will be a bullpen game, starting with Austin Warren. Warren has pitched 19 1/3 innings over 14 games with a 1.40 ERA, 2.87 FIP, 1.190 WHIP and a 288 ERA+. He has tossed more than inning of relief in eight games and has pitched two innings four times. Warren’s season high is 41 pitches and has thrown 30+ pitches a total of three times. The Mariners have the following career numbers against Warren:

• J.P. Crawford 0-1
• Mitch Garver 0-0, RBI
• Julio Rodríguez 1-1

Emerson Hancock has made 11 starts this season totaling 64 2/3 innings with a 2.78 ERA, 3.57 FIP, 1.005 WHIP and a 140 ERA+. Over his last three starts he has allowed only three runs in 17 innings of work while striking out 13 batters (1.59 ERA, 2.78 FIP). The Mets have the following career numbers against Hancock:

• Bo Bichette 0-2, K
• Vidal Bruján 0-1, BB, K
• MJ Melendez 2-2
• Marcus Semien 0-5, 2 K
• Juan Soto 0-2

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Sean Manaea. Today feels like a Sean Manaea bulk game, although the Mets explicitly said bullpen game after yesterday’s game. Earlier in the week the Mets announced that David Peterson was moving back to the bullpen and Sean Manaea was going to the rotation. I guess we’ll see which reality it is for Manaea tonight. Manaea has pitcher 12 games totaling 34 innings with a 5.56 ERA, 3.66 FIP, 1.618 WHIP and a 72 ERA+. In his last two outings he has allowed two runs over 6 2/3 innings from seven hits and two walks while striking out seven.
2. Juan Soto. Soto continued doing Juan Soto things yesterday, hitting going 2-for-4 with a grand slam, breaking the game open and taking the pressure off of the Mets for the rest of the afternoon. Soto now has a 2.0 bWAR and 13 home runs. He’s now leading the league with a .994 OPS. Over his last 15 games Soto has hit nine home runs slashing .382/.469/.873. Stay hot Soto!
3. Carson Benge. Benge had a huge weekend going 4-for-8 with two doubles, a home run, a walk and three runs scored. On the season Benge is hitting .253/.318/.359 with a 93 OPS+. Benge had a terrible start to the season, slashing .136/.219/.197 through April 22nd. Over the 36 games since then Benge is hitting .311/.368/.439.

Let’s Go Mets!

Last week the Marlins swept the Mets. Now the Mets have the chance to return the favor this afternoon!

All eyes are on Nolan McLean today. The Mets ace has had two rough starts in a row. In both starts he has moments where he has looked fantastic, he’s also had bumps that spiraled into massive innings for opposing batters. McLean still has tremendous stuff and the Mets need the version of McLean that can give the bullpen a day off. It’s a beautiful day in Queens for a McLean comeback game!

Nolan McLean has made 11 starts this season totaling 61 1/3 innings with a 4.40 ERA, 3.58 FIP, 1.092 WHIP and a 90 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed 16 runs, 13 earned over nine innings. His last start was emblematic of his recent struggles. He struck out the side in the first inning before things went off the rails in the next inning. Before those two starts McLean had a 2.92 ERA over nine starts. This will be McLean’s first start against the Marlins and no one on the Marlins roster have faced McLean in an official major league game.

Janson Junk has tossed 60 innings over 11 starts with a 4.80 ERA, 4.06 FIP, 1.300 WHIP and an 83 ERA+ this season. Junk had two rough starts in mid-May allowing a total of 15 runs from 18 hits over 10 2/3 innings. He rebounded in his last start allowing only one run, scattering eight hits over five innings on Monday. The Mets have the following career stats against Junk:

• Bo Bichette 3-4
• Vidal Bruján 0-0, BB
• MJ Melendez 0-3, 2 K
• Juan Soto 1-2
• Jared Young 0-1, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Under the hood. McLean still has a 3.16 xERA (75th percentile) and .216 xBA (77th percentile). His K% is still top tier (29.6%, 92nd percentile). McLean has been hit hard more recently which has seen him drop to around the middle of the league in Barrel% and Hard-hit% but he’s still in 81st percentile for average exit velocity. Pay attention to his pitch selection today. He has used his sinker 36% of the time and his four seamer 18%. His four seamer now has an xBA of .333, quite a bit above the it’s real .242 BA.
2. David Peterson. The Mets announced before Friday’s game that David Peterson was moving back to the bullpen with today being his first available day. Peterson had two successful starts in mid-May allowing three runs off 10 hits over nine innings. His last start was pretty bad allowing six runs off 11 hits and three walks over five innings against the Reds. In 33 1/3 innings as a starter he has a 7.56 ERA. In 20 innings as a reliever he has a 2.25 ERA.
3. OPS Watch. Yesterday we noted that Bo Bichette was getting close again to a .600 OPS with a .592 OPS. He went 0-for-3 with a walk, dropping his OPS down to .588. Semien has also been hitting around the .600 OPS line. Yesterday he went 2-for-4 with a double, raising his OPS to .582. With a good week both hitters could finally cross that .600 line!

Let’s Go Mets!