The Mets are coming off of a terrible road trip in Miami and hope to turn things around in New York. In the last four games the Mets have scored four runs, and have lost the last three. Yesterday the Mets fell apart in the bottom of the ninth, a game that was 0-0 going into that frame. Things are bleak and last weekend’s comeback against the Yankees feels like a century ago.
The only thing that fixes this is winning games. For the Mets that means scoring runs. It’s a dreary Memorial Day in Queens, but maybe the Mets bats can provide some sunshine.
Nolan McLean looks to bounce back from his last start where he allowed nine runs, six earned over 5 2/3 innings against the Nationals. It was a weird game and felt more fluky than anything else. Overall this season McLean has made 10 starts totaling 58 innings with a 3.57 ERA, 3.19 FIP, 1.034 WHIP and a 111 ERA+. This will be McLean’s first start against the Reds and the only hitter on the Reds who has faced McLean is Eugenio Suarez (0-for-2, K).
Nick Lodolo has only made three starts this season, totaling 15 innings with a 7.20 ERA, 7.48 FIP, 1.533 WHIP and a 61 ERA+. Lodolo has been sidelined with a reoccurring blister issue that started late in spring training and happened again the first week of April. He’s coming off of his best start of the season where he allowed three runs from three hits and five walks over 5 2/3 innings. He is just not the same pitcher right now that he was last season (3.33 ERA, 136 ERA+). The Mets have the following career stats against him:
- Vidal Bruján 0-3, BB, K
- Marcus Semien 1-3, 2 K
- Juan Soto 1-3, HR, K
- Tyrone Taylor 2-9, HR, 3 K
- Luis Torrens 1-2
- Mark Vientos 0-3, K
Three Things To Watch For:
- Hits with RISP. The Mets struggled across the board in almost every offensive category this past weekend. Yesterday they managed to get five hits and work five walks, an improvement from the back-to-back games where they only had three hits in each game. They even got runners in scoring position yesterday but then went 0-for-8 with RISP and stranded 10 runners. Fully demoralizing. There were some positive signs like Ewing getting his third stolen base and Benge getting his ninth. The Mets have to get runners home this afternoon.
- Marcus Semien. The Mets have to get Marcus Semien going at the plate. He’s hitting .214/.263/.297 with a 61 OPS+. His OPS+ has never been this low before and his .560 OPS is by far the lowest in his career (.750 career OPS). In Miami Semien went 0-for-10. In the eight games before that he was starting to put things together going 8-for-31 with a double, two walks and a home run.
- Contain Sal Stewart. Sal Stewart is off to a terrific start this season slashing .256/.352/.487 over 52 games this season with a 130 OPS+. He is a power (12 HR) and speed (10 SB) threat. He has .970 OPS in games the Reds win and a .702 OPS in games they lose.
Let’s Go Mets!
