June has been a month of déjà vu. For the third week in a row the Mets have lost the first two games of a series. Seattle. St. Louis. Now Cincinnati. The Mets were able to salvage the series in Seattle and at home against the Cardinals. Then the Mets would go on to win the weekend series 2-1, dropping the middle game.
In order to keep the pattern going, and to have a shot at ending the week at .500, the Mets need to win today behind Nolan McLean. Let’s go!
Nolan McLean has made 14 starts this season totaling 76 1/3 innings with a 4.01 ERA, 3.68 FIP, 1.140 WHIP and a 102 ERA+. He’s coming off of a short start where he was pulled after allowing two runs over four innings due to four walks. He struck out six batters, which was the most he has done in a few starts. For the most part he’s starting to hit a stride again allowing a total of four runs over his last 15 innings. McLean will also be looking for revenge as one of his worst starts of the season was against the Reds where he allowed seven runs over 3 1/3 innings from five hits and two walks. The Reds have the following career numbers against McLean:
- JJ Bleday 1-2, HR, K
- Blake Dunn 0-2, K
- Nathaniel Lowe 1-1, 2B, BB
- Matt McLain 0-2
- Spencer Steer 1-2
- Tyler Stephenson 1-2, HR, K
- Sal Stewart 0-1, K
- Eugenio Suarez 1-3, BB, K
Nick Lodolo has made seven starts totaling 38 innings this season with a 5.21 ERA, 6.07 FIP, 1.447 WHIP and an 84 ERA+. He’s coming off of a better start against the Diamondbacks where he held them to two runs over 5 1/3 innings. In the two starts before that he allowed seven runs over 11 2/3 innings from 15 hits. One of his best starts of the year was against the Mets where he held the Mets to one run over six innings while striking out seven. The Mets have the following career stats against Lodolo:
- Brett Baty 0-2
- Carson Benge 1-1
- Bo Bichette 2-3, K
- A.J. Ewing 1-3
- Marcus Semien 3-6, HR, 2 K
- Juan Soto 1-3, HR, K
- Luis Torrens 1-4, K
- Mark Vientos 0-6, 3 K
- Eric Wagaman 2-5, HR
Three Things To Watch For:
- Bo Bichette. We are going to keep saying watch Bo Bichette while he’s on this heater. Bichette now has five consecutive games where he has at least two hits. In his last six games he has gone 12-for-26 with three doubles and three home runs slashing .462/.444/.923. He has taken his OPS from .597 to .664. He’s bWAR is now up to -0.1 and OPS+ is up to 87. This stretch is really helping him return to his normal season stats. Let’s just hope that the Mets don’t waste this stretch.
- Juan Soto. The other half of the Mets offense recently has been Juan Soto. He has a six game streak of getting on base at least two times. In his last six games he has gone 9-for-20 with two doubles, two home runs and six walks (.450/.577/1.427). The Mets offense falls off a cliff behind Soto, so this has translated into four runs scored, two of which are due to Soto’s own home runs.
- Mark Vientos. The Mets need to get Mark Vientos going. Yesterday he went 1-for-2, coming in as a pinch hitter, with a two-run home run. He now has a three game hitting streak, but only one start in that stretch. If the Mets are going to dig out of this hole, they need Mark Vientos to hit.
Let’s Go Mets!
