The Mets swept the Nationals and have won nine of their last 12 games! Since the All-Star break the Mets have won series against the Guardians and Pirates, who were both going for it at the deadline. The only series they lost was against the first place Braves. Now the Mets welcome the Padres to town, who are also surging, winning eight of their last ten. They now have the second wild card spot in a tightening race.
Nolan McLean has made 24 starts pitching 136 2/3 innings with a 3.42 ERA, 3.56 FIP, 1.134 WHIP and a 119 ERA+. He’s coming off of a strong start against the Braves where he allowed one run on a solo homer over six innings while striking out three. He has a 2.28 ERA, 3.36 FIP in his last eight starts (47 1/3 innings), and that includes a start against the Guardians where he allowed five runs over five innings. He faced the Padres back in June, holding them to one run over six innings. The Padres have the following stats against him:
- Xander Bogaerts 0-1, BB, K
- Freddy Fermin 0-1
- Ty France 0-2, BB
- Manny Machado 0-3, K
- Jackson Merrill 0-3, K
- Gavin Sheets 0-3, K
- Sung-Mun Song 1-1, BB
- Fernando TatÃs Jr. 2-3, K
Walker Buehler has made 24 starts this season totaling 114 1/3 innings with a 4.88 ERA, 4.29 FIP, 1.426 WHIP and an 84 ERA+. He’s been on a roll in his last two starts allowing only two runs over 10 innings from nine hits and three walks while striking out eight. Notably he didn’t allow any home runs in his last two starts despite having a 1.1 HR/9. The Mets have the following career stats against him:
- Francisco Alvarez 0-3, 3 K
- Gabriel Arias 1-3, 2B
- Brett Baty 0-1
- Bo Bichette 2-8, 3 K
- Francisco Lindor 1-4, HR, K
- Cristian Pache 0-2, 2 BB
- Jorge Polanco 2-3, 2B, BB
- Luis Robert Jr. 0-3, 2 K
- Marcus Semien 2-7, BB, K
- Luis Torrens 0-3, K
Three Things To Watch For:
- Luis Torrens. The Mets need to find ways to get Torrens into the lineup while he’s on this heater. Since the trade deadline he has had 22 plate appearances spread over seven games. During this stretch he is slashing .444/.545/1.111 with eight hits and four home runs. Ten of this 30 RBI’s on the season have come in his last seven games!
- Jared Young, hit machine. Young has at least two hits in four of this last six games. During this stretch eh has gone 11-for-25 at the plate with two doubles, a triple and a home run while slashing .440/.423/.720. Similar to Luis Torrens, Young has seven of his 29 RBI’s during this recent stretch.
- Bo Bichette. Bichette finally reached a .700 OPS for the season. Bichette went 3-for-3 yesterday with a triple, pushing his OBP to .313 and SLG to .386. Since the start of July, Bichette has played a lot better slashing .306/.354/.403 with 44 hits over 37 games. It’s been a long journey for Bichette to get back to a .700 OPS. Here’s hoping he continues hitting like he has for the last six weeks for the next six weeks.
Let’s Go Mets!
