Saturday afternoon the Mets and Juan Soto surprised everyone. Soto was activated off the injured list four hours before the start of yesterday’s game without a clear signal that was going to happen. Soto put a lot of work in the last week and the Mets determined he was ready to go without any rehab games.
Nolan McLean though stole the show. He pitched seven innings allowing only one unearned run as the Mets went on to win the game 6-2. Now the Mets have an opportunity to win the series against the Astros this afternoon!
Zac Thornton has pitched 56 1/3 innings over 10 starts this season with a 2.88 ERA, 3.85 FIP, 1.154 WHIP and a 142 ERA+. Thornton has allowed between three and four runs in five of his ten starts. In is other five starts he has allowed between zero and one. His last time out he allowed only one run over six innings from seven hits against the Brewers. The Astros have one of the top offenses in the league, hitting 180 home runs already this season (4th in the league), so today will be another good test in Thornton’s development.
The Mets bats will get a look at rookie Ethan Pecko this afternoon. In his first two major league starts he has allowed seven runs from eight hits and seven walks over eight innings. He faced the Yankees in the Bronx earlier in the week who scored five runs and hit two home runs against him. Ethan Pecko is currently listed as the ninth best prospect in the Astros system. He throws a mid-90’s fastball that can be anywhere between 93 and 98. He mixes in a slider, cutter, curveball and changeup to round out his arsenal.
Three Things To Watch For:
- Juan Soto. Juan Soto had a quiet return to the lineup yesterday going 1-for-4 with an RBI. His RBI yesterday was his 750th in his career. He still has a high .941 OPS on the season. If he qualified for the leader board he would be behind Yordan Alvarez (1.044) and Pete Crow-Armstrong (.944), but ahead of James Wood (.928). Soto’s next big milestone is 1000 career walks. He needs 31 before the end of the season which is not impossible but would be difficult to do with a month to go.
- Jared Young. Young cooled off for four games, going 2-for-15 at the plate with a double. Then yesterday he went 3-for-4 with three RBI’s. Since August 5, Jared Young has slashed .338/.350/.532 over 21 games with 26 hits including six doubles, three triples and home run. I have no idea where Jared Young fits on the team next year, but he has shown throughout the season that he gets on base.
- Marcus Semien. Semien has six hits in his last four games. Specifically, he has collected exactly two hits, three times in his last four games. He’s looked a lot better in August slashing .253/.330/.349 over 24 games raising his season line from .210/.266/.351 to .219/.279/.350. Nothing Earth shattering, but a positive regression to his career abilities.
Let’s Go Mets!
