Baseball in Queens! Finally!
The tri-state has had an incredibly rainy start of the week and the last two Mets games were postponed and pushed to today. This now creates a new challenge for the Mets who will play 15 games over their next 14 days. The Mets are calling up Jose Buttó to be the 27th man for the second game, which should prevent one of the current Mets starters from pitching on short rest down the road. Further the Mets signed Julio Teherán to a major league contract and Julio will slot into the rotation for an injured Tylor Megill.
The Mets officially are having one of their roughest starts to the season ever after last night’s loss. They are now 0-4, which has happened only four other times (1962, 1963, 1964 and 2005). Monday night the Mets got amazing pitching for the first nine innings of the game but could not turn any of their hits into runs. On the positive side, multiple players had extremely hard-hit lineouts, and at some point that has to start to break for the Mets.
Adrian Houser will make his Mets debut tonight. Over 23 games, 21 starts, last season he tossed 111 1/3 innings with a 4.12 ERA, 3.99 FIP, 1.392 WHIP and a 105 ERA+. According to Baseball Savant, while Houser left a lot to be desired last season in terms of missing bats (xBA 25th percentile, Chase % 20th percentile, Hard-Hit % 5th percentile) he produced a lot of ground balls (73rd percentile). If the defense is strong behind him he can be quite effective. The Tigers have the following career numbers against him:
- Javier Báez 2-10 2B, BB, 2 K
- Mark Canha 0-2, K
- Jack Flaherty 0-2
- Carson Kelly 0-1, K
Casey Mize makes his return to the mound for his first start since Tommy John surgery, which has sidelined the former number 1 overall pick since 2022 (where he made only two starts). In his only full season, 2021, he made 30 starts totaling 150 1/3 innings with a 3.71 ERA, 4.71 FIP, 1.137 WHIP and a 114 ERA+. If the Tigers are going to make a surprise run for the post-season this year, they need Casey Mize to make a triumphant return. A few Mets players have seen Mize in previous games:
- Harrison Bader 0-2
- Francisco Lindor 0-2, BB
- DJ Stewart 1-4, BB, 2 K
- Joey Wendle 1-2
Jose Buttó gets the start for the Mets in the afternoon game today. Buttó had a successful season with the Mets last year, making seven starts over nine games and 42 innings of work. During that time he had a 3.64 ERA, 4.02 FIP, 1.333 WHIP and a 117 ERA+. This includes an outing against the Tigers where he allowed one run over 2 1/3 innings last May. He also had a tremendous spring for the Mets allowing only one run from nine hits over ten innings while striking out nine batters. The Tigers have had limited at bats against Buttó:
- Akil Baddoo 0-1, K
- Andy Ibáñez 0-1
- Javier Báez 0-1
- Matt Vierling 0-3, SB
- Riley Greene 0-1, K
- Spencer Torkelson 1-1
Matt Manning will make his 2024 debut today. He made 15 starts for the Tigers last season tossing 78 innings with a 3.58 ERA, 4.81 FIP, 1.038 WHIP with a 124 ERA+ (career best). His season was interrupted last April when he fractured his foot by taking a comebacker against the Blue Jays. He returned in late June and picked up where he left off. In September he took another comebacker to the same foot, broke it again, and missed the rest of the season. Similar to Buttó, Manning just missed the last spot in the Tigers rotation and is being called up for today’s doubleheader. Casey Mize, the starter in game one, just narrowly beat Manning out for the rotation spot.
Three Things To Watch For:
- The top of the lineup sets the tone. In Monday night’s game the top of the lineup (Nimmo, Lindor, Alonso) went 0-for-11 with two walks. Nimmo and Lindor are off to cold starts this season and Alonso had his first rough game of the season. When the top of the lineup fully turns around, the whole team will follow.
- Reed Garrett: Reed Garrett was recalled before the start of Monday’s game with Tylor Megill landing on the injured list. Over nine games last season Garrett pitched 17 innings with a 5.82 ERA, 4.90 FIP, 1.235 WHIP and a 74 ERA+. In one game this season he pitched two innings for Syracuse allowing a hit and nothing else while striking out four batters. If there is an extended delay in the middle of today’s game or a doubleheader later this week, the Mets are going to need Garrett to eat some innings save the bullpen.
- Roster Management: Today is going to be an early test of Carlos Mendoza’s roster management. The Mets are about to embark on a 15 game, 14 day quest. There has been only one starting pitcher for the Mets, Sean Manaea, who has thrown a pitch in the sixth inning this year. With two days off everyone in the bullpen should be available. Will there be another pitcher outside of Reed Garrett who is asked to step up and toss multiple innings today? How many starting position players play both games today?
Let’s Go Mets!
