Believe it or not, the Mets are on the verge of winning their third consecutive series, despite being eight games under .500. The Mets beat the Diamondbacks in an extra-inning game overnight thanks to Mark Vientos who has been the engine of the Mets offense for the last week. Now the Mets turn to one of their most consistent pitchers this season to lock down the series win.
Clay Holmes has pitched 42 2/3 innings this season over seven starts with a league leading 1.69 ERA and 235 ERA+. He has a 3.65 FIP, 0.984 WHIP and is allowing 5.9 H/9, way below his career rate of 7.7. In his last two starts he allowed only one run from seven hits over 12 2/3 innings. The Mets have the following career stats against Holmes:
- Nolan Arendado 2-7, BB, K
- Corbin Carroll 1-1
- Lourdes Gurriel Jr. 2-8, K
- Ketel Marte 0-3, K
- James McCann 0-2, BB, K
- Gerarldo Perdomo 0-1
Merrill Kelly has gotten off to a rough start this season. Last year he made 32 starts between the Rangers and Diamondbacks with a 3.52 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 1.114 WHIP and a 116 ERA+. This season he has made four starts totaling 19 innings with a 9.95 ERA, 8.13 FIP, 2.316 WHIP and a 42 ERA+. His first start of the season against the Orioles was solid, holding them to two runs over 5 1/3. Since then he has allowed 19 earned runs over 13 2/3 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against Kelly:
- Francisco Alvarez 0-3, 3 K
- Brett Baty 0-3, K
- Andy Ibáñez 0-1
- Marcus Semien 2-8, HR, 3 K
- Austin Slater 2-11, BB, 3 K
- Juan Soto 5-19, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 2 K
- Tyrone Taylor 1-8, K
- Luis Torrens 1-4, 2B, BB
- Mark Vientos 0-1, BB
Three Things To Watch For:
- Mark Vientos. Mark Vientos was the Mets offense again last night. He now has eight RBI’s in his last five games, is leading the Mets in home runs and is tied for the lead in RBI’s. Vientos’ eight RBI’s come in games when the Mets scored a total 11 runs, meaning Vientos is putting the whole team on his back some nights.
- Strikeouts. Merrill Kelly has rarely lit the world on fire with strikeouts. His career rate is 8.1 K/9, with only one season above 9.5. This season he is struggling, striking out hitters 6.6 per nine. The Mets struggled a lot with swinging last night, racking up 10 K’s as a team. Three players (Soto, Torrens, Melendez) each struck out two times.
- Bullpen. The Mets had to use Weaver, Raley, Williams and Myers last night. Most likely they’ll be opening tomorrow’s game with an opener or two since it worked out well last time. Brazobán and Warren both haven’t pitched since Thursday but they are most likely candidates to open a game. Kimbrel hasn’t pitched since allowing a go-ahead grand slam to the Rockies. Sean Manaea hasn’t pitched since Wednesday when he allowed three hits before recording his first out. The Mets have avoided using anyone back-to-back days for the last week, and it feels like that stretch will probably end today. Devin Williams has only tossed a total of 25 pitches in his last three games (five days).
Let’s Go Mets!
