The Mets look to bounce back from an ugly loss. The Mets took a 3-0 lead but then everything fell apart in the fifth inning. After retiring the first two batters, the Nolan McLean allowed three runs to score to tie the game. The Cubs then scored three more in the sixth before making it an unreachable 10-3 lead later in the game.
The vibes are putrid right now, but Francisco Lindor is back! Can Lindor save the Mets season?
Programing Note: The split-doubleheader today brings us an unusual SNY/WPIX. If you parked yourself in front of SNY this afternoon for the first game and post game, make sure to adjust your dial to WPIX for the night cap.
Sean Manaea has pitched in 16 games this season totaling 54 1/3 innings with a 4.64 ERA, 3.75 FIP, 1.344 WHIP and an 89 ERA+. Since rejoining the Mets rotation he has allowed five runs, four earned, over 11 1/3 innings while striking out 11 batters. He’s kept the Mets in games more reliably of late than most of the Mets rotation. Manaea had a poor relief outing against the Cubs in April allowing five runs over four innings. The Cubs have the following career numbers against him:
- Miguel Amaya 0-4, 2 K
- Alex Bregman 10-42, 3 HR, 5 BB, 5 K
- Michael Busch 2-5, HR, 2 K
- Michael Conforto 2-7, 2B, 3 K
- Pete Crow-Armstrong 0-1, BB, K
- Ian Happ 2-9, HR, BB, K
- Nico Hoerner 2-10, 3B
- Carson Kelly 3-21, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 4 K
- Matt Shaw 2-4. 2B, K
- Seiya Suzuki 2-4, 2B
- Dansby Swanson 0-12, BB, 4 K
Shota Imanaga has seen his starts get bumped a couple of times over the last few days. He was originally supposed to pitch in a game that got rained out on Sunday. The same thing happened on Monday and that led the Cubs to knock him back all the way to today. Over 15 starts, 86 2/3 innings, Imanaga has a 4.26 ERA, 4.58 FIP, 1.062 WHIP and a 93 ERA+. He’s had a good run recently, allowing only one run over 10 2/3 innings. In his three starts before that he allowed 18 runs over 17 1/3. The Mets have the following career stats against him:
- Francisco Alvarez 1-2, HR, K
- Brett Baty 2-5, HR, K
- Marcus Semien 1-2, BB
- Zack Short 0-1, BB, K
- Juan Soto 0-3
- Luis Torrens 1-3
- Mark Vientos 0-5
Three Things to Watch For:
- Francisco Lindor. The soul of the Mets will finally be back in the lineup tonight after missing two months due to a calf injury. Lindor was hitting .226/.314/.355 with an 89 OPS+ when he went down. In his last nine games before he got injured he was hitting .333/.353/.545. The Mets absolutely need that now.
- Don’t Chase Imanaga. Imanaga’s off-speed pitches are in the 90th percentile in run value this season. Hitters are chasing his pitches 37.2% of the time, which is good for the 96th percentile. The problem for Imanaga is when hitters are making contact with his pitches, they’re squaring up on the ball. Hitters have a 10.4% Barrel% and a 38.3% Hard-Hit% (18th and 52nd percentile). The Mets hitters strike out a lot but have quite a lot of pop. Should be an interesting night in Queens!
- Manaea has really changed his pitch selection. Last season stat-cast only picked up three pitches from Manaea: a fastball, sweeper and a changeup. This year they are picking up a sinker and cutter as well. Manaea tossed his fastball 60.5% of time last year, but his fastball this year just hasn’t been the same (19% whiff this year compared to 23.2% last year). Here’s the odd thing though, his sinker and cutter, which is throwing a combined 25% of the time, aren’t that good. Hitters have a .340 BA on his sinker and a .333 on his cutter. His cutter also has a 34.4% whiff rate, so there’s a chance things improve.
Let’s Go Mets!
