213 Miles From Shea

Well that was a clunker of a game last night for the Mets. The Mets lost their 6th game out of their last 8, but they still have a 4 game lead in the division! And if the Mets win today, they’ll split the series with the Braves and guarantee a 4 game lead for another day (possibly even increase their division lead).

Last night was more of the same for the Mets. They lost another pitcher to injury, this time Stroman – but the bullpen behind him was able to keep the game intact. The bullpen allowed a 3-run homer and that was it. They were striking out players left and right, Loup tossed 3.0 innings. The bullpen did everything they could to keep the Mets in the game – the Mets just couldn’t hit. The first hit in the game came on a Jerad Eickhoff infield single (twice the Mets used starting pitchers as pinch hitters) and the Mets didn’t get another hit until James McCann ripped a double with two outs in the 9th inning. But the Mets get Michael Conforto back tonight. Pete Alonso had the day off yesterday so hopefully things start to turn around for the offense.

The Mets are calling up Tylor Megill tonight on short rest. There was apparently talk for a while about using Megill in tonight’s game at least as a spot starter but with everything happening to the Mets right now it is very easy to see the Mets using this as an audition for a longer stint. The Mets drafted the righty round 8 during the 2018 draft out of Arizona. Across Double and Triple A this year Tylor has made 8 starts, tossing 40.1 innings with a 3.35 ERA and a 1.091 WHIP. He’s been impressive in the minors this year and if he has an effective start, he’ll probably top out around 5.0 innings.

The Braves can’t escape the injury bug either and had to recall Kyle Wright for today’s start. Originally Max Fried was scheduled to pitch but a blister has sent him to the IL. Wright will make his second major league start this year, his first since April 16th. In that start he allowed 2 runs from 3 hits and 4.1 innings while walking 2 and striking out 5 against the Cubs. He has made 8 starts and pitched 38.1 innings in Triple A this year with a 3.76 ERA, 1.617 WHIP. Wright faced the Mets twice last year allowing no runs over 9.2 innings from 6 hits and 5 walks. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Kevin Pillar 1-1
• Dominic Smith 3-6, HR, BB
• Jonathan Villar 1-2, 2B
• Jeff McNeil 4-7, 2 2B
• Pete Alonso 0-4, 2 K

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets will attempt to clinch the series split against the Braves today after a mixed bag of results yesterday. The Mets beat the Braves in the first game and Jacob deGrom pitched 5.0 innings. The Mets bats went silent in the second game and lost 1-0. They had a terrible 6th inning where Villar got hurt and then Pereaza & Lindor both ran themselves out. Then they couldn’t push a run across in the bottom of the 7th despite loading the bases with one out. Further more – the Mets released updates throughout the day that Gsellman would be out for 6-8 weeks, Lucchesi had a serious UCL tear and Familia was heading to the IL for his hip. Just a rough day with injuries.

But the Mets have faced a mountain of injuries before this season and somehow pushed through – and they’ll attempt that again tonight behind Marcus Stroman. Stroman has made 14 starts and pitched 84.1 innings this year with a 2.35 ERA, 3.52 FIP, 1.043 WHIP and a 165 ERA+. In his last three starts he has pitched 20.0 innings allowing 4 runs, 3 earned, a 1.35 ERA with opponents hitting .194/.256/.306 against him. He missed the Braves earlier this season and the Braves have the following career numbers against him:

• Pablo Sandoval 1-1, BB
• Kevan Smith 2-4, HR, K
• Dansby Swanson 4-8, BB, 2 K
• Ozzie Albies 4-9, K
• Freddie Freeman 0-6, 3 BB, K
• Guillermo Heredia 1-6, K
• Ronald Acuna Jr. 0-5, BB, 3 K
• Abraham Almonte 0-8, 3 K

The Mets bats will try to break out of their funk against Charlie Morton. In 14 starts and 73.2 innings Morton has a 4.03 ERA, 3.60 FIP, 1.208 WHIP and a 109 ERA+. The last time the Mets saw him – Morton was struggling. He had a 5.08 ERA on the season and every great start he had was followed by a terrible start. He allowed 1 run over 6.0 innings against the Mets and including that game, he has a 2.86 ERA over 6 starts. He’s coming off of his best start of the season where he allowed no runs over 7.2 innings against the Cardinals from 3 hits and no walks. The Mets have the following numbers on Morton:

• Dominic Smith 2-4, HR, 2 K
• Billy McKinney 2-5, 2 2B, 2 K
• Jonathan Villar 3-11, HR, 5 K
• Brandon Drury 1-4, 2B, 2 K
• Kevin Pillar 1-8, 3 K
• Jose Peraza 1-5
• Francisco Lindor 2-18, 2 2B, 5 K
• James McCann 0-2, 2 K

Let’s Go Mets!

The nightcap for the Mets and the Braves will be both familiar and new territory. Jerad Eickhoff will make his New York Mets debut – that’s new. Jerad Eickhoff will be facing the Atlanta Braves – that’s familiar for the long time Phillie.

Eickhoff joins the Mets after not playing in the majors in 2020. After the 2019 season he signed with the Padres who didn’t use him in the 2020 season, he would later sign with the Rangers who also didn’t use him in 2020. In his last season with the Phillies he pitched 58.1 innings over 12 games with a 5.71 ERA, 6.51 FIP, 1.303 WHIP and a 77 ERA+. So far in the minors he has made 8 starts and pitched 44.0 innings for the Syracuse Mets with a 5.32 ERA. With Lucchesi and Gsellman both on the IL, Eickhoff has a chance to stick around for a bit if he does well tonight (unless if he is the next player on the way if with the Mets current roster crunch). In his one start against the Braves in 2019, the Braves scored 5 runs off of 6 hits and a walk in one inning of work and they have the following career numbers against him:

• Ronald Acuna Jr. 1-3, HR, 2 K
• Ozzie Albies 4-8, 3 2B
• Freddie Freeman 10-25, 3 2B, 3 HR, 5 BB, 7 K
• Ender Inciarte 5-26, 3 K
• Austin Riley 1-1
• Pablo Sandoval 1-3, 2B, K
• Dansby Swanson 1-9, BB, 2 K

The Mets bats will try to find themselves against Ian Anderson who has made 13 starts and pitched 70.1 innings this season with a 3.58 ERA, 3.37 FIP, 1.223 WHIP and a 122 ERA+. In his last four starts he has allowed 12 runs over 19.1 innings from 12 hits and 6 walks while striking out 21 batters, a 5.59 ERA. In three of those four starts, he has allowed exactly four runs, in the other start, he shut out the Phillies over 7.0 innings. One of those starts was also against the Mets! The Mets got him for 4 runs over 4.0 innings from 7 hits and a walk in a game the Mets eventually won 13-2. The Mets have the following numbers against Ian:

• James McCann 3-3, 2B, HR
• Jonathan Villar 1-3, HR, K
• Jose Peraza1-2
• Francisco Lindor1-3, K
• Dominic Smith 1-5, K
• Pete Alonso 0-2
• Billy McKinney 0-3, K
• Tomas Nido 0-2, 2 K

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets come back to New York after a tough weekend where they lost three of four games to the Nationals. They still have a 4 game lead in the NL East though as they welcome the Braves to Queens for four games, including a double header today. With the exception of Saturday’s afternoon game, the Mets offense evaporated this weekend. Coupled with Kyle Schwarber going off, things were just bleak for the Mets. The Mets are 20-7 at home and they welcome back Jeff McNeil today, hopefully they can get back on the winning track!

Jacob deGrom makes the start in game 1, after leaving his last start before the 4th inning. He had suffered a shoulder injury on a swing that knocked him out, his second consecutive start that was injury shortened. Before he left though he had 3.0 perfect innings with 8 strikeouts. Eight! That’s almost perfect-perfect. On the season he has pitched 67.0 innings over 11 starts with a 0.54 ERA, 0.80 FIP, 0.507 WHIP and a 724 ERA+. He has a crazy 111 strikeouts over those 67.0 innings, 7 more than he had last year in 68.0 innings. In two starts against the Braves last year he allowed 2 runs from 6 hits and 2 walks in 11.0 innings while striking out an absurd 18 batters. The Braves have the following numbers against him:

• Austin Riley 2-7, HR, 4 K
• Freddie Freeman 15-58, 2 2B, 3 HR, 8 BB, 16 K
• Ronald Acuna Jr. 8-25, 2B, 2 BB, 7 K
• Pablo Sandoval 2-9, 2 2B, 4 K
• Dansby Swanson 4-20, 2 2B, 3 BB, 11 K
• Ender Inciarte 7-40, 2 2B, 3 BB, 9 K
• Ozzie Albies 5-37, 2B, BB, 9 K

Kyler Muller, who was designated as the 27th man today for the Braves, will get his first major league start. In his only major league game, back on June 16th, he pitched one inning of relief against the Red Sox where he allowed 2 runs from 4 hits and no walks while striking out 1. Baseball Prospectus listed him as the #60 prospect in baseball before the 2020 season and the #62 prospect before the 2021 season. In Triple A this year he has made 7 starts and pitched 31.1 innings with a 4.60 ERA, 1.500 WHIP. Overall he has pitched 358.0 innings across five seasons in the minors with a 3.17 ERA and 1.217 WHIP.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets and Nationals finish up their four game set today with the Mets trying for a series split! The Mets won the first game yesterday pretty much thanks due to Francisco Lindor who had two homers on the day and all 5 RBI’s for the New York Mets. The Nationals got to the Mets early in the nightcap and the Mets couldn’t claw back. A 7th inning 2-run homer by Jose Peraza prevented the Mets from being shutout for the third time in 4 games.

Taijuan Walker looks to put the Mets back in the win column this afternoon. In 12 starts and 68.0 innings this year, Walker has a 2.12 ERA, 2.77 FIP, 1.00 WHIP and a 184 ERA+. He allowed 2 runs over 7.0 innings from 5 hits and no walks in his last start while striking out a season high 12 batters. His first tremendous start as a Met this year came against the Nationals where he shut them out over 7.0 innings with 3 hits and 3 walks. The Nationals have the following career numbers on Walker:

• Alex Avila 4-7, 2 HR, 4 BB
• Kyle Schwarber 1-5, HR, BB, K
• Trea Turner 1-4, 2B, BB
• Victor Robles 1-3, 2B
• Ryan Zimmerman 1-3, 2B, K
• Josh Harrison 2-,2B
• Josh Bell 1-5, 2B, BB
• Jordy Mercer 0-1, 2 BB
• Yan Gomes 2-8, 2 K
• Starlin Castro 0-6, 2 K

The Mets draw Patrick Corbin for the series finale today. Over 13 starts and 70.2 innings, Corbin has a 5.60 ERA, 5.05 FIP, 1.458 WHIP and a 68 ERA+. He’s coming off of his best start of the season where he allowed 1 run from 8 hits and a walk over 8.1 innings – a game that lowered his ERA from 6.21 to 5.60 for the season. Before that game he had a stretch of 4 starts and 21.0 innings where he allowed 15 runs from 24 hits and 10 walks, a 6.43 ERA. He faced the Mets earlier this year and allowed 4 runs from 7 hits and 3 walks over 4.0 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers on Corbin:

• Dominic Smith 3-4, 2 2B
• James McCann 2-4, 2B, BB, K
• Jonathan Villar 10-21, 3 2B, 5 K
• Pete Alonso 7-24, 2 2B, 2 HR, 4 BB, 10 K
• Jose Peraza 7-14, K
• Albert Almora Jr. 3-12, BB, 2 K
• Kevin Pillar 2-9, 2B, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 2-8, 2 K
• Tomas Nido 1-5, 2 K

Let’s Go Mets!

This is always a risk, but due to travel today, I have to write this game preview before the first game is even played. This is even more of a risk because the Mets haven’t announced yet who is starting and it may depend on what happens in Game 1! This is probably the worst case scenario for writing a game preview (which is an overly dramatic sentence to type).

Before yesterday’s game, Anthony DiComo reported that there were essentially four candidates to pitch in this game. This doesn’t necessarily mean start, as the Mets have gone with an opener a few times this season. From the Taxi-Squad, the Mets can use Jerad Eickhoff and Yennsy Diaz. On the Mets, depending on prior usage, Sean Reid-Foley and Robert Gsellman.

Eickhoff hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2019. For the Phillies that year he pitched in 12 games, made 10 starts, totaling 58.1 innings with a 5.71 ERA, 6.51 FIP, 1.303 WHIP and a 77 ERA+. In Syracuse this year he has made 8 starts and pitched 44.0 innings with a 5.32 ERA and a 1.341 WHIP. Yennsy Diaz has pitched for the Mets this year, pitching 2.0 scoreless innings of relief, walking 2 batters and allowing nothing else while striking out 3. He has pitched in 8 games and 10.1 innings for Syracuse with a 3.48 ERA and 1.258 WHIP. Even though the Mets have used him as a reliever, he has starter 84 of the 104 games he’s pitched in the minors.

Let’s also do a quick preview of the players on the Mets roster who are candidates for today. Sean Reid-Foley has recently been called back to the Mets and has been a godsend at different points of the season already. In 7 games and 15.2 innings he has a 2.30 ERA, 2.60 FIP, 1.149 WHIP and a 172 ERA+. He’s coming off of a 2.0 inning outing where he allowed 1 run on one hit (a solo homer) while walking two filling in after deGrom’s injury. Gsellman is having a quiet, bounce back season in 14 games and 24.2 innings with a 3.65 ERA, 3.98 FIP, 1.176 WHIP and a 107 ERA+. All of those are better than his career marks and his WHIP is the lowest it has been in his career. He’s coming off of his second worst game of the season, where he allowed 4 runs over 2.1 innings against the Orioles. It has been a while now since he has pitched – 11 Days!

The Mets bats will get a look at Jon Lester who has made 9 starts and pitched 44.0 innings this season with a 4.09 ERA, 5.08 FIP, 1.477 WHIP and a 93 ERA+. In his last four starts he has pitched 18.2 innings allowing 5 runs from 20 hits and 7 walks. So he has an absurd discrepancy in stats – a 2.41 ERA with a .325 OBP. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• James McCann 6-13, 2B, 2 HR, 4 K
• Francisco Lindor 4-13, HR, 2 BB, 2 K
• Brandon Drury 2-6, 2B, 2 K
• Jose Peraza 12-34, 2B, 3B, 5 K
• Kevin Pillar 2-8, BB
• Pete Alonso 0-2, BB, K
• Jonathan Villar 0-6, BB, 3 K
• Luis Guillorme 0-3

Let’s Go Mets!

For the last two days the Mets offense has disappeared! The Mets are hoping to find their bats today as they face the Nationals for the rare day/night doubleheader this season.

Yesterday the Mets and Nationals were scoreless until the 9th inning, and while the blame is falling on Edwin Diaz, the offense hadn’t scored in two games. That’s where the blame should go. Slumps happen, and this isn’t the first time the Mets who have done incredible things with their roster, have found themselves in a team-wide slump. They got two shots today to turn it around!

David Peterson starts game 1 for the Mets, coming off of a great start his last time out. A lot today is riding on his start – depending on how deep he goes and who is needed in-relief will determine who starts game 2. (I’m also writing this article before 8 in the morning, so it’s more than possible that the Mets name the game 2 starter before game 1).

Over 12 starts and 53.0 innings, Peterson has a 5.60 ERA, 4.74 FIP, 1.396 WHIP and a 69 ERA+. In his last start against the Cubs he allowed no runs on 1 hit and 2 walks over 6.0 innings, his best start of the season. He also enjoyed pitching against the Nationals last year, holding them to 2 runs, 1 earned, over 12.0 innings from 5 hits and a 3 walks while striking out 7. The Nationals have the following numbers against him:

• Josh Harrison 2-2
• Jordy Mercer 1-1, BB
• Juan Soto 1-3, 2B
• Starlin Castro 0-1, BB
• Yan Gomes 1-5
• Trea Turner 0-5, BB
• Luis Garcia 0-3, K
• Victor Robles 0-2

The Mets bats will get a look at Joe Ross tonight. Joe has started 12 games and pitched 62.1 innings with a 4.19 ERA, 4.93 FIP, 1.251 WHIP and a 90 ERA+. He’s coming off of a fantastic game where he pitched 8.0 innings allowing no runs from 5 hits and no walks. This was right after a start where he allowed no earned runs (but 4 unearned runs) over 6.0 innings. Those two starts dropped his ERA from 5.40. He made one start against the Mets this year where he allowed 1 run over 6.0 innings from 5 hits and a walk. The Mets have the following career stats on Ross:

• Francisco Lindor 3-6, 2B, HR, K
• Pete Alonso 2-5, BB, 2 K
• Kevin Pillar 1-2
• Dominic Smith 2-7, HR, 2 K
• Jose Peraza 1-5, BB, K
• James McCann 1-5
• Jonathan Villar 0-1
• Brandon Drury 0-2, K

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets just finished a tough homestand against the Padres and Cubs going 5-2! It would have been nice to get to the sweep last night, but 5-2 against two good ball clubs is nothing to scoff at! gets

The Mets got strong pitching yesterday and the difference maker ended up being a 2-run homer in the first inning by Javier Baez. No more runs, for either team, were scored from that point on and the Mets took the loss. While the current winning streak was snapped, the Mets look to start a new one tonight against the Nationals.

Joey Lucchesi gets the start for the Mets tonight. He’s pitched in 10 games, made 7 starts, over 33.0 innings with a 5.18 ERA, 3.56 FIP, 1.182 WHIP and a 75 ERA+. He’s coming off of his longest outing of the season where he tossed 5.0 innings against the Padres, holding them to 1 run from 4 hits and a walk. In his last four starts he has pitched 17.1 innings allowing only 3 earned runs, a 1.56 ERA. The Nationals have the following numbers against him:

• Victor Robles 3-6, 2B, HR, 2 K
• Juan Soto 1-5, HR, BB
• Ryan Zimmerman 1-2
• Josh Bell 2-7, 2B, BB, 2 K
• Trea Turner 0-4, 2 BB, K
• Josh Harrison 0-2
• Jordy Mercer 0-2
• Kyle Schwarber 0-3, 2 K
• Yan Gomes 0-2, K

The Mets bats will get a look at Joe Ross tonight. Joe has started 12 games and pitched 62.1 innings with a 4.19 ERA, 4.93 FIP, 1.251 WHIP and a 90 ERA+. He’s coming off of a fantastic game where he pitched 8.0 innings allowing no runs from 5 hits and no walks. This was right after a start where he allowed no earned runs (but 4 unearned runs) over 6.0 innings. Those two starts dropped his ERA from 5.40. He made one start against the Mets this year where he allowed 1 run over 6.0 innings from 5 hits and a walk. The Mets have the following career stats on Ross:

• Francisco Lindor 3-6, 2B, HR, K
• Pete Alonso 2-5, BB, 2 K
• Kevin Pillar 1-2
• Dominic Smith 2-7, HR, 2 K
• Jose Peraza 1-5, BB, K
• James McCann 1-5
• Jonathan Villar 0-1
• Brandon Drury 0-2, K

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets go for the four game sweep of the Cubs tonight at Citi Field!

The Mets are coming off an energizing, and also nerve wracking, win last night. For the second start in a row Jacob deGrom was dominate in his outing but left the game earlier with an injury. The energy in the ballpark took a noticeable dip after deGrom’s exit, however the Mets marched on, scoring more runs and the bullpen holding the game together. Drew Smith made the game a bit more interesting in the ninth, allowing a 2 run homer bringing the Cubs within three. Luis Rojas was having no nonsense yesterday, and had Diaz pitch to the last better to clinch the series win.

The Mets will turn to Marcus Stroman to close out the series tonight. Over 13 starts and 77.1 innings, Stroman has a 2.33 ERA, 3.55 FIP, 1.073 WHIP and a 166 ERA+, all better than his career numbers. Stroman is coming off two great starts against the Padres where he allowed 2 runs, 1 earned, over 13.0 innings from 10 hits and 5 walks while striking out 15 batters (his highest back to back total this season). Marcus missed the Cubs earlier this season and the Cubs have the following career numbers on him:

• Javier Baez 2-6, 2B, HR, BB, K
• Jake Marisnick 3-6, 2B, 2 K
• Joc Pederson 1-3, 2B, 2 K
• Rafael Ortega 1-2, K
• Kris Bryant 1-3, 2B
• Eric Sogard 0-1, BB
• Ian Happ 0-3, K
• Jason Heyward 0-3, K

The Mets draw Kyle Hendricks from Dartmouth College for the series concluder today! In 13 starts and 74.2 innings, Kyle has a 4.46 ERA, 5.64 FIP, 1.353 WHIP and an 87 ERA+. It’s a stark difference from his stats last year – 2.88 ERA, 3.55 FIP, 0.996 WHIP, 150 ERA+. He also led the league last year in BB/9 (0.9) and K/BB (8.0). In his last four starts he has allowed 11 runs over 25.1 innings, a 3.91 ERA, so better than his season numbers. He has not faced the Mets yet this year and the Mets have the following career stats against Kyle:

• Brandon Drury 2-3, 2B
• Billy McKinney 1-3, HR, 2 K
• James McCann 3-7, K
• Jose Peraza 6-19, 2B, BB, 3 K
• Kevin Pillar 2-7, 2 K
• Jonathan Villar 5-22, HR, BB, 7 K
• Pete Alonso 0-2
• Francisco Lindor 0-3
• Mason Williams 0-1, K

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets have a chance at a series win today!

Last night the Mets got another excellent start by Taijuan Walker and Pete Alonso provided all of the offense as the Mets won 3-2 over the Cubs. It looked like for a moment in the third it was going to be one of those games where the Mets would squander a great start. The Cubs went up 2-0 and the Mets bats were just not getting anything across the plate. Alonso smacked a 2-run single and later in the game would hit a sac fly with the bases loaded.

The most memorable part of the game came in the 9th inning. Willie Harris, of Mets Fans’ nightmares, inexplicably sent Jake Marisnick home as the tying run. He was nailed out at home plate and the Mets were able to close the game behind him.

The Mets will turn to deGrom today and we aren’t sure what more can be said about him. On the season he has pitched 64.0 innings over 10 games with a 0.56 ERA, 0.93 FIP, 0.531 WHIP and a 687 ERA+. He has 103 K’s on the year and has a career high in K/9 at 14.5 and K/BB at 12.88 (next closest is 5.85 back in 2018). He left Mets fans nervous in his last game, departing early with right flexor tendonitis but apparently has passed all of his tests and is raring to go tonight. He missed the Cubs when the Mets were in Chicago earlier this year, and the Cubs have the following numbers against him:

• Kris Bryant 6-17, 2B, 2 HR, 2 BB, 7 K
• Jose Lobaton 4-7, K
• Anthony Rizzo 10-23, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 4 K
• Eric Sogard 0-3, 3 BB
• Jason Heyward 9-27, 2B, BB, 4 K
• Joc Pederson 5-20, 2B, 3 BB, 5 K
• Rafael Ortega 1-5, BB, 2 K
• Javier Baez 3-14, BB, 8 K
• Jake Marisnick 0-3, 2 K

The Mets batters will face Robert Stock tonight, returning to the majors for the first time this year. He’s definitely a publicly approachable player – a quick search of his name on Twitter shows the 31-year old interacting fans, thanking many of them who were congratulating him on his call up today. He use MS Paint (I assume) to color over his Red Sox jersey in profile picture and apparently plays WoW – and he throws 100+ mph heat. (I guess a combination of Jerry Blevins, Trevor May and Miguel Castro). Last year he pitched in 10 games and 13.1 innings for the Red Sox with a 4.73 ERA, 3.34 FIP, 1.950 WHIP and a 102 ERA+. In 9 games, 2 starts, in Triple A this year he has tossed 19.2 innings with a 4.12 ERA and 1.068 WHIP. He had to join the rotation last week because it was completely emptied out and in two starts he has allowed 3 ER over 8.0 innings from 7 hits and no walks. Both times he went 4.0 innings which is unusual for him. A couple of Mets have seen him in the majors before:

• Kevin Pillar 1-2, HR
• Jose Peraza 1-2
• Jonathan Villar 0-1

Let’s Go Mets!