213 Miles From Shea

The Mets try to salvage the series with the Marlins this afternoon. It’s been a wild series with the Mets beating themselves Thursday, routing the Marlins on Friday and almost completing the comeback on Saturday. At one point Saturday the Marlins were beating the Mets 8-2 in the middle of the third innings. The Mets clawed all the way back to make it 8-8, but then they allowed the Marlins to score three more runs.

The Phillies won again, extending their division lead back to six games, but the Reds lost again, staying five games back in the wild card race. The Mets could use a normal game today!

Kodai Senga has pitched 108 2/3 innings over 21 starts this season with a 2.73 ERA, 4.09 FIP, 1.288 WHIP and a 148 ERA+. The last two starts have been rough for Senga, allowing eight runs, seven earned from 12 hits and five walks over nine innings. Senga’s first two starts of the season were against the Marlins. In his first start he allowed four runs, only two earned, over five innings. Then he held the Marlins scoreless over five innings. The Marlins have the following career numbers against Senga:

• Xavier Edwards 3-10, 2B, 3 K
• Otto López 0-4
• Dane Myers 0-4, 2 K
• Eric Wagaman 0-3
• Joey Wiemer 0-1, K

Sandy Alcantara has pitched 141 innings over 26 starts in his first season back from tommy john. He has a 5.87 ERA, 4.30 FIP, 1.348 WHIP and a 75 ERA+. At the start of August, Alcantara allowed 11 runs over 12 innings across two starts. Since then he has allowed only five runs, four earned over 20 innings spread across three starts while striking out 23 batters. It feels like Sandy has started to turn a corner. Back in April the Mets scored two runs from three hits over five innings. The Mets have the following stats against Sandy:

• Pete Alonso 5-34, 3 2B, HR, 2 BB, 8 K
• Francisco Lindor 8-27, 2 2B, HR, 3 BB, 4 K
• Starling Marte 5-15, 2 3B, HR, BB, 3 K
• Jeff McNeil 10-34, 2B, HR, 3 BB, 3 K
• Cedric Mullins 4-6, 2 HR
• Brandon Nimmo 5-32, 2 2B, HR, 4 BB, 7 K
• Juan Soto 11-40, 2B, 2 HR, 6 BB, 6 K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-6, 2 K
• Luis Torrens 0-2, K
• Mark Vientos 0-2

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Juan Soto. We’ll talk about the records and career firsts Soto is knocking on the door later. Soto is just on a tear right now. He hit two home runs on Thursday bringing him to 35 on the season, tied with 2023 with the second most home runs Soto has hit in a single season. He now has 5.1 bWAR, only 0.2 behind his 2023 total and 0.4 behind his 2022 total. His season OPS is now above .900 for the third consecutive season and he has a 156 OPS+, finally higher than his 2023 OPS+. Soto is here and is ready to carry the Mets through October.
2. Mark Vientos. Vientos had one of the big hits on Saturday to get back into the game, smashing a three-run homer. It was his third game in his last four played with a home run and he has seven RBI’s in that stretch. He has just a remarkable turnaround this month. Before this stretch weighted stats had him as a below average hitter, he now has a 106 OPS+. He’s taken a negative win value to essentially 0. This home run stretch gives him a reach chance to end the season with at least 20.
3. Stat Watch. Watchout if Juan Soto’s hot streak continues. He’s now only seven home runs away from a new career best. He currently has a lead leaguing 111 walks as he chases down John Olerud’s 1999 franchise record of 125 walks. He is only five stolen bases away from his first ever 30-30 season. Speaking of 30-30 seasons, Lindor moved closer to his second career 30-30 season hitting his 26th homer of the year. He is now four home runs and five stolen bases away. Pete Alonso had a solid day at the plate on Saturday picking up two hits, but he did not record any RBI’s. He is sitting at 110, trying to break his own franchise record of 131 in a season.

Let’s Go Mets!

Thursday night the Mets made a series of defensive miscues that led to five unearned runs. The hitters took their frustrations out early on the Marlins Friday night scoring 12 runs over the first two innings, eventually beating the Marlins 19-9 on Jonah Tong’s debut. The Reds and Padres also lost last night so the Mets enter play today with a five game lead for the last wild card spot and are only two games behind the Padres for the second spot.

David Peterson has made 25 starts this season totaling 150 innings with a 3.18 ERA, 3.32 FIP, 1.253 WHIP and a 126 ERA+. He’s starting to gain positive momentum again allowing only three runs over 13 2/3 innings in his last two starts, scattering nine hits and five walks while striking out 18 batters (the most he has struck out in any back-to-back starts this season). His first start of the season was against the Marlins where he held them to two runs, both from solo homers, over six innings while striking out nine. The Marlins have the following career numbers against him:

• Xavier Edwards 1-6, 2 BB, 3 K
• Liam Hicks 0-2, K
• Derek Hill 0-2, BB, K
• Otto López 2-9, 2B, HR, 2 K
• Dane Myers 2-4, 2B, BB
• Javier Sanoja 0-2, 2 K
• Eric Wagaman 1-3, HR, 2 K
• Joey Wiemer 2-4, 2B, HR, K

The Mets bats will get a look at Edward Cabrera this afternoon. Over 23 starts (124 2/3 innings) Cabrera has a 3.32 ERA, 3.39 FIP, 1.179 WHIP and a 133 ERA+. Cabrera is coming off an excellent start where he held the Braves to one hit, no runs over seven innings while striking out 10. In five of his last seven starts, he has allowed a total of four earned runs. In the other two starts, he has allowed nine earned runs. He’s either been excellent, or terrible. The Mets have the following career stats against him:

• Pete Alonso 3-14, 3 HR, 4 BB, 5 K
• Francisco Lindor 2-14, 4 BB, 2 K
• Starling Marte 0-1, BB
• Ronny Mauricio 1-2, K
• Jeff McNeil 3-14, 2B, HR, BB, K
• Cedric Mullis 1-3, BB
• Brandon Nimmo 4-11, 7 BB, 2 K
• Juan Soto 0-6, BB, K
• Tyrone Taylor 1-5, 2 K
• Mark Vientos 2-4

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Patience. Edward Cabrera has had a fairly low walk rate over the last two months. This season he is down to a career low 3.0 BB/9 (compared to his career 4.5 BB/9). The Mets over their career though have walked a ton against Edward Cabrera. They have 19 walks which is good for a collective .387 OBP compared to a collective .230 batting average. This is especially true for Alonso, Lindor and Nimmo who have 15 of those 19 walks.
2. Brandon Nimmo. Nimmo has the best stats on the team against Cabrera with a .611 OBP. He’s also scorching hot right now. Friday night Nimmo went 3-for-4 at the plate with two home runs. He had three hits on Wednesday also. Nimmo now has a 3.2 bWAR and a 121 OPS+, approaching the OPS+ he put up in 2023 (128). His two homers last night put him at 22 on the season, only two away from his career high 24 (2023).
3. Stat Watch. Pete Alonso picked up two more RBI’s Friday night. He now has 110 on the season and has a real chance to break the franchise record of 131 RBI’s in a season that he set in 2022 (previous record was 124 RBI’s set by David Wright in 2008). Juan Soto walked again last night and currently leads the league with 109 walks. He is knocking at the door of John Olerud’s franchise record 125 walks set in 1999. Francisco Lindor stole a base in the first inning Friday night before the rout started, his 25th of the season. He is now five home runs and five stolen bases away from his second 30-30 season.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to bounce back after a disappointing loss on Thursday night. Coming off the high of sweeping the Phillies, the Mets played a sloppy night of baseball and allowed the Marlins to score five unearned runs. The Mets made multiple comebacks throughout the night, but ultimately started to land in bad luck at the end of the game, hitting the ball directly at people.

But that’s not the story tonight. The Mets are calling up top prospect Jonah Tong to make his major league debut. The electric prospect will go head-to-head with Eury Pérez, a young-phenom pitcher on the Marlins. Should be an exciting night!

Jonah Tong has excelled this season in the minors. Across 102 innings in Binghamton, he has a 1.59 ERA, 0.922 WHIP with an insane 14.3 K/9 from 162 strikeouts. He has allowed eight hits, no runs over his first 11 2/3 innings in Syracuse while striking out 17 batters. He has a minor league career K/9 of 13.7. Tong has a deceptive delivery with a low-to-mid 90’s mph fastball with great break. He mixes in a mid-70’s curve, low-to-mid 80’s slider and a mid-80’s changeup. He’s getting an absurd amount of swings and misses in the minors this season. Now the Mets need him to carve up major league lineups.

Eury Pérez is finally healthy and is doing Eury Pérez things. He’s made 14 starts totaling 70 2/3 innings this season with a 3.44 ERA, 3.62 FIP, 0.976 WHIP and a 129 ERA+. Eury had an great stretch from July 3rd to August 2nd allowing only four runs over 34 innings (1.06 ERA). Since then he has a 5.23 ERA from allowing 14 runs over 20 2/3 innings with nine of those runs happening in back-to-back starts. The Mets have the following career stats against Eury:

• Pete Alonso 0-1, K
• Brett Baty 0-1, K
• Francisco Lindor 0-2
• Ronny Mauricio 1-1, BB
• Jeff McNeil 0-1, BB
• Cedric Mullins 1-2, K
• Brandon Nimmo 1-1, BB
• Tyrone Taylor 1-2, 2B, K
• Mark Vientos 1-1, HR

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Francisco Lindor. Lindor now has a three game multi-hit streak. Over his last three games he has gone 7-for-13, all singles. In his last 15 games Lindor is hitting .455/.507/.712 with a total of 30 hits and nine extra-base hits. The difference Thursday night and a month ago was now when Lindor is on base, it feels like there is a chance the Mets are going to drive him in. Let’s keep this going tonight!
2. Fielding. The fielding was just off last night. It wasn’t just a single player making a mistake, there were multiple plays around the infield where the Mets just looked discombobulated. The Marlins took advantage of the Mets mistakes and forced them to make plays at the plate (which the Marlins beat out by a half step/slide each time). Really frustrating stuff, but also stuff a good team will let wash off of them before tonight’s game. We’ll be watching to see how loose the Mets seem early.
3. Pete Alonso. Alonso is looking to end the season strong. He hit his 30th home run of the season last night and now is looking to surpass his home run total from 2024 (34). He has a 3.1 bWAR, which is already ahead of his 2024 amount (2.6) and nearing his 2023 total (3.3). He now has a 144 OPS+, which is third best season (2019 – 147, 2022 – 146) and much better than his 2023 and 2024 mark (123 OPS+). In his last three games he has gone 7-for-12 at the plate with two doubles and a home run (.583/.615/1.000).

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets are rolling right now!

The Mets are coming off of a series sweep against the Phillies. They are now trailing the Phillies by only four games for the division lead. While the focus has been on the Phillies, a lot of other things have broken the Mets way this past week. They are now only four games out of the top wild card spot. The Reds are now 4.5 games behind them for the last wild card spot (1.5 to start the week). The vibes are good!

It has been a minute since the Mets have played the Marlins. The Mets and Marlins played each other every other day in spring training and then had two of the first four series of the year against each other. A lot has changed for the Marlins since then, mainly that their starting pitching has started to become a real strength for them, which we’ll see later in this four game set. The Mets offense has finally started to step up, should be an interesting weekend in Queens!

Clay Holmes has pitched 137 1/3 innings over 26 games this season with a 3.60 ERA, 4.09 FIP, 1.318 WHIP and a 109 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed only three runs over 11 1/3 innings scattering eight hits while striking out eight. He went 6 1/3 innings in his last start, which was the first time he did that since June 7th. Holmes faced the Marlins in back-to-back starts in April, allowing two runs, one earned over 4 2/3 innings the first time out and four runs over 5 1/3 innings the second time. In that second start, he struck out 10 Marlins which was a season high. The Marlins have the following career numbers against Holmes:

• Xavier Edwards 2-6, K
• Liam Hicks 2-4, 2 K
• Derek Hill 0-2, K
• Otto López 2-5, 2B, BB, K
• Javier Sanoja 1-4, 3 K
• Eric Wagaman 0-2
• Tyler Zuber 0-1, K

The Marlins are recalling prospect Adam Mazur tonight. Mazur made eight starts in 2024 for the Padres pitching 33 2/3 innings with a 7.49 ERA, 6.23 FIP, 1.812 WHIP and a 56 ERA+. This includes a start against the Mets where he allowed two runs over 3 2/3 innings from three hits and six walks. The Marlins acquired him at the 2024 deadline as part of the Tanner Scott trade. As a Marline, he has made one start against the Phillies this season back in June where he allowed four runs from five hits over 5 2/3 innings. He has 107 1/3 innings in AAA ball this season with a 4.36 ERA and a 1.295 WHIP. The Mets have the following career stats against Mazur:

• Pete Alonso 0-2, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 1-1, 2B, 2 BB
• Jeff McNeil 0-2
• Brandon Nimmo 1-3, 2B, K
• Mark Vientos 0-1, BB

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Mark Vientos. Vientos was the x-factor for the 2024 Mets and it feels like he’s back. Over a 10 game hitting streak he has gone 15-for-38 with four doubles and six home runs and 17 RBI’s slashing .395/.442/.974. He has completely flipped the script on his OPS+. A couple of days ago he had a 97 OPS+ and now he’s at 106. His slugging has gone up 70 points in the last 10 games. Carry us to October Swaggy V!
2. Runners In Scoring Position. The Mets have become a different team recently with RISP. Earlier this season, even when the team was cruising back in May, the team couldn’t buy a hit with RISP. This past week they have gone 21-for-37. Numbers we could only dream about! Was this a Philly special or will it continue on with the Marlins tonight?
3. Brandon Nimmo. Nimmo is quietly putting together a solid season for the Mets. Wednesday night he went 3-for-4. Tuesday he had two RBI’s including the game winning single. He also praised every hitter before him in a great postgame interview. He now has a 3.0 bWAR, 0.8 bWAR higher than last season. He has a 117 OPS+, which is not as good as his 2020-2023 stretch, is still quite a bit better than his 107 OPS+ last season. His OBP is essentially identical to 2024 (.327 last year vs .328 this year) but his slugging has jumped 36 points.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets are on the verge of sweeping the Phillies!

Going into this series, the Mets were seven games back in the division and had 1.5 game lead over the last wild card spot. Now the Mets are only five games out of the division with about a month to go and have stretched their wild card lead to 3.5 games. Tuesday night the Phillies struck first, but then the Mets hit right back, flipping a 2-0 Phillies lead to 5-2 Mets. The Phillies would get back at the Mets throughout the game and eventually tied the game at five, scoring crucial runs against major trade acquisition Ryan Helsley. The Mets then got four hits in a row against the Phillies major trade acquisition Jhoan Duran to win the game. Let’s do it one more time Mets!

Nolan McLean has had a fairy tale start of his career. He’s pitched 12 1/3 innings over two starts allowing only two runs from six hits and four walks while striking out 15. In his first start he kept the Mariners scoreless over 5 1/3 innings. In his last start he pitched seven innings against the Braves. Now he’ll take on the Phillies potent lineup for the first time in his career.

Taijuan Walker has turned his season around with the Phillies. Over 96 2/3 innings, Walker has a 3.44 ERA, 4.78 FIP, 1.283 WHIP and a 128 ERA+. It’s his best season since joining the Phillies. Walker had a strong start to August allowing only one run over 12 innings. In his last two starts he allowed five runs over 11 2/3 innings from nine hits and five walks. The Mets have the following career stats against him:

• Pete Alonso 5-18, 2 2B, 3 HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• Brett Baty 3-13, 2B, K
• Francisco Lindor 2-20, 2 BB, 4 K
• Starling Marte 3-9, BB
• Ronny Mauricio 1-6, BB, K
• Jeff McNeil 2-10, HR, BB
• Cedric Mullins 3-10, 2 BB, 5 K
• Brandon Nimmo 4-14, 2B, 2 HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• Juan Soto 4-13, 2 2B, 2 BB, K
• Tyrone Taylor 1-9, BB, 4 K
• Luis Torrens 2-5
• Mark Vientos 2-4, HR, BB

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Umpire Interactions. Monday night the Alec Bohm caused a long delay due to a parabolic mic supposedly being in his line of sight in the batter eye. The parabolic mic became a turning point in the game and headed straight to Grimace territory with fans bringing parabolic mics and signs to the game Tuesday night. The umpire on Tuesday night made some questionable calls that led to multiple reactions from the Phillies starter Luzardo. Luzardo eventually took it too far when he was pulled from the game, getting ejected in the process. The Mets on the other hand look loose for the first time in months. This is when they play their best. Emotions are high in different ways for both clubs. Will things level off tonight or it will be a third straight game with a major umpire-related moment.
2. Hitting with runners in scoring position. The Mets have been *parabolic* in their ability to hit with RISP over the last week. Over the last week or so there have been games like last Friday where the Mets went 8-for-18 with RISP, scoring what felt like a month’s worth of runs. There have been games like last Saturday where they went 1-for-9, but hit six home runs so it didn’t matter. Last Sunday they went 1-for-9 again, only scratching out three runs and lost the game. The pendulum has swung back the other way with the Mets going 16-for-29 this series with RISP. The Mets are finally flipping the season long narrative!
3. Stat Watch. Francisco Lindor stole his 24th base of the season Tuesday night. He is now only five home runs and six stolen bases away from his second 30-30 season. Juan Soto only walked one time last night, which broke a streak of four straight games with two walks. He now has 107 walks on the season and is on his way to break Jon Olerud’s Mets franchise record of 125 walks in a season (1999). About a week ago, Soto had 10 more strikeouts than walks on the season, he rarely ends a season with more strikeouts than walks. He’s cut that number to only five now.

Let’s Go Mets!

Things looked bleak through the first three innings Monday night. The Phillies took an early 3-0 lead. The Mets couldn’t even get a hit. Vibes were bad.

Then a few pivotal things happened. The Mets had a huge fourth inning, knotting the game at three. Alec Bohm caused a 14-minute delay because of a pair parabolic mics in the batter eye. At that point the Mets just went on a tear. The Mets would go on to win 13-3 scoring 13 unanswered runs. Are the mics the new Grimace? Can the Mets ride this momentum wave through the rest of the series?

Sean Manaea has pitched 36 2/3 innings this season with a 5.15 ERA, 3.94 FIP, 1.118 WHIP and a 77 ERA+. Manaea’s July and August have been just polar opposites of each other. Over four games in July Manaea pitched 17 1/3 innings with a 2.08 ERA, 2.95 FIP. In the same amount of games in August he has a 7.91 ERA and 4.82 FIP. The Phillies have the following career numbers against Manaea:

• Alec Bohm 3-13, HR, 3 K
• Nick Castellanos 6-19, 2B, 3 HR, 4 K
• Bryce Harper 4-14, 2 2B, HR, 3 K
• Max Kepler 1-7, HR, BB, K
• Brandon Marsh 0-3, BB, 2 K
• J.T. Realmuto 1-9, BB, 4 K
• Kyle Schwarber 2-8, HR, 3 BB, K
• Edmundo Sosa 5-10, 2B, 3B, HR, 3 K
• Bryson Stott 3-7, 2 BB, K
• Trea Turner 6-18, HR, BB, 4 K
• Weston Wilson 0-2, K

Jesús Luzardo has pitched 145 innings over 26 starts this season with a 4.10 ERA, 3.04 FIP, 1.303 WHIP and a 108 ERA+. Luzardo has been alternating average starts and great starts for his last five starts. In his last start he held the Mariners to one run while striking out 12 over six innings. If the pattern holds, tonight should be an average start. Back in June he kept the Mets scoreless over 6 2/3 innings. The Mets have the following career stats against Luzardo:

• Pete Alonso 2-25, HR, 12 K
• Brett Baty 1-3
• Francisco Lindor 5-21, 2 BB, 3 K
• Starling Marte 4-14, 3 K
• Ronny Mauricio 0-4, BB, 4 K
• Jeff McNeil 5-12, 2 K
• Cedric Mullins 3-4, 2 BB, K
• Brandon Nimmo 5-15, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• Juan Soto 5-15, 2B, HR, 4 BB, 3 K
• Tyrone Taylor 2-8, 2B, K
• Luis Torrens 2-7, HR, K
• Mark Vientos 1-11, 2B, BB, 4 K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Parabolic Mics. For the first time this season, it feels like the Mets have an unofficial mascot. There have been plenty of failed unofficial mascots this season, but there is something about the parabolic mic that feels special. The Mets completed a necessary comeback after the mic incident, the mic incident was caused by a Phillies player, the object feels “random”. Let us know if you see anyone referencing the parabolic mic in the stands tonight.
2. Mark Vientos. Going into Monday’s night game, Vientos had a 97 OPS+. He now has a 101 OPS+. Vientos has been on an absolute tear recently. Over his eight game hitting streak he has gone 12-for-31 with four doubles and five home runs while recording 13 RBI’s (.387/.429/1.000). Vientos also left the game early Monday night after taking a pitch to the ribs.
3. Standings Watch. Every win this series closes the gap in the division. The Mets also need to watch the wild card standings. The Padres lost a second consecutive game Monday night, shrinking their lead over the Mets to only 3.5 games. They take on the Mariners again tonight. The Reds also lost, increasing the Mets lead on the last wild card spot to 2.5 games. The Reds take on Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers tonight.

Let’s Go Mets!

This is potentially the biggest series of the season for the Mets. If the Mets sweep the Phillies, they will be in striking distance of the division lead again. If the Mets win the series, they’ll probably keep the Reds a safe distance behind them. If the Phillies sweep, it will be incredibly difficult for the Mets to mount a comeback with one month of the season to go.

Over the last week we’ve seen the Mets take a series from the second place Mariners, fall apart against the Nationals and almost sweep the Braves. We’ll learn a lot more about who the 2025 Mets are after this series against Philly.

Kodai Senga starts things off for the Mets this week. Over 20 starts and 104 1/3 innings, Senga has a 2.58 ERA, 4.08 FIP, 1.252 WHIP and a 152 ERA+. Senga is coming off of a rough start against the Nationals where he allowed five runs, four earned, from six hits and two walks. He’s also allowed at least one home run per start in the last six starts. The Phillies have the following career numbers against Senga:

• Alec Bohm 1-6, K
• Nick Castellanos 1-7, 3 K
• Bryce Harper 1-2, 2 BB, K
• Max Kepler 0-3, K
• Brandon Marsh 1-5, 2B, K
• J.T. Realmuto 0-5, BB, 3 K
• Kyle Schwarber 1-7, HR, 4 K
• Edmundo Sosa 0-2
• Bryson Stott 1-6, K
• Trea Turner 0-6, BB, 2 K

Cristopher Sánchez is having a tremendous season for the Phillies. He has pitched 157 innings with a 2.46 ERA, 2.63 FIP, 1.096 WHIP and a 180 ERA+. His 6.2 bWAR currently leads the league. Sánchez has been slightly more human over his last two starts allowing six runs, five earned from 13 hits over 12 1/3 innings (but still has an absurd 18 strikeouts). The Mets have the following career stats against him:

• Pete Alonso 4-21, 2B, HR, 8 K
• Brett Baty 0-4, 3 K
• Francisco Lindor 6-14, 2 BB, K
• Starling Marte 4-13, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• Ronny Mauricio 1-4, HR, 3 K
• Jeff McNeil 1-9, 2B, 3 K
• Brandon Nimmo 5-10, BB, 3 K
• Juan Soto 2-9, 4 K
• Tyrone Taylor 1-6, HR, 2 K
• Luis Torrens 0-5, BB, 2 K
• Mark Vientos 3-10, 2 2B, HR, 3 BB, 6 K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Mark Vientos. Vientos is having a week! Over his last seven games he has gone 10-for-28 with two doubles and five home runs (including three in the last two games) while slashing .357/.387/.964. Vientos also has great stats against Sánchez going 3-for-10 (3 BB) with all three hits going for extra bases. Vientos has struggled for long stretches of 2025. He has a 97 OPS+ after last season’s standout 135 OPS+. The Mets need this Vientos hot streak to go on for the rest of the season.
2. Brandon Nimmo. Nimmo went in Sunday’s game as a pinch hitter, it was his first action since been removed from the game on the 20th with a stiff neck. Like Vientos, Nimmo has great numbers against Sánchez and the Mets could use his .600 OBP tonight, in whatever way Nimmo is healthy enough to give it.
3. Stat Updates. Francisco Lindor went 1-for-4 on Sunday. He is still five home runs and seven stolen bases away from his second consecutive 30-30 season. Juan Soto went 1-for-3 with two walks. He now leads the league with 104 walks and is only 21 walks behind John Olreud’s single season franchise record 125 walks. Less likely for Soto at this point, he is nine stolen bases away from his first 30-30 season.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets go for the sweep this afternoon in Atlanta! On Friday night the Mets scored 12 runs on 21 hits. Saturday night the Mets scored nine runs on six home runs. For the second straight game the Mets had a pitcher go at least six innings. On top of all of this positive Mets news, the Reds lost! The Mets enter play today 2.5 games of breathing room in the wild card race and real opportunity to build on their current momentum.

David Peterson has pitched 144 1/3 innings this season with a 3.18 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 1.240 WHIP and a 127 ERA+. He’s coming off of a tremendous start where he held the Nationals to only one run over eight innings while striking out 10 batters. Peterson had a terrible start against the Braves on 8/13 where he allowed six runs from five hits and and tied a season-high with five walks. The Braves have the following career numbers against Peterson:

• Ronald Acuña Jr. 6-20, 2B, HR, 7 BB, 6 K
• Ozzie Albies 3-17, K
• Nick Allen 1-3, 2 BB
• Nacho Alvarez Jr. 1-3, BB, K
• Vidal Brujan 1-1, 2B, BB
• Michael Harris II 2-15, 2B, 7 K
• Sean Murphy 0-8, BB, K
• Matt Olson 5-21, 4 HR, 4 BB, 9 K
• Marcell Ozuna 4-21, 2 HR, 2 BB, 6 K
• Jurickson Profar 5-8, 2 2B
• Eli White 1-5, 2 K

Bryce Elder has pitched 111 2/3 innings over 21 starts with a 6.29 ERA, 5.00 FIP, 1.558 WHIP and a 67 ERA+. He’s coming off of a terrible start against the White Sox where he allowed eight runs from nine hits over 4 2/3 innings. Before that start though he was pretty effective against the Mets, holding them to three runs, two earned, over seven innings. The Mets look to figure out a way to hit Elder like many other teams have this afternoon. The Mets have the following career stats against Elder:

• Pete Alonso 4-11, 2B, HR, K
• Brett Baty 1-6, BB, 3 K
• Francisco Lindor 6-10, 2 2B, 2 HR, 2 BB
• Starling Marte 1-6, 4 K
• Ronny Mauricio 0-3, 2 K
• Jeff McNeil 1-12, BB, K
• Cedric Mullins 1-5, 2B, BB, K
• Brandon Nimmo 2-9, 4 K
• Juan Soto 3-5, HR, BB
• Luis Torrens 0-2

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Jeff McNeil. McNeil got the offense started Saturday night with a three-run homer and hit the Mets last home run of the night. McNeil now has a 131 OPS+, his first time since 2022 that his OPS+ has been over 100. In his last seven games he has gone 11-for-27 at the plate with three doubles and three home runs, slashing an absurd .407/.429/.852. There has been a bit of an offensive revival up and down the Mets lineup over the last two weeks, and Jeff McNeil is a big part of it.
2. Homers. One of the confusing things about the Mets this season is how good the offense looks on paper vs what we were seeing in games. The Mets lineup has a lot of sneaky power in it, and we are starting to see that come to fruition this week. The Mets hit six home runs as players like Brett Baty and Mark Vientos are heating up. The Mets now have 174 home runs on the season, good for 8th in the league and only four behind the Chicago Cubs. The Mets finished last season sixth in the league.
3. Big games. The Mets have scored 21 runs over the first two games of this series and that only happens when multiple players have big games. We already highlight Jeff McNeil who had two home runs on Saturday. Starling Marte and Mark Vientos both had three hits on Saturday. On Friday night Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, Tyrone Taylor and Cedric Mullins each had three hits. Big games can feel contagious, can someone on the Mets keep the three-hit performances going?

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to make it two in a row tonight against the Braves! They scored 12 runs Friday night on a whopping 21 hits behind a tremendous seven inning start for Nolan McLean. It was a much needed win for the Mets as both the Reds and Phillies both lost. The most important thing for the Mets right now is to keep winning, and they look to do that again tonight against Clay Holmes.

Clay Holmes has pitched 131 innings over 25 starts with a 3.64 ERA, 4.15 FIP, 1.344 WHIP and a 108 ERA+. Holmes is coming off a good start, holding the Mariners to only one run over five innings last weekend. In four of his last five starts he has allowed two earned runs or less. He’s also pitched five innings in three of his last five starts. The one start in this stretch that wasn’t good was against the Braves who tagged him for five runs from six hits over 3 2/3 innings. The Braves have the following career stats against him:

• Ronald Acuña Jr. 0-4, 4 BB, K
• Ozzie Albies 4-7, 2B, 2 BB, K
• Nick Allen 1-5, 2B, BB, K
• Nacho Alvarez Jr. 2-2, 2B
• Drake Baldwin 1-5, HR, 2 BB
• Vidal Brujan 0-4, 2 BB, K
• Jake Fraley 2-2, 2B
• Michael Harris II 1-7, K
• Sean Murphy 0-2, 2 K
• Matt Olson 3-6, 2 2B, 3 BB, K
• Marcell Ozuna 1-10, BB, 4 K
• Jurickson Profar 0-1, 3 BB

The Mets look to pick up on their hit parade tonight against Cal Quantrill. Quantrill was selected off waivers by the Braves a couple of days ago from the Marlins. Over 24 starts this season he has pitched 109 2/3 innings with a 5.50 ERA, 4.59 FIP, 1.386 WHIP, and an 80 ERA+. Quantrill allowed one run over four innings against the Braves this month. In his other two August starts he has allowed 14 runs over 8 1/3 innings. The Mets faced him way back in March and they scored six runs over four innings from eight hits including two home runs. The Mets have the following career stats against Quantrill:

• Pete Alonso 3-9, HR
• Brett Baty 2-5, 2B, HR
• Francisco Lindor 1-3
• Starling Marte 2-10, HR, BB, 3 K
• Jeff McNeil 2-5, 2B, K
• Cedric Mullins 2-8, HR, BB, 2 K
• Brandon Nimmo 0-6, BB, 2 K
• Juan Soto 1-2, BB
• Luis Torrens 1-2
• Mark Vientos 1-5, 2B, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The chase for another 30-30 season. Over the last two games Lindor has gone 6-for-10 with a double, a home run and two stolen bases. He is now only five home runs and eight stolen bases away from his second consecutive 30-30 season. Lindor has just been on an absolute tear recently going 21-for-39 over his last nine games with a .538/.581/.974 slash line (five doubles, four home runs, four stolen bases).
2. Brett Baty. Baty has been heating up all month and went 4-for-6 Friday night. During his six game hitting streak he is slashing .435/.480/.739. He was hitting .226/.283/402 after August 1st and is now hitting .249/.307/.443. He has a 2.3 bWAR already and a 113 OPS+. Baty is showing us this month why he was a highly touted prospect in the Mets system for such a long time.
3. A franchise single-season walk leader. In 1999 Jon Olerud walked 125 times for the Mets, it was the most any Mets hitter had walked in a single season, beating Keith Hernandez and Darryl Strawberry’s previous record of 97 walks. (Quick aside, Olerud was real close to setting this record in 1998 where he walked 96 times). When the Mets signed Juan Soto this record was destined to fall as Soto already had four seasons north of 125 walks. Friday night Soto walked twice, reaching 100 for the season. It feels like a matter of time for this record to fall.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets are coming off a disappointing series against the Nationals and it feels like the season is on the line this weekend. The season is not literally on the line, the Mets still have a half game going into play today and there’s a bit more than a month left to play. Mentally though the Mets are in a rough spot.

In addition to losing two games against the Nationals, games where the Mets either had a chance to win (Wednesday) or held the lead (Thursday), the Mets have gone through a sudden rash of injuries. Francisco Alvarez is on the injured list. Brandon Nimmo is out with the same neck injury that has plagued him before. Jeff McNeil is banged up. The Mets are going to need some players to step up right now. One of those players is starting tonight.

Nolan McLean gave a jolt to the Mets rotation in major league debut last weekend. He allowed only two hits and four walks over 5 2/3 scoreless innings during his major league debut while striking out eight batters. Statcast logged six different pitches during his debut. He leaned mostly on his mid-80’s sweeper (36.3% usage). He then mixed in his mid-90’s sinker 26.4% of the time, which had a .125 xBA and a low-80’s curveball 20.9% of the time. Statcast also picked up nine four seamers, four cutters and two changeups. The Mets need McLean!

The Mets bats will try to exorcise their woes from the last couple of days against Joey Wentz. Wentz has pitched with the Pirates, Twins and now the Braves this season. Across all teams he has pitched 32 games making six starts totaling 68 2/3 innings with a 4.72 ERA, 4.16 FIP, 1.383 WHIP and a 90 ERA+. He’s been a much better pitcher with the Braves though, tossing 34 2/3 innings with a 2.60 ERA, 3.11 FIP, 0.952 WHIP and a 161 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed only two runs from seven hits over 11 1/3 innings. The Mets have the following career stats against Wentz:

• Pete Alonso 1-3, 2B
• Brett Baty 2-4
• Francisco Lindor 1-4, HR, K
• Starling Marte 1-4, 2 K
• Jeff McNeil 1-3, BB
• Cedric Mullins 0-5, K
• Brandon Nimmo 0-4
• Tyrone Taylor 0-1

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Francisco Lindor. When the going gets tough for the Mets, the Mets rely on their leader – Francisco Lindor. Lindor went 3-for-5 yesterday at the plate, leading off the game with a home run. He now has a nine game hitting streak where he has multiple hits in six of those nine games, has reached based at least twice in eight of those games and has three hits in four of them. The Mets aren’t falling apart right now because of Lindor.
2. Starling Marte. Francisco Alvarez was heating up, going 6-for-12 last weekend before his injury. Brandon Nimmo was starting to look more like himself. Jeff McNeil was raking this past week. The Mets are hoping Marte can fill multiple gaps in their lineup left by some crucial hitters. Marte hit his seventh home run of the season last Thursday night, tying his total from last season and he has his highest OPS right now since 2022.
3. Which Joey shows up tonight? Joey Wentz had a 10.1 BB/9 in his six games with the Twins this season. With the Braves that has dropped all the way down to 3.1 BB/9, below his career mark of 4.1 BB/9. With the Braves he is allowing 0.5 HR/9, considerably lower than his career 1.4 HR/9. The Brewers were able to score five runs off of Wentz at the start of August before Wentz’s current hot streak.

Let’s Go Mets!