213 Miles From Shea

The Mets and the month of June just don’t get along. Last night the Mets lost for a sixth consecutive time. It was a little different last night as they never held the lead in the game, but a three run inning by Gsellman in the 8th inning put the game way out of reach for a line up struggling to find much of anything. Pete Alonso hit his 28th homer last night, continuing a historic season while the Mets themselves just flutter into obscurity.

Steven Matz looks to play stopper today. He is 5-6 over 15 starts and 78.0 innings with a 4.85 ERA, 5.49 FIP, 1.462 WHIP and 84 ERA+. One thing we have learned this year is Matz does not like to pitch in Philly. His last time out he allowed 7 runs over 4.1 innings, including his 9th and 10th homer in the first inning. Overall he has allowed 15 runs, 13 earned in Philly this year over two starts (and 4.1 innings since in the first one he didn’t retire a batter). His start before Philly was Atlanta, and that also didn’t go so well. He allowed 5 runs over 5.0 innings. The Braves have the following numbers against Matz:

• Freddie Freeman 7-21, 2 2B, HR, BB, 3 K
• Nick Markakis 3-18, 2B, BB, 4 K
• Tyler Flowers 2-13, 2B, 2 BB, 4 K
• Ender Inciarte 2-7, BB
• Dansby Swanson 208, 2B, BB, K
• Ozzie Albies 2-8, 2B
• Ronald Acunda Jr 2-5, 3B
• Josh Dondaldson 1-5, HR, BB, 3 K

The Mets have to deal with Julio Teheran tonight who is 5-6 over 17 games and 91.1 innings with a 3.94 ERA, 4.54 FIP, 1.336 WHIP and 116 ERA+. Things haven’t been great for Julio in his last two starts either as he has allowed 13 runs over 8.0 innings from 17 hits and 6 walks. One of those starts was against the Mets where he allowed 6 runs over 4.0 innings, a game where the Mets won 10-2 and possibly their last solid showing in the month of June. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Adeiny Hechavarria 8-35, 2B, 3B, 8 K
• Michael Conforto 7-28, 2 2B, HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• Carlos Gomez 5-19, 2B, HR, 3 BB, 9 K
• Todd Frazier 3-21, 2B, HR, BB, 3 K
• Juan Lagares 4-21, 5 K
• Wilson Ramos 5-20, 3 2B, HR, BB, 4 K
• Amed Rosario 2-18, 3B, 2 BB, 7 K
• Jeff McNeil 4-11, 2 2B, BB
• Robinson Cano 2-7, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

Was yesterday the worst Mets loss of the season? While that title is debatable, the loss guaranteed that the four game set was the worst for the Mets this season and the last 5 games have been the worst the Mets have performed in quite some time. Since last Sunday and throughout the series with the Phillies, the Mets have the lead in the game, only to have to have the bullpen squander it. Yesterday was the most extreme example with Edwin Diaz, the star trade acquisition and the reason the Mets parted with Kelenic, give up two homers in the bottom of the 9th, taking the score from 3-1 Mets to 6-3 Phillies. A disaster of a series.

But the Mets look to turn things around with the Braves at home tonight. Jacob deGrom gets the start. He is 4-6 over 16 games and 97.0 innings this year with a 3.25 ERA, 3.04 FIP, 1.093 WHIP and 125 ERA+. In his last 7 games he has allowed 12 runs over 45.0 innings, a 2.40 ERA with an opponents batting average of .232. Against Atlanta this year he has made two different starts. Back in April he allowed 3 runs over 5.0 innings. Ten days ago he made one of his best starts this season allowing 2 runs over 8.1 innings while striking out 10. The Braves have the following numbers against deGrom:

• Freddie Freeman 13-50. 2 2B, 3 HR, 5 BB, 13 K
• Nick Markakis 11-45, 2 HR, BB, 9 K
• Ender Inciarte 7-37, 2 2B, 2 BB, 9 K
• Ozzie Albies 4-26, 2B, BB, 6 K
• Tyler Flowers 4-16, HR, 3 BB, 7 K
• Dasby Swanson 4-16, 2 2B, 3 BB, 8 K

The Mets will most likely see Mike Soroka tonight. He left his last start with a right forearm contusion but should be able to pitch tonight. On the season he is 8-1 over 13 games and 78.1 innings with a 2.07 ERA, 3.07 FIP, 0.970 WHIP and a 222 ERA+. His last full start was against the Mets where he allowed 3 runs over 6.0 innings. It was during a four game stretch that despite allowing 1 run over 8.0 innings in one game, he had a 4.21 ERA. His ERA right now at 2.07 is impressive but he went into the month of June with a 1.07 ERA, so it feels like his season is at a key inflection point. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Michael Conforto 2-9
• Todd Frazier 1-8, 2 K
• Amed Rosario 2-6, 2B
• Pete Alonso 1-3, K
• Robinson Cano 1-3, HR
• Jeff McNeil 0-3
• Wilson Ramos 0-3

Let’s Go Mets!

This has been a rough week so far for the Mets in Philly. Each day the bullpen has been handed the lead and each day the bullpen has fallen apart, giving the game to the Phillies. Yesterday the Mets were walked off in Philly during the 10th inning after the bullpen couldn’t hold on to a 4-0 lead earlier in the game. The Mets will try to salvage the last game this afternoon with Wheeler taking on Nola.

Zack Wheeler stepped up in his last start. On the season he has 16 starts and 101.2 innings with a 4.69 ERA, 3.73 FIP, 1.298 WHIP and 86 ERA+. In his last outing he held the Cubs to 1 run over 7.0 innings, dropping his ERA from 4.94 to 4.69 in the game and ending a torrid run for himself. He faced the Phillies in back to back starts in April holding them to 3 runs in 14.0 innings of work while striking out 16. Those numbers are skewed by a gem he tossed against the Phils in Citi Field where he held them scoreless over 7.0 innings, striking out 11. The Phillies have the following numbers against Wheeler:

• Bryce Harper 5-31, HR, 4 BB, 13 K
• Cesar Hernandez 9-19, HR, BB, 4 K
• Maikel Franco 3-12, 2B, HR, 2 BB
• J.T. Realmuto 7-14, 2B, 3 K
• Rhys Hoskins 1-12, BB, 5 K
• Scott Kingery 1-6, HR, 2 K
• Jay Bruce 0-3

The Mets bats draw Aaron Nola for the finale who is 6-2 over 16 games and 89.0 innings this year posting a 4.55 ERA, 4.40 FIP, 1.449 WHIP and 100 ERA+. Similar to Wheeler, his last start was also his first strong start in a few starts. Last time out he held the Marlins to 2 runs, 1 earned over 8.0 innings while striking out 10. Before that, over three starts he allowed 14 runs in 16.1 innings. His last start against the Mets back in April was good for the Mets – they scored 5 runs off 7 hits and 3 walks in 4.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him

• Michael Conforto 4-24, HR, 2 BB, 9 K
• Amed Rosario 4-17, 2B, 5 K
• Todd Frazier 0-10, BB, 4 K
• Wilson Ramos 4-10, 2B, BB, 3 K
• Dominic Smith 3-12, 2B, HR, 4 K
• Jeff McNeil 5-11, 2B, 2 K
• Robinson Cano 2-5, 2B, BB
• Pete Alonso 1-2

Let’s Go Mets!

For the second day in a row the Mets had the lead going into the bottom of the 6th and watched everything fall apart. Between Walker Lockett and Wilmer Font, the Mets allowed 5 runs in the frame swinging the score from 5-2 Mets to 7-5 Phillies. For Lockett it brings his ERA over two starts to 11.74. Now the Mets will try to salvage a game behind Jason Vargas.

The last time you heard about Jason Vargas wasn’t from his last start, but rather his defense of Mickey Callaway in the locker room over the weekend where Vargas verbally and nearly physically assaulted Tim Healey. The Mets fined Vargas $10,000 and Vargas is allowed to start the game tonight. He is 3-3 over 13 games and 12 starts with a 3.75 ERA, 4.49 FIP, 1.333 WHIP and 108 ERA+. He allowed 4 runs in his last start but only two were earned. Back in April he faced the Phillies allowing 1 run over 4.2 innings. The Phillies have the following numbers against him:

• Bryce Harper 1-8, 2B, BB, 3 K
• Jay Bruce 1-6, 2B, BB, 2 K
• Cesar Hernandez 1-5
• Rhys Hoskins 1-4, BB, K
• J.T. Realmuto 1-3, 2B, BB
• Maikel Franco 0-3, K
• Jean Segura 2-3, HR

The Mets look to score enough runs off Nick Pivetta early so the bullpen can’t lose the game behind them today. Pivetta is 4-2 over 9 starts and 50.1 innings with a 5.54 ERA, 5.51 FIP, 1.450 WHIP and 82 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed 10 runs off 15 hits in 12.0 innings which raised his season ERA from 4.93 to 5.54. In his one start against the Mets this season, he allowed 3 runs off 7 hits and 3 walks over 5.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Nick:

• Amed Rosario 4-9, 4 K
• Michael Conforto 2-6, 2 HR, 2 BB, K
• Dominic Smith 2-7, 2B, 3 K
• Juan Lagares 1-5, 2B
• Jeff McNeil 2-5, 2B, K
• Pete Alonso 0-1, BB

Let’s Go Mets!

Yesterday was a disaster for the Mets anyway you cut it. Before the game Callaway held his normal press conference before a series and walked around giving a direct public apology. About an hour or so later, he called back the press to give a direct apology but in the vein of “I got feedback for not giving a proper apology before so here you go.” The Mets then played the Phillies and both teams were hitting homers like crazy (or normal in a juiced ball era – Citizens Bank Park). While the Mets were imploding during the 6th inning a new story about the Mets hit Twitter. Allegedly BVW has at least once made a managerial decision from his home and relayed it to the dugout. Banner day for the team from Queens.

The Mets will try to make us forget all this tonight with Walker Locket. His last outing ended in disaster and he allowed 6 runs over 2.1 innings of work. The ball popped off opponents bats, he was locked out of the game by a poor bullpen performance behind him and the Mets just dropped the game. He made one start against the Phillies last year and it was pretty bad. He allowed 5 runs off 5 hits and 2 walks in 4.1 innings. The Phillies have the following numbers against him:

• Cesar Hernandez 1-2, HR, BB
• Rhys Hoskins 1-3
• Maikel Franco 1-2, HR
• Nick Williams 1-1, 3B, BB

The Mets bats draw Jake Arrieta today who is 6-6 over 15 games and 91.2 innings with a 4.12 ERA, 5.03 FIP, 1.385 WHIP and 109 ERA+. He’s coming off a good start where he allowed 1 run over 6.0 innings against the Nationals which followed a stretch of three starts where he allowed 13 runs over 15.2 innings. He had two different, back to back starts against the Mets back in April. First he he shut them down to 2 runs over 8.0 innings. The next week he allowed 4 runs, 3 earned over 6.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Robinson Cano 5-25, 2 2B, 4 BB, 5 K
• Todd Frazier 8-26, 2B, 2 HR, 10 K
• Michael Conforto 4-17, HR, 3 BB, 5 K
• Carlos Gomez 3-13, HR, 2 BB
• Jeff McNeil 7-13, 2B, HR
• Wilson Ramos 5-10, 2 BB
• Amed Rosario 0-10, K
• Pete ALonso 2-7, 2B, 2 K

Let’s Go Mets!

The Phillies are in free-fall going into tonight’s series opener with the Mets. Zach Eflin, starting for the Phils tonight, is their only reliable starter in the rotation right now while basically their entire bullpen is injured. The Mets however are in full, “hold my beer” form when it comes to a falling apart competition. Mickey Callaway put out a “B” team type lineup yesterday for a deGrom start and the team managed to hold onto the lead until the end of the game. It was clear that Seth Lugo didn’t have his best stuff but Callaway kept him in there and ultimately Lugo allowed a 3-run homer that gave the Cubs the win.

Then all hell broke lose in the clubhouse after the game. I won’t go into too much detail here (partially due to how much it’s being reported on and partially due to the bulk of this preview being reviewed in the morning and if any consequences are handed out between now and game time this paragraph will become out of date) but essentially the reporters were pressing Callaway on his bullpen management, things got tense, Tim Healey (Newsday) said “See You Tomorrow” which Callaway took as snide remark. Callaway and Vargas both started cursing, Vargas had to be held back and the rest of us questioned why the Mets continue to do things only the Mets could do.

But there’s a game tonight! Steven Matz is 5-5 over 14 starts and 73.2 innings with a 4.28 ERA, 5.00 FIP, 1.371 WHIP and a 95 ERA+. June has been rough for Matz allowing 17 runs, 15 earned over 4 games and 23.0 innings, a 5.87 ERA. He faced the Phils in back to back starts earlier this season with very different results. The first one was his worst start ever, allowing 8 runs, 6 earned, without recording an out. The next week he held the Phillies to 1 run over 6.0 innings. The Phillies have the following numbers against Matz:

• Bryce Harper 4-19, 2 2B, 3 BB, 5 K
• Rhys Hoskins 2-13, 2 HR, 2 BB, K
• Cesar Hernandez 5-11, 2B, 5 BB, 2 K
• J.T. Realmuto 4-13, 2B, BB, 3 K
• Maikel Franco 3-8, HR, BB
• Andrew McCutchen 2-8, BB, 4 K
• Jean Segura 2-4, 2B, K

Zach Eflin has been holding the Phillies pitching staff together. He is 6-7 over 14 games and 86.0 innings including 2 complete games posting a 2.83 ERA, 4.02 FIP, 1.163 WHIP and a 159 ERA+. In the month of June he has pitched 20.1 innings allowing 7 runs, 5 earned posting a 2.21 ERA. One of his worst starts this season was against the Mets when he allowed 4 runs from 4 hits and and a walk in 4.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Eflin:

• Michael Conforto 4-18, 2B, HR, BB, 4 K
• Jeff McNeil 2-9, 2B, 3B, 2 BB
• Amed Rosario 5-11, 2 3B, 2 K
• Todd Frazier 2-6, HR, 3 K
• Dominic Smith 1-6, K
• Robinson Cano 3-5, HR

Let’s Go Mets!

After dropping the first game of the series on Thursday, which followed a fairly dreadful series in St. Louis – the pessimist in me did not think I would be writing this next sentence today: the Mets look to take the four game set in Chicago this afternoon behind Jacob deGrom on the mound. Yesterday the Mets fired on all cylinders as Alonso tied Strawberry’s mark for homers in a rookie season and became the fastest NL Rookie to 26 homers before the All-Star break. On top of Alonso’s hitting, Wheeler had a strong day on the mound!

Jacob deGrom is 4-6 over 15 starts and 91.0 innings with a 3.26 ERA, 3.21 FIP, 1.077 WHIP and a 124 ERA+. In his last start deGrom pitched into the 9th inning, going 8.1 allowing 2 runs off 5 hits and no walks while striking out 10. It was the second time in three starts that he struck out 10 batters. Since May 22nd, over 6 games deGrom has tossed 39.0 innings with a 2.31 ERA with opponents hitting .215 against him. He faced the Cubs twice last year allowing 2 runs over 15.0 innings from 15 hits and 3 walks while striking out 23 batters. The Cubbies have the following stats against deGrom:

• Anthony Rizzo 10-23, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 4 K
• Jason Heyward 7-21, 2B, BB, 3 K
• Kris Bryant 4-14, 2 HR, 2 BB, 7 K
• Carlos Gonzalez 4-13, 2 2B, HR, 2 BB, 2 K
• Addison Russell 2-11, HR, BB, 4 K
• Javier Baez 1-10, BB, 6 K
• Kyle Schwarber 2-8, HR, 2 BB, 2 K
• Wilson Contreras 0-7, BB< 3 K
• Albert Almora 2-8, 4 K

The Mets bats draw Cole Hamels in the midst of a resurgent season for the ace pitcher. He is 6-2 over 15 games and 91.2 innings with a 2.85 ERA, 3.32 FIP, 1.178 WHIP and 157 ERA+. Most of this has to with June. In four starts this month, Hamels has allowed 2 runs, 1 earned over 29.0 innings, a 0.31 ERA, which lowered his season ERA of 4.02 at the end of May down to 2.85. Cole shut out the Mets in the one game he played against them last year, holding them scoreless over 5.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Cole:

• Robinson Cano 9-43, 3 HR, 6 K
• Adeiny Hechavarria 12-33, 2B, 2 3B, BB, 4 K
• Juan Lagares 11-28, 4 2B, 2 BB, 6 K
• Calros Gomez 6-24, 2B, 3B, 2 BB, 6 K
• Wilson Ramos 5-26, HR, BB, 5 K
• Todd Frazier 5-22, 2B, HR, 8 K
• Michael Conforto 0-3, 3 K
• Jeff McNeil 0-3
• Amed Rosario 3-3, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

Hey everyone! Remember last year when the Mets gave out a Todd Frazier Batting Practice Pullover but at last minute pulled the giveaway away because of a Quality Control issue?

Then they shipped with these comically large NY patches on the sleeves?

And then we flipped the sleeves inside out and noticed that the quality control issue was on the original pullover, the NY on the sleeve was printed backwards, covered up by the patch?

Well if you don’t remember this, you can catch up here.

Well it looks like the pullovers have surfaced again as a promo for the Kingsport Mets, the rookie level minor league club for the Mets:

From @MiLBPromos the Kingsport Mets are giving these away tonight – they look awfully similar to the quality control issue Frazier pullovers from last year from the big league Mets (@PhilHecken @UniWatch) pic.twitter.com/LgKHcAFUnU

— Elliot Teichman (@213MFS) June 22, 2019

The Kingsport Mets are giving away 300 of these pullovers according to their website today. They don’t explicitly say that these are the same pullovers but that patch and the Nikon logo are very similar. If we see pictures tonight and they have the 21 on the back then we will know for sure!

The Mets won yesterday and they look to make it two in a row today! The Mets got their first average to below average start from Vargas in a while bu the bullpen behind Vargas was great! It’s been a while since we’ve been able to say that! Pounders held his opponents hit-less in 1.1 innings, Lugo didn’t allow any runs in 2.0 innings and Diaz had a clean inning of work! It also helps that McNeil and Conforto both homered. Now the Mets will turn to Wheeler to get back on the right track.

Zack Wheeler is 5-5 over 15 games and 94.2 innings with a 4.94 ERA, 3.83 FIP, 1.331 WHIP and 82 ERA+. His last two games have been rough, allowing 14 runs, 9 earned over 10.2 innings raising his ERA 0.33 points in the process. In one game against the Cubs last year, he allowed 2 runs over 6.0 innings from 7 hits and 2 walks. The Cubs have the following stats against him:

• Jason Heyward 8-24, 2 2B, 2 HR, BB, 4 K
• Anthony Rizzo 1-9, HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• Javier Baez 1-6, 3 K
• Kris Bryant 2-4, BB, K
• Addison Russell 3-5, 2B
• Albert Almora 2-3, BB
• Carlos Gonzalez 0-2, BB
• Tyler Chatwood 0-2, K
• Daniel Descalso 0-1, BB, K

The Mets bats draw Jose Quintana, in his second full season with the Cubs. Quintana is 4-6 over 15 games and 14 starts with 83.2 innings of work posting a 3.87 ERA, 3.81 FIP, 1.339 WHIP, 115 ERA+. Over four starts in June he has allowed 11 runs, 10 earned in 21.0 innings from 21 hits and 8 walks. He has a June ERA of 4.29 and an opponents OBP of .322. He was quite good against the Mets last year holding them scoreless over 6.0 innings with 3 hits and 2 walks. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Robinson Cano 7-19, HR, 2 BB, 2 K
• Carlos Gomez 1-13, 2 K
• Juan Lagares 1-5, 2B, BB, K
• Adeiny Hechavarria 1-3, 2B, BB
• Amed Rosario 1-5, K
• Michael Conforto 1-3, K
• Dominic Smith 0-3, 2 K

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets continuously teach me a lesson that I choose to ignore: don’t write game preview first thing in the morning when the game is 14 hours away. Things change. And yesterday they did. Once I was sufficiently far away from my computer, the Mets announced the firing of their pitching coach. As with most firings, I’m not terribly convinced this will make any significant difference outside of the “hey look we did something.” Anyway last night was a normal night for the Mets: they lost but Pete Alonso hit a homer!

Jason Vargas makes the matinee start today and thankfully isn’t on the IL. He left his last start early with leg cramps – the day after Syndergaard ended on the IL. On the season Vargas 3-3 over 12 games and 11 starts with 55.1 innings, a 3.74 ERA, 4.34 FIP, 1.337 WHIP and a 108 ERA+. Since April 19th he has started 9 games pitching 49.0 innings with a 2.39 ERA and an opponents batting average of .205. He made one start against the Cubs last year and it was a good one holding the Baby Bears to 1 run over 5.1 innings from 4 hits and 2 walks. The Cubbies have the following stats against Jason:

• Anthony Rizzo 1-8, BB, 2 K
• Carlos Gonzalez 1-7
• Albert Almora 0-2
• Kyle Schwarber 0-2, BB, 2 K
• Wilson Contreras 1-2, 2B

The Mets bats draw Yu Darvish as they try to score enough runs so that the bullpen today can safely implode. Darvish is 2-3 over 15 games and 79.1 innings with a 4.65 ERA, 5.06 FIP, 1.387 WHIP and a 96 ERA+. He’s coming off of one of his best starts of the season where he held the Dodgers to 1 run over 7.0 innings from 2 hits and a walk while striking out 10. He hasn’t faced the Mets since 2017 where he allowed only 3 runs from 6 hits and 2 walks in two starts totaling 14.1 innings while striking out 19 batters. The Mets have the following stats against Yu:

• Robinson Cano 9-25, 2 2B, HR, BB, 3 K
• Michael Conforto 1-5, 3 K
• Adeiny Hechavarria 1-6, K
• Wilson Ramos 1-6, 4 K
• Todd Frazier 1-3
• Juan Lagares 1-3
• Amed Rosario 1-3
• Carlos Gomez 0-1, BB

Let’s Go Mets!