213 Miles From Shea

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reviewed in the morning and if any consequences are handed out between now and game time this paragraph will become out of date) but essentially the reporters were pressing Callaway on his bullpen management, things got tense, Tim Healey (Newsday) said “See You Tomorrow” which Callaway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!

The Mets were able to keep things close last night against the Braves until the 6th inning where the bats on the Mets failed to score with two on and one out and then Matz allowed a 2 run homer to put the Braves in the lead. The Braves never looked back. Now the Mets try to reset themselves with a four game set in Chicago.

During the off-season when the Mets decided to bet on Travis d’Arnaud as the back up catcher solution, they traded Kevin Plawecki for rotation/bullpen depth: Walker Lockett. Lockett was injured for most of spring and this season, but will now make his season debut in the windy city. Will he lock down the strike zone and walk it like he locks it? (Reference). Last year he got a taste of big league action and pitched 15 innings over 4 games and 3 starts with a 9.60 ERA, 7.03 FIP, 2.133 WHIP and a 41 ERA+. Before getting the call up this season he tossed 24.2 innings in Syracuse posting a 3.28 ERA.

The Mets bats draw Tyler Chatwood tonight. He has pitched in 17 games this season but only made one start. In 35.0 innings he has a 3.60 ERA, 5.17 FIP, 1.457 WHIP and 125 ERA+. His only start came way back on April 21st where he allowed no runs over 6.0 innings against the Diamondbacks. In June Tyler has allowed 5 runs in 5.2 innings over 3 games. He made one start against the Mets last year and held them to 2 runs from 4 hits and 4 walks in 5.1 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Chatwood:

• Michael Conforto 2-9, 4 BB, 3 K
• Robinson Cano 3-6, K
• Carlos GOmez 1-5, 3 K
• Amed Rosario 1-3, 3B, BB, 2 K
• Juan Lagares 1-3, K
• Todd Frazier 1-2
• Adeiny Hechavarria 1-1

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets had a team meeting yesterday after completely falling apart against the Braves on Monday night and yesterday they were the 100% opposite team. The Mets won 10-2 behind the bat of Pete Alonso who went 4-4 with 2 walks and Micahel Conforto who hit a massive homer. It also helped that Jacob deGrom threw a masterpiece of a game. So the Mets will try to do it again tonight!

Steven Matz gets the start for the Mets, he is 5-4 over 13 games and 68.2 innings with a 3.93 ERA, 4.62 FIP, 1.325 WHIP and 103 ERA+. In Steve’s last two starts he has allowed 7 runs, but only 5 earned over 12.0 innings but he did strike out 16 batters. Against the Braves in April he allowed 2 runs over 6.0 innings while striking out 8. The Braves the following numbers against Matz:

• Freddie Freeman 5-18, 2 2B, BB, 3 K
• Nick Markakis 3-18, 2B, BB, 4 K
• Tyler Flowers 2-11, 2B, 2 BB, 4 K
• Ender Inciarte 2-7, BB
• Johan Camargo 3-6, HR, K
• Dansby Swanson 1-5, 2B, BB, K
• Ozzie Albies 1-5

For the Braves, Max Fried will get the start on the bump. He is 7-3 over 16 games, 14 starts this season logging 76.2 innings posting a 4.11 ERA, 4.15 FIP, 1.330 WHIP with a 111 ERA+. In his last four starts he has pitched 20.1 innings allowing 17 runs on 31 hits and 8 walks a 7.35 ERA with opponents hitting .352 against him. This stretch has raised his ERA from 2.88 to 4.11. He hasn’t faced the Mets yet this year and last year he pitched 8.0 innings across 4 games (1 start) allowing 2 runs, 1 earned while striking out 14. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Michael Conforto 0-3, 2 BB, 2 K
• Juan Lagares 2-4
• AMed Rosario 0-4, 3 K
• Todd Frazier 0-2, K
• Jeff McNeil 1-2, K
• Wilson Ramos 0-1, K

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets have lost more than a handful games recently but last night was the first time in a while that it felt like they got beat. Like really beat. Fundamentally defeated on every level beat starting with a below average start from Wheeler to a complete blow up by Familia. The Mets will try to fix it today with Jacob deGrom as he takes on Julio Teheran.

Jacob deGrom is 3-6 over 14 starts and 82.2 innings with a 3.38 ERA, 3.12 FIP, 1.125 WHIP and 120 ERA+. In his last five starts he has pitched 30.2 innings with a 2.35 ERA and a .228 opponents batting average. Earlier this season against Atlanta he allowed 3 runs over 5.0 innings while striking out 9. The Braves have the following numbers against him:

• Freddie Freeman 12-46, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 BB, 12 K
• Nick Markakis 11-42, 2 HR, BB, 8 K
• Ender Inciarte 7-37, 2 2B, 2 BB, 9 K
• Ozzie Albies 4-23, 2B, BB, 5 K
• Johan Cmargo 6-19, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 7 K
• Tyler Flowers 4-16, HR, 3 BB, 7 K
• Dansby Swanson 3-13, 2B, 3 BB, 6 K

The Mets bats will try to come back against a Julio Teheran who is having his best season since 2014. In 15 games and 83.1 innings he has a 2.92 ERA, 4.23 FIP, 1.188 WHIP and 157 ERA+ (it’s his best season by a long shot in terms of ERA+). Since the start of May he has started 8 games with a 0.81 ERA and an opponents batting average of .137. This stretch lowered his ERA from 5.35 all the way down to 2.92. His best start in an otherwise forgettable April was against the Mets where he allowed 1 run over 6.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Adeiny Hechavarria 8-35, 2B, 3B, 8 K
• Michael Conforto 6-25, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• Carlos Gomez 4-18, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 9 K
• Juan Lagares 4-21, 5 K
• Wilson Ramos 5-20, 3 2B, HR, BB, 4 K
• Todd Frazier 3-19, 2B, HR, 3 K
• Amed Rosario 1-16, 2 BB, 7 K
• Jeff McNeil 2-8, 2B, BB
• Robinson Cano 2-5, 2B, BB, K
• Dominic Smith 0-4, BB, K

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets head into a tough road trip starting off with the surging Braves. For the Mets, it could have been a weekend where they racked up the wins, instead they lost 3 to the Cardinals including 2 games where they gave up go-ahead run in the 9th inning or later. Now with mounting injury concerns in the starting rotation, the Mets could use something on the field to go predictably right.

Zack Wheeler, who is starting to draw trade interest, takes the mound tonight. He is 5-4 over 14 games and 88.2 innings with a 4.87 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 1.286 WHIP and 83 ERA+. Wheeler melted down in his last start, allowing 9 runs, 5 earned over 4.2 innings in the first game of a doubleheader against the Yankees. He’s faced the Braves once this year allowing 2 runs over 6.0 innings from 6 hits and 3 walks. The Braves have the following stats against him:

• Freddie Freeman 10-20, 3 2B, 2 HR, 12 BB, 5 K
• Tyler Flowers 5-9, HR, K
• Ozzie Albies 0-9, 2 K
• Ender Inciarte 2-9
• Nick Markakis 3-7, BB, K
• Brian McCann 3-7, HR, 2 2 BB, 2 K
• Josh Donaldson 4-7, 2B, BB, 2 K
• Dansby Swanson 1-8, 2B, 2 K

The Mets bats will get a look at Mike Soroka who has been crushing it on the mound this year. In 11 starts and 70.1 innings he has a 1.92 ERA, 2.90 FIP, 0.967 WHIP and 235 ERA+. He has a league low HR/9 sitting at 0.3. He is coming off of his worst start of the season where he allowed 5 runs over 5.0 innings from 10 hits against the Pirates and overall in June (3 starts), he has allowed 10 runs, 9 earned in 19.2 innings, a 4.12 ERA (two bad starts and one great one). He hasn’t faced the Mets this season yet but two of his best starts from last year were against the Mets where he held them to 1 run over 6.0 innings in May and then no runs over 6.1 innings in June. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Michael Conforto 1-6
• Todd Frazier 1-6
• Amed Rosario 0-4
• Tomas Nido 1-2, 2B
• Dominic Smith 0-2

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets jumped out to an 8-1 lead last night and then the Cardinals started to slowly work their way back into the game. The last play of the game, with two outs, they hit the ball into moderately deep right field. Jeff McNeil went way back for it, Conforto dove for it but had to hold up to avoid a collision and the end result was they both missed the ball. The tying run turned third, McNeil hit the cut-off man who hit got the ball to home plate way before the runner and thanks to that base path running blunder, the Mets won 8-7. If they win today, they end up splitting with the Cardinals before they head off to playing NL East rivals.

Jason Vargas looks to get the Mets there today. He is 3-3 over 11 games and 10 starts with 51.1 innings of work posting a 3.68 ERA, 4.16 FIP, 1.364 WHIP and 110 ERA+. He was a bit more human in his last start, allowing 3 runs but he still pitched 6.0 innings meaning he’s done at 6.0 innings of work in his last three starts, a streak he has never had as a Met. Since April 19th he has started 8 games with a 2.20 ERA in those 45.0 innings of work. The Cardinals have the following numbers against him:

• Matt Wieters 6-23, 2B, BB, 3 K
• Yadier Molina 5-13, 2B, BB
• Dexter Fowler 3-8, 3 2B, 3 BB, K
• Matt Carpenter 6-7, 2B, BB
• Paul Goldschmidt 2-9, HR
• Paul DeJong 1-4, BB, 2 K
• Jose Martinez 2-4, HR, BB, K
• Kolten Wong 0-4

The Mets bats will get a look at Dakota Hudson today who has pitched in 14 games making 13 starts in 2019. He has logged 72.2 innings posting a 3.47 ERA, 4.82 FIP, 1.500 WHIP and 121 ERA+. He was in the pen all of last year and it he was struggling with the transition to the rotation in April, ending the month with a 5.62 ERA over 6 games. Since then he has really turned it on. In his last three games he has pitched 19.1 innings allowing only 3 runs from 13 hits and 9 walks leading to a 1.40 ERA. He faced the Mets earlier this season allowing 3 runs over 5.0 innings from 5 hits and 2 walks, the Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 1-2, HR, BB
• Michael Conforto 0-2, BB
• Brandon Nimmo 0-3, 2 K
• Amed Rosario 1-3
• Jeff McNeil 0-2

Let’s Go Mets!