213 Miles From Shea

Madison Bumgarner through a masterpiece of a game against the Mets in the 2016 Wild Card game. For a while last night it felt like the Mets would lose in a similar fashion but in the 6th inning Pete Alonso and Wilson Ramos both went deep and the Mets actually had the lead!

And then things went down hill. Callaway pulled Syndergaard from the game and the bullpen immediately allowed the tying run to score. Then the bullpen exploded in the 10th inning and the Mets lost 9-3. Depressing.

You know what the Mets need? A Jason Vargas day! Except this time, I’m not sure if I’m joking about it. Vargas is 1-3 over 9 games and 8 starts pitching 36.1 innings with a 4.46 ERA, 4.90 FIP, 1.514 WHIP and 90 ERA+. Since April 19th he has started 6 games tossing 30.0 innings with a 2.40 ERA and an opponents batting average of .213. Since coming back from injury he has pitched 12.0 innings over two games, the most innings per start stretch of the season. The Giants have the following numbers against him:

• Evan Longoria 7-28, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 4 K
• Buster Posey 6-14, 2B, HR, BB, 2 K
• Brandon Belt 3-12, 2B, 4 K
• Pablo Sandoval 3-11, BB, 5 K
• Brandon Crawford 1-9, K
• Kevin Pillar 2-8, HR, 2 K
• Joe Panik 1-5, 2B, K

The Mets bats draw Tyler Beede pitching in his 5th game and 3rd start this season. SO far he has allowed 12 runs, 11 earned over 12.2 innings leading to a 7.82 ERA, 5.59 FIP, 2.368 WHIP and 55 ERA+. His stats are heavily influenced by his first start and first bullpen session this year where he allowed 10 runs, 9 earned over 4.1 innings. Since then he has allowed 2 runs over 8.1 innings, including a start last week against the Marlins where he held them to 1 run over 6.0 innings. This will be his first start against the Mets and he hasn’t faced any Mets in a major league game.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets had a disappointing road trip where they went 2-5 and may have possibly been able to pull off an opposite record of 5-2 if more things went their way but through bullpen mishaps, bad starts, etc the Mets were a 2-5 team over the last week. Now they come home to face the Giants, a team they shoud be able to beat on paper and maybe start moving closer to the .500 line.

More importantly, tonight Ron Darling returns to the SNY booth. Ron announced yesterday that his cancer has stabalized and he has been cleared to return to work. Ron, we are relieved to hear this and are so happy you’re back!

Noah Syndergaard is 3-4 over 12 games and 75.1 innings with a 4.90 ERA, 3.63 FIP, 1.274 WHIP and 82 ERA+. The entire month of May Syndergaard has flip flopped between being terrible or great with his last start, 3 runs over 6.0 innings, being his first just average start. Overall in May he dropped his ERA from a season high of 6.35 to 4.90, hitting his lowest mark of 4.50 on May 19th. Last year against the Giants he allowed 3 runs over 15.0 innings while striking out 17. The Giants have the following numbers against him:

• Brandon belt 0-14, 4 BB, 5 K
• Joe Panik 4-16, 3 K
• Brandon Crawford 2-12, 2 BB, 3 K
• Buster Posey 3-12, K
• Evan Longoria 3-10, 5 K
• Kevin pillar 0-4, K

The Mets draw madison Bumgarner for the series opener. On the season he is 3-5 over 12 games and 74.0 innings with a 4.01 ERA, a career high, 3.59 FIP, 1.189 WHIP and 104 ERA+. He has gotten into a bit of a grove in his last two starts tossing 12.0 innings allowing 4 runs off 12 hits and 10 K’s. His one start against the Mets last year was very good, holding the Mets to 1 run over 8.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Madison:

• Carlos Gomez 4-18, 3 BB, 3 K
• Wilson Ramos 5-18, 2 2B, HR, BB, 3 K
• Todd Frazier 6-15, 2B, 2 HR, 3 K
• Michael Conforto 0-6, 5 K
• Adeiny Hechavarria 2-6, 2B, K
• Amed Rosario 0-4, K
• Aaron Altherr 2-4, HR
• Robinson Cano 1-3, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

The last time the Mets had an off-day was May 13th. Tomorrow, June 3rd is an off-day and this team needs it as they travel across the country back to New York to face the Giants. The only thing standing in their way between that day off for their arms is the Diamondbacks offense one more time.

Steven Matz will try to give the bullpen their day off a bit early. He is 4-3 over 10 games and 50.2 innings this year with a 3.55 ERA, 4.71 FIP, 1.342 WHIP and 114 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed 3 runs over 12.0 innings despite allowing 14 hits and 5 walks (explaining the difference between his WHIP and his ERA) while striking out 13 batters. He faced the Diamondbacks twice last year allowing 5 runs over 10.2 innings from 12 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5. The Diamondbacks have the following career lines against Matz:

• Nick Ahmed 3-5, 2B, 3B
• Ketel Marte 1-5
• David Peralta 0-5
• Jake Lamb 0-3, K
• Jarrod Dyson 0-1, BB

The Mets bats close out the series with 30 year old rookie Merrill Kelly. Kelly was originally in the Tampa Bay system with the SK Wyverns called about his availability and buying him out of his contract. Things didn’t work out for the KBO team then but later when Kelly was pitching in the Dominican Winter League, SK tried again and this time they convinced him to come over. In the KBO he posted a 3.86 ERA over 119 games and nearly 730 innings, quite a feat in a league known for homers and bat flipping. He signed a contract with the Diamondbacks this year and so far has been serviceable, going 4-6 over 11 games and 59.2 innings with a 4.83 ERA, 4.81 FIP, 1.508 WHIP and 94 ERA+. He is coming off two of roughest starts, allowing a total of 8 runs from 12 hits and 5 walks in 8.1 innings.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets still have a chance to come out winning more games than losing on this road trip, but it depends on winning tonight. Yesterday the Mets went up early, 3-0 and they seemed to be in cruise control and the Diamondbacks took the lead in the middle of the game by the score of 4-3. But these Mets showed fight, got two more runs and ended the game in the win column! Now Jacob deGrom will try to keep the good times rolling.

Jacob is 3-5 over 11 games and 63.0 innings with a 3.71 ERA, 3.56 FIP, 1.175 WHIP and 109 ERA+. He’s coming off an average start against the Dodgers where he held them to 2 runs over 5.0 innings despite allowing 7 hits and a walk and only striking out two but the bullpen couldn’t keep the game together behind him. Overall in May he allowed 13 runs, 12 earned over 37.0 innings, a 2.92 ERA with opponents batting .213 against him. If you take out his one bad start where he allowed 7 runs, 6 earned over 5.0 innings, he allowed 6 runs over 32.0 innings. Jacob faced the Diamondbacks once last year allowing 1 run over 7.0 innings from 6 hits and no walks while striking out 13. The D-backs have the following stats against him:

• Zack Greinke 2-5
• Alex Avila 2-6, 4 K
• Adam Jones 0-5, BB, K
• Jake Lamb 1-6, 2B, 3 K
• David Peralta 1-5, 2 K
• Jarrod Dyson 2-5

The Mets bats draw Zack Greinke who is having a resurgent year. He is 6-2 over 12 games and 77.2 innings with a 2.78 ERA, 3.36 FIP, 0.876 WHUP and 162 ERA+. His numbers are due in large part to his month of May where he started 5 games pitching 33.2 innings with a 2.14 ERA and an opponents batting average of .192. In his first 4 starts of the season he allowed 8 homers, since then he has allowed only 2. He missed the Mets completely last year and in 2017 had a lackluster start allowing 4 runs over 6.2 innings from 5 hits and 2 walks. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Todd Frazier 4-24, 2B, 3B, HR, 3 BB, 7 K
• Carlos Gomez 3-23, 2B, HR, BB, 10 K
• Michael Conforto 1-12, HR, 2 K
• Wilson Ramos 2-9, 2B, 2 BB, 4 K
• Adeiny Hechavarria 2-9, 2B, K
• Juan Lagers 1-8, HR, K
• Aaron Altherr 2-6, HR, 2 BB

Let’s Go Mets!

Jason Vargas got the deGrom treatment last night! He pitched incredibly well, pitching 7.0 innings for the first time in recent memory allowing 1 run off 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out 6. The Mets gave him nothing though as the Mets lost 2-0 and the series 3-1 where they had a chance to win all 4 games. Now the Mets try to salvage the road trip with a three game series in Arizona.

Zack Wheeler is 4-3 over 11 games and 70.0 innings with a 4.63 ERA, 3.24 FIP, 1.314 WHIP and 86 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed 6 runs over 14.1 innings while striking out 14 and lowering his ERA from 4.85 to 4.63. He faced the Diamondbacks once last year allowing 2 runs over 6.0 innings from 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 8. The Diamondbacks have the following numbers against him:

• Adam Jones 2-5, BB
• Jake Lamb 3-6, HR
• Nick Ahmed 0-3
• David Peralta 1-3, 2B
• Alex Avila 0-2
• Jarrod Dyson 0-2

The Mets bats will try to find themselves after last night against Jon Duplantier who is making his first career start. So far in 5 games this season he has tossed 12.0 innings with a 2.25 ERA, 3.39 FIP, 1.083 WHIP and 206 ERA+. Before jumping to the major league level this year, he started 6 games in Triple A tossing 17.0 innings with a 4.76 ERA. Last year he started 16 games in the minors (mostly at AA) with 74.0 innings of work and a 2.55 ERA.

Let’s Go Mets!

If the Mets blew the lead in the ninth, but it happened on the West Coast and sizable percentage of Mets fans missed the whole game, did they really blow the lead in a crushing, demoralizing loss? Or is it just a loss?

Last night the Mets built up an impressive lead on the strength of Alonso, Rosario and Dominic Smith but saw the whole thing come crashing down as the bullpen allowed 6 runs including 4 runs by Edwin Diaz. Winning last night would have put the Mets above .500 and put them in a position to win the series, now they will have to hope to just split the series tonight.

Tonight is a serious test for Jason Vargas. He is 1-2 over 8 games and 7 starts in 29.1 innings with a 5.22 ERA, 5.40 FIP, 1.568 WHIP and 77 ERA+. In 4 of his last 5 starts he has allowed 1 run over 4-5 innings of work. In that stretch he has a 2.74 ERA and opponents are batting .205 against him. Can he replicate these numbers though against a team with the hitting ability like the Dodgers? Last year he allowed 5 runs, 4 earned over 3.1 innings against the Dodgers who have the following numbers against him:

• David Freese 9-16, 2B, 4 HR, BB, 3 K
• Russell Martin 1-9, K
• Austin Barnes 1-2, HR
• Enrique Hernandez 1-2
• Chris Taylor 1-1, 2B
• Justin Turner 0-2

The Mets draw Hyun-Jin Ryu who is arguably the best pitcher in baseball right now. He is 7-1 over 10 games and 65.1 innings with a 1.65 ERA (league leading), 2.60 FIP, 0.827 WHIP (league leading) and a 252 ERA+ (league leading). He also leads the league in walks per 9 (0.6) and K/BB (15.50). He’s coming off a “mere mortal” start in Pittsburg where he allowed 2 runs off 10 hits in 6.0 innings, the most hits per inning he has allowed this season. He was good but the defense behind him was not in his one start against the Mets last year where he allowed 5 runs, 1 earned over 6.0 innings allowing 10 hits but striking out 8. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Todd Frazier 1-11, 2B, BB, 5 K
• Juan Lagares 2-7, HR, K
• Michael Conforto 1-6, 2 K
• Adeiny Hechavarria 1-5, BB
• Amed Rosario 1-5
• Robinson Cano 0-2, BB
• Carlos Gomez 1-3, K
• Jeff McNeil 1-3, 2B
• Brandon Nimmo 2-3, K
• Aaron Altherr 0-2

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets did it! They beat a team on paper they weren’t better then!

The Mets beat the Dodgers last night 7-3 thanks to a strong outing by Steven Matz who tossed 6 innings of 2 run ball and to a timely grand slam by Michael Conforto reminding us all why we missed him so much when he was on the injured list.

In what has become an interesting story line this season, which is a nicer way of saying, a surprising story line: the Mets will see which Noah Syndergaard arrives at the game tonight. He is 3-4 over 11 starts and 69.1 innings with a 4.93 ERA, 3.69 FIP, 1.255 WHIP and 81 ERA+. After tossing two good starts, allowing a combined 4 runs over 15.0 innings, he stumbled in his last outing, allowing 6 runs over 5.1 innings. He hasn’t faced the Dodgers since 2016 where he allowed 2 runs over 10.1 innings. The Dodgers have the following numbers against him:

• Corey Seager 3-9, HR, 4 K
• Justin Turner 2-7, 2 2B, BB, 3 K
• Joc Pederson 0-6, BB, 4 K
• Enrique Hernandez 1-1, 2 BB

The Mets bats will get a look at Walker Buehler who is 5-1 over 10 starts and 55.1 innings with a 3.58 ERA, 3.06 FIP, 1.048 WHIP and 116 ERA+. He has been on a tear in his last three starts allowing 5 runs, only 2 earned over 19.0 innings, a 0.95 ERA. He has never faced the Mets before in a major league game and only two members of the team have seen him before. Robinson Cano went 0-2 with a walk and a strikeout and J.D. Davis went 0-2 with two strikeouts.

Let’s Go Mets!

Last night’s Mets / Dodgers bout was back and forth for a while, until the Mets bullpen came in and promptly gave up 6 runs. It was the first difficult outing for the pen in a while, and if you take that inning out of the game, the Mets won! Except all the innings count and the Mets lost. So they look to get back in the win column tonight with Steven Matz.

Matz is 3-3 over 9 starts and 44.2 innings posting a 3.63 ERA, 4.65 FIP, 1.366 WHIP and 110 ERA+. He’s coming off a strong start allowing 1 run over 6.0 innings against the Nationals and overall in his last 5 starts he has a 2.86 ERA over 28.1 innings. The only disturbing trend over those starts: opponents are batting .288 against him. The last time he faced the Dodgers was back in 2017 where he saw them twice allowing 8 runs over 11.1 innings. The Dodgers have the following numbers against him:

• Justin Turner 4-14, 2B, 2 HR, BB, 3 K
• Enrique Hernandez 4-14, HR, 7 K
• David Freese 3-8, HR, BB, 3 K
• Cody Bellinger 1-4, 2B, 2 BB, 2 K
• Chris Taylor 0-6, 3 K
• Austin Barnes 1-3, 2B, 2 BB
• Joc Pederson 0-2, K

The Mets draw Rich Hill who is having his best season since 2016. In 5 starts he has a 2.67 ERA, 4.48 FIP, 1.074 WHIP and 157 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed 1 run over 12.0 innings. His numbers against the Mets last year are similar to Matz’s numbers against the Dodgers in 2017. In 2018, Hill allowed 8 runs off 12 hits and 2 walks in 11.0 innings against the Mets. The Mets have the following individual lines against him:

• Robinson Cano 6-15, 2B, HR, BB, 3 K
• Todd Frazier 2-8, 2B, 4 K
• Michael Conforto 2-6, 2 HR, 2 K
• Carlos Gomez 1-6, 2 K
• Amed Rosario 1-4, 2B, BB, 2 K
• Dominic Smith 0-2
• Adeiny Hachavarria 0-2, 2 K

Let’s Go Mets!

Two weeks ago the Mets played terribly losing 5 games in a row to sub-500 teams. This past week the Mets won 6 of 7 games against sub-500 teams. The result? The Mets are back to .500. The reward? They get to play the best team in the National League – the Dodgers who boast a .660 winning percentage (next best is the Cubs with .588). The Dodgers have the league best run differential at +79 (the Mets are at -12) and are Kings at home with a 19-6 record.

But the Mets have Jacob deGrom. Jacob is 3-5 over 10 games and 58.0 innings with a 3.72 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 1.138 WHIP and 107 ERA+. He struggled back on May 17th, allowing 7 runs, 6 earned to the Marlins but rebounded in his last start holding the Nationals to 1 run over 6.0 innings. In two starts against the Dodgers last year, deGrom held them to 4 runs over 12.0 innings from 7 hits and 4 walks while striking out 12. The Dodgers have the following numbers against deGrom:

• Justin Turner 6-25, 3 2B, HR, 3 K
• Joc Pederson 2-17, 2B, 6 BB, 5 K
• Corey Seager 6-14, 3 2B, BB, 5 K
• Enrique Hernandez 0-6, BB, 2 K
• Max Muncy 1-5, HR

Clayton Kershaw is 4-0 over 7 games and 46.0 innings this year with a 3.33 ERA, 3.69 FIP, 0.978 WHIP and 125 ERA+. The month of May has been a bit rougher on Kershaw, despite going 3-0, he has allowed 12 runs over 26.0 innings, a 4.15 ERA. He had a limited start against the Mets last year allowing 2 runs off 5 hits and a walk in 3.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Carlos Gomez 7-24, 2 2B, HR, BB, 4 K
• Todd Frazier 4-15, 2 2B, 5 K
• Juan Lagares 1-15, 4 K
• Wilson Ramos 2-12, 4 K
• Adeiny Hechavarria 1-10, 2 K
• Robinson Cano 0-9, K
• Michael Conforto 1-6, 2B, 2 K
• Aaron Altherr 1-5, HR

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets and Tigers play the rubber game of their three game set before the Mets go off to LA to play the Dodgers tomorrow. Yesterday, shockingly, was a low scoring affair for both starting pitchers and didn’t get interesting until the bullpens got involved. For the Mets, Jason Vargas has now pitched well in 4 of his 5 starts, starting to change his narrative. Anyway the Mets and Tigers changed leads several times until Edwin Diaz allowed an inherited runner to score in the 8th which propelled both teams all the way to the 13th inning where Nido hit a walk off homer! (Also, we can’t pivot a turn to talking about today’s game without mentioning Wilson Ramos who was the Mets offense with two homers and an RBI single).

Zack Wheeler makes his 11th start of the season today. He is 3-3 over 10 games and 62.2 innings with a 4.74 ERA, 3.21 FIP, 1.372 WHIP and an 83 ERA+. He rebounded a bit in his last start allowing only 3 runs over 7.0 innings meaning that he has had three good starts in May, allowing a total of 7 runs over 21.0 innings. He also has one start where he allowed 6 runs over 6.0 innings. We are only a few hours away from finding out which Wheeler we got today. The Tigers have the following numbers against him:

• Josh Harrison 1-6, 2B, 2 K
• Jordy Mercer 0-5
• Gordon Beckham 1-2
• Tyson Ross 1-2

Unlike the last two days, the Mets face a starter this afternoon who has actually been in the rotation all season and has been successful. Spencer Turnbull pitched in 4 games, 3 starts in 2018 logging 16.1 innings posting a 6.06 ERA, 2.85 FIP, 1.286 WHIP and 75 ERA+. Over 10 starts and 53.2 innings this year he has a 2.68 ERA, 3.86 FIP, 1.304 WHIP and 173 ERA+. In his last 7 games he has pitched 38.2 innings with a 1.86 ERA and opponents are batting .208 against him. That being said, his last two lines are interesting. On May 16th he lasted only 4.0 innings giving up 6 runs but only 1 was earned and in his last start he lasted only 5, giving up 3 runs. No one on the Mets has seen him in a major league game.

Let’s Go Mets!