213 Miles From Shea

The Mets head down the coast to San Diego bringing their seven game winning streak with them! The Mets are coming off of a sweep of the Giants, maintaining their hold on first place in the NL East. Tonight they start a series against the Padres who are second in the NL West. With a tightening playoff race, its not outside of realm of possibility that the Padres and Mets will need to use a tiebreaker at the end of the season to determine seeding. After this week’s series, the two teams won’t meet up again until mid-September.

There are only a few more days until the MLB trade deadline, there’s a chance both teams rosters change in a big way during this series!

Frankie Montas has pitched 25 1/3 innings over five starts with a 4.62 ERA, 4.55 FIP, 1.303 WHIP and an 83 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed three runs from 12 hits and two walks over 10 2/3 innings while striking out 11 batters. The Mets have also won all three of his starts in July. Montas pitched against the Padres last May allowing four runs from nine hits and a walk over six innings of work. The Padres have the following career numbers against Montas:

• Luis Arráez 6-9, 2 2B, K
• Xander Bogaerts 1-12, 2B, 2 BB
• Jake Cronenworth 0-6, K
• Elias Díaz 3-10, 2B, 3 K
• Jose Iglesias 3-11, 2 K
• Manny Machado 1-6, 2B, 4 K
• Martin Maldonado 3-18, 2B, BB, 6 K
• Jackson Merrill 1-3
• Gavin Sheets 0-3, K
• Fernando Tatis Jr. 0-3
• Tyler Wade 0-2, K

Dylan Cease has pitched 113 2/3 innings over 21 starts this season with a 4.59 ERA, 3.57 FIP, 1.302 WHIP and a 90 ERA+. He’s allowed three runs, only two earned in his last two starts totaling 10 1/3 innings. Before that he allowed 14 runs, 13 earned over 16 innings spread across three starts (7.31 ERA, 7.40 FIP). Cease has just not been consistent over the last two months. As in he hasn’t been consistently good or consistently bad. Which Cease will the Mets get tonight? The Mets have the following career stats against him:

• Pete Alonso 2-8, HR, 4 K
• Francisco Alvarez 0-3, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 4-12, 2B, 3 HR, BB, K
• Starling Marte 0-3, 2 BB, K
• Jeff McNeil 3-8
• Brandon Nimmo 3-6
• Juan Soto 2-8, HR, BB, 3 K
• Tyrone Taylor 1-6, 2B, 3 K
• Luis Torrens 1-2, K
• Mark Vientos 1-6, 2B, 4 K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Ronny Mauricio. Mauricio is coming off of a career game going 4-for-4 with two doubles and a home run. He has a three game hitting streak going and has looked a lot better at the plate since Juan Soto started giving him tips in the batting cage. Sunday night he showed his potential and we can’t wait to see the next steps he continues to make this season.
2. Jose Iglesias. The Mets will finally face off this season against the player who quite literally wrote the theme song for the 2024 Mets. Jose Iglesias signed a non-roster invitee deal with the Mets before the 2024 season. Over 85 games he hit .337/.381/.448 with a 138 OPS+ and 3.1 bWAR (a career high). His song (and subsequent dance and sign) became the home run celebration for the Mets. He was a huge reason why the 2024 Mets are unforgettable. He’s played in 75 games with the Padres this season slashing .233/.291/.271 with a 59 OPS+.
3. Clouds over rumored players in trades. The Padres are not afraid to make a deal at the deadline. They are not afraid to make deals to get prospect pieces to then trade away in later deals. With the limited amount of teams selling this year, there have been some murmurs that the Padres may trade away Dylan Cease. Will this amp Cease up? Not impact him at all? Cause the Padres to take him out early to prevent injury? On the Mets side, there have been rumors swirling around Mark Vientos (and just the plethora of infielders the Mets have in general) and Starling Marte.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets go for the sweep tonight in San Francisco! Saturday night was a much closer game than Friday night with the Mets holding on to a 2-1 lead. David Peterson and Robbie Ray, both 2025 All-Stars, delivered fantastic performances constantly weaving in and out of trouble. Then the bullpens for both clubs were essentially flawless. The Mets bullpen allowed one hit and the Giants allowed two hits.

Now the Mets look to complete the sweep and hold on to their first place lead in the division. Pressure continues to build on the Giants who have now lost nine of their last 12 games. They need to do a bullpen game tonight followed by a spot starter game tomorrow.

Kodai Senga looks to rebound tonight. Senga is coming off of his worst start of the season allowing four runs from four hits and three walks over three innings of work against the Angels last week. He has made 15 starts this season totaling 80 2/3 innings with a 1.79 ERA, 3.31 FIP, 1.178 WHIP and a 214 ERA+. Senga is a very different pitcher than the last time he faced the Giants. He faced the Giants in April 2023 where he allowed four runs from five hits over five innings while walking four batters. This was the phase at the start of his MLB career where he was walking the world. The Giants have the following career numbers against Senga:

• Willy Adames 0-2, BB, K
• Matt Chapman 1-1, 2B, BB
• Rafael Devers 0-3, 2 BB
• Wilmer Flores 0-3
• Andrew Knizner 0-2
• Dominic Smith 1-4, 2B, 2 K
• Brett Wisely 0-3, K
• Mike Yastrzemski 2-3

It’s a bullpen game for the Giants this evening! Matt Gage will start things off for the Giants. He’s pitched in nine major league games between the Tigers and the Giants this season totaling 9 2/3 innings with a 0.00 ERA, scattering eight hits and three walks (2.57 FIP).

Carson Seymour is in line to get the bulk of the work of the afternoon and his name should sound familiar to you. The Mets drafted Seymour in 2021 and traded him with J.D. Davis and Thomas Szapucki to the Giants for Darin Ruf at the 2022 trade deadline. Seymour has pitched in three games this season totaling six innings allowing two runs, four earned, from eight hits and a walk. He has allowed three home runs in only six innings. Critically for the Giants today, before being called up at the end of June, Seymour was stretched out to six innings in the minors. He routinely tossed more than 80 pitches, maxing at 102. The Giants need a long outing from Seymour today.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Mark Vientos. Vientos’ name has started to bubble up in trade rumors. It’s been reported that the White Sox have been asking for Mark Vientos in trade discussions for Luis Robert Jr. Vientos has been showing signs of his 2024 since July 10th. Over his last 12 games Vientos has gone 13-for-43 at the plate with four doubles, a triple and six RBI’s (.302/.318/.442). He’s raised his season stat line from .210/.272/.341 to .226/.280/.358. Currently he has a six game hitting streak and has hit doubles in back-to-back games.
2. Gregory Soto. Soto joined the team yesterday and is expected to be active for today’s game. Soto is the first (and probably not last) acquisition the Mets made during this trade deadline, sending Wellington Aracena and Cameron Foster to the Orioles. Soto is a power lefty with a fastball that averages 96.8 mph (86th percentile) with swing and miss stuff (87th percentile). He does struggle with control (11th percentile for walks) but hitters struggle to barrel the ball against him (94th percentile).
3. Francisco Lindor’s new streak. Lindor has reached base at least twice in three straight games! Saturday night he went 1-for-4 with a walk. Unfortunately the bats behind him were struggling and the Mets couldn’t bring him home. Over his last three games he has gone 6-for-13 at the plate with a double, a home run and four runs scored (.462/.500/.769).

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to extend their winning streak to six games tonight! The Mets are coming off of a convincing 8-1 win Friday night. Before the game the Mets jumped into the trade deadline acquiring Gregory Soto from the Orioles for Wellington Aracena and Cameron Foster. Soto is a hard throwing lefty that generates a lot of whiffs (87th percentile) but also walks a lot of batters (10th percentile). Lefty relieving has been a weak spot for the Mets this season but with Brooks Raley returning last week and now Soto, the Mets look a lot better than they did a couple of weeks ago.

Tonight’s matchup pits two 2025 All-Star lefties against each other. There is pressure on the Giants who have lost seven of their last ten games and have a bullpen game on deck for tomorrow.

David Peterson has a chance tonight to set a new career record for innings pitched in a season. Last season he tossed 121 innings over 21 games. He is sitting at 115 innings over 19 starts this season with a 2.90 ERA, 3.34 FIP, 1.217 WHIP and a 132 ERA+. This season has been comparable to last season where he ended the season with a 2.90 ERA and a 133 ERA+.

Peterson is coming off of a strong start against the Reds where he held them to one unearned run over six innings. In July he has allowed four runs, two earned over 19 2/3 innings (0.92 ERA, 3.24 FIP). The Giants have the following career stats against Peterson:

• Willy Adames 2-9, 2B, 7 BB, 2 K
• Patrick Bailey 1-2, K
• Rafael Devers 4-10, 2B, 2 K
• Wilmer Flores 1-5, HR, BB, K
• Luis Matos 1-1, BB
• Heliot Ramos 1-2, 2B, K
• Casey Schmitt 0-2
• Dominic Smith 2-5, 2 K
• Mike Yastrzemski 0-3, K

Robbie Ray has pitched 123 1/3 innings over 21 starts this season with a 2.92 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 1.127 WHIP and a 132 ERA+. He started July off strong with a 2.18 ERA, 4.25 FIP over 20 2/3 innings spread over three games including a complete game. His last start was rough though allowing five runs over 4 1/3 innings of work. The Mets have the following career numbers against Robbie Ray:

• Pete Alonso 1-6, 3 K
• Francisco Lindor 1-3, HR, 2 K
• Starling Marte 8-23, 2B, 3B, HR, 2 BB, 9 K
• Jeff McNeil 0-6, K
• Brandon Nimmo 2-6, 3B, HR, 2 K
• Juan Soto 1-6
• Luis Torrens 2-11, 2B, 4 K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Francisco Lindor is back. Lindor went 2-for-4 on Wednesday with a run scored and two RBI’s. It was a massively positive sign for the Mets leader who was mired in an 0-for-30 streak. The weight has been lifted from Lindor’s shoulders and he came out swinging Friday night. He went 3-for-5 with a double, a home run, a stolen base and scored three runs. Hopefully this is the start of a hot streak!
2. Get Robbie Ray out of the game. The Mets were able to get Logan Webb out of the game early Friday night forcing the Giants to use four of their relievers to close out the game. Camilo Doval, one of their high leverage relievers, needed to toss 29 pitches. As of right now, the Giants are looking at a bullpen game on Sunday night. The Giants are also spiraling a bit right now, and tonight is their best chance of winning a game this series. There’s a lot of pressure on the Giants tonight. Look for the Mets to work counts, drive up pitch counts, steal bases. The Mets should be as annoying as possible and make the bullpen work tonight so tomorrow is even tougher.
3. Basepath battle. The Mets stole three bases Friday night bringing them to 84 on the season, which is good for 10th in the majors. For context, the Giants have only stolen 46 bases this season, which is tied for 28th in MLB. Robbie Ray has struggled with allowing runners to advance on the base paths this year. From Statcast, if there is only a runner on first, Ray has allowed 10 stolen bases and has only caught one batter. Hitters have attempted to steal a base on Ray though only 1.7% of the time this season (last season it was a very high 6.2% of the time). He ranks towards the bottom of the league with a -4 net bases prevented. David Peterson actually leads the league by himself with +7 net bases prevented. Runners on first are attempting to steal on Peterson only 0.3% off the time. Only one runner has been successful at stealing on Peterson when they are at first and the only runner on the base paths.

Let’s Go Mets!

Hope you like the San Francisco Giants because the Mets are going to see the Giants a lot over the next week or so. Over their next nine games the Mets will play the Giants six times! Going into play today the Mets are on a four game winning streak with a half game lead in the division. The Giants have won back-to-back games and have struggled winning only three games in their last 10 games played. They are five games over .500 and one game back in the Wild Card race, chasing the Padres (who the Mets play next). Both the Mets and the Giants would feel a lot more confident about October baseball getting the potential tie-breaker by taking the season series.

Clay Holmes makes his 21st start of the season this evening! Over 108 2/3 innings, Holmes has a 3.48 ERA, 4.21 FIP, 1.270 WHIP and a 110 ERA+. Things haven’t been great lately. He’s allowed 12 runs, 11 earned, from 18 hits and four walks over his last 15 1/3 innings (6.46 ERA, 3.16 FIP) and has hit three batters over that stretch. The Giants have the following career stats against him:

• Willy Adames 1-1, 2B, BB
• Matt Chapman 3-10, BB, K
• Rafael Devers 2-7, HR, 2 BB
• Wilmer Flores 0-2
• Andrew Knizner 0-1, K
• Heliot Ramos 0-1, K
• Casey Schmitt 0-1
• Dominic Smith 1-3
• Brett Wisely 0-1
• Mike Yastrzemski 1-4, 2B, K

Logan Webb has pitched a league leading 131 2/3 innings this season over 21 starts, he’s on track to lead the league in innings pitched for a third season in a row. So far in 2025 he has a 3.08 ERA, 2.58 FIP, 1.208 WHIP and a 126 ERA+. He’s also had a rough last couple times out on the mound. Over his last two starts he has allowed 10 earned runs from 17 hits and two walks over 11 1/3 innings. Webb was terrific against the Mets in 2024 allowing only one unearned run over 16 innings, scattering nine hits. The Mets have the following career stats against him:

• Pete Alonso 2-16, HR, 2 BB, 6 K
• Brett Baty 0-7, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 3-14, 2B, 5 K
• Starling Marte 7-15, 2B, K
• Jeff McNeil 4-15, 2 2B, BB, 2 K
• Brandon Nimmo 1-17, HR, 2 BB, 5 K
• Juan Soto 3-15, 3B, BB, 3 K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-4, BB, 2 K
• Luis Torrens 1-4

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Pete Alonso. Alonso broke out of his slump in a big way Wednesday afternoon going 2-for-4 at the plate with a massive 437-foot three-run home runs. He now sits at 248 career home runs as he continues to chase Strawberry’s franchise leading 252 homers. While Alonso may not have the greatest career numbers against Logan Webb, Alonso has enjoyed hitting in San Francisco. Over 17 career games at Oracle Park Alonso is slashing .250/.307/.603 hitting seven home runs out of 17 total hits.
2. Francisco Lindor. Heading into Wednesday’s game Lindor was in a historic slump, going 0-for-30. On Wednesday he went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI’s. Between Logan Webb tonight and Robbie Ray tomorrow, the Mets are going to need Lindor to be more like Lindor. He was hitting balls hard in the games leading up to Wednesday’s two-hit performance, hopefully that continues tonight!
3. Fan Favorites in San Francisco. Two of the most beloved former Mets play for the Giants. Dominic Smith was signed and cut by the Yankees twice this season before signing with the Giants at the start of June. His Giants career has gotten off to a solid start, hitting .250/.330/.280 with a 106 OPS+ over 32 games so far. Wilmer Flores has a 103 OPS+ this season over 91 games with 12 home runs. He hit seven of the 12 home runs in the first 23 games of the season!

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets go for the sweep this afternoon! The last couple of days have followed similar scripts. The Angels took the lead early, then extended their lead. On Tuesday night this meant going ahead 1-0 on a homerun early and tacking on another run a few innings later. The Mets bats just couldn’t figure Hendricks out until the 5th inning where Francisco Alvarez ripped a two-run homer off of the Professor. Nimmo would plate another run and that’s all the Mets needed to beat the Angels 3-2.

The Mets head to San Francisco after the game and get a day off tomorrow. They desperately need the rest for their bullpen that has been over taxed the last couple of days. The Angels similarly have used their bullpen a lot over the last five days and are going with a bullpen game today. It’s going to be a tired, getaway day for everyone at Citi Field!

Sean Manaea has pitched 7 1/3 innings over two outings this season with a 2.45 ERA, 2.55 FIP, 1.091 WHIP and a 164 ERA+. His first start was right out of the gate after the All-Star break where he allowed one run over four innings from a single hit (solo home run) while striking out six batters. Manaea has struck out 13 batters in only 7 1/3 innings this season! In his first relief outing Manaea tossed 65 pitches and the Mets let him go up to 69 in his last start. We’ll see how deep the Mets allow him to go today. The Angels have the following career numbers against Manaea:

• Jo Adell 1-1
• Travis d’Arnaud 2-6, BB, 3 K
• Yoan Moncada 0-4
• Kevin Newman 1-3, BB< K
• Luis Rengifo 1-2, 2B
• Jorge Soler 2-9, HR, BB, 2 K
• Mike Trout 9-21, 3B, 3 HR, 4 BB, 4 K
• Taylor Ward 2-10, 3 K

The Angels will try to survive the afternoon with a bullpen game. Brock Burke will start things off. Over 47 games he has pitched 40 innings with a 3.38 ERA, 4.29 FIP, 1.350 WHIP and a 127 ERA+. Earlier this series he pitched 2/3’s of an inning against the Mets allowing no runs and not hits throwing only 12 pitches.

Lefty Jake Eder looks to get the bulk of the work this afternoon. Eder was originally drafted by the Mets in 2017 but opted to go to Vanderbilt and was drafted by the Marlins in 2020. He has pitched 12 1/3 innings over seven games this season with a 3.65 ERA, 5.85 FIP, 1.297 WHIP and a 120 ERA+. On July 13th he pitched four innings allowing only two hits. Over the weekend the Phillies scored three runs off of Eder over his three innings of relief.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Brandon Nimmo. Nimmo looks to extend his on-base streak to 17 games this afternoon. During his current 16 game stretch he is hitting .305/.391/.508 with three doubles, three home runs and seven walks. It’s nice to see Nimmo finding a balance between old and new, working walks and hitting bombs. He also has a three game stretch with recording an RBI!
2. Bring Juan Soto Home. Juan Soto walked three times in Tuesday night’s game, bringing his league leading total to 82. At one point he even put himself into scoring position stealing his 13th stolen base of the season, a career high for Soto! The Mets failed to bring him home throughout the game. Soto has been on base six times over the last four games but has only scored one run. Hopefully the Mets can find a way to get him across the plate this afternoon!
3. Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso. The Mets All-Stars are slumping! This was going to happen at some point of the season. Over the last couple of days Brett Baty and Francisco Alvarez have been able to pick up the Mets. Lindor hasn’t had a hit in 30 at bats, a career worst for the Mets best hitter. Alonso has gone 2-for-33 in his last 10 games played with five walks and 12 strikeouts.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to win their third game in a row this evening at Citi Field! The Angels took the lead early Monday. As we noted yesterday, the Angels are in the top half of the league in scoring, ahead of the Mets, but are near the bottom of the league in runs allowed. With the way the Mets have been hitting recently being down 4-0 with their starter leaving after three innings felt insurmountable.

But the Mets showed a lot of fight last night! The bullpen picked up Kodai Senga and allowed only one more run. The Mets bats, mostly through the bottom of the lineup, scratched out seven runs. Edwin Díaz struck out the side in the ninth inning to shut the door. Now the Mets have the momentum going into game two!

Frankie Montas makes his fifth start of the season tonight for the Mets. Over his first four starts he has pitched 19 2/3 innings with a 5.03 ERA, 4.62 FIP, 1.169 WHIP and a 77 ERA+. He has been excellent in two starts, his first start and his last start, allowing only one run over 10 innings. In the two starts between he allowed 10 runs over 9 2/3 innings. Which Montas will we get tonight at Citi? The Angels have the following career numbers against Montas:

• Jo Adell 0-5, 2 K
• Travis d’Arnaud 0-3, K
• Yoan Moncada 2-5, 2 BB, 2 K
• Kevin Newman 1-2
• Luis Rengifo 1-9, HR, 2 BB
• Jorge Soler 0-6, 2 K
• Mike Trout 5-19, 2 BB, 5 K
• LaMonte Wade Jr. 3-9, 2 HR, 2 BB
• Taylor Ward 4-12, 3B, HR, 2 K

The Mets bats take on the Professor tonight! After many years in Chicago, Kyle Hendricks is now an Angel. Over 18 games, 96 innings, Hendricks has a 4.88 ERA, 4.78 FIP, 1.292 WHIP and an 87 ERA+. July hasn’t been so kind to Hendricks – he’s allowed eight runs, seven earned over nine innings from 10 hits. The Mets have the following career stats against him:

• Pete Alonso 2-7, HR, 3 BB, K
• Francisco Alvarez 1-5
• Brett Baty 1-1
• Francisco Lindor 3-15, BB, 4 K
• Jeff McNeil 3-7, HR, BB, K
• Brandon Nimmo 2-6, 2 K
• Juan Soto 4-13, 2B, BB, 4 K
• Tyrone Taylor 1-4, 2B
• Mark Vientos 0-2

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Mets bullpen management. Barring a move before game time, the Mets have three pitchers in the bullpen that didn’t pitch in Monday night’s game – Ryne Stanek, Reed Garrett and Alex Carrillo. Edwin Díaz and Huascar Brazobán have both pitched on back-to-back days. Frankie Montas has topped out at around five innings in his starts this year so even in the best scenario where Montas comes out strong tonight, the Mets are going to need 3-4 innings of work from their already tired bullpen.
2. Brett Baty. Baty is in a hot streak! Over his last four games Baty has gone 5-for-11 at the plate with two home runs, two walks and a stolen base. He has three RBI’s and has scored four runs (.455/.538/1.000). The Mets offense for most of the season has run through their big four, and we’ve seen when one or two of the big four struggle, the whole offense sputters. Baty’s resurgence is coming at the best time for the Mets.
3. Francisco Lindor. Lindor’s funk continued for another day Monday night, going 0-for-5 at the plate but he did record a run and had an RBI on a force out in the Mets big 7th inning. In his last five games he has gone 0-for-24. There are signs though that he is going to break out of this funk soon. He didn’t strikeout out at all Monday night and three of his five at bats had exit velocities above 90 mph. Two of his at bats had an xBA of .440 and .550. He’s going to regress to his mean soon, which means he’s going to get some hits!

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets escaped the weekend with the Reds! The Mets were holding on to a tenuous 2-1 lead for the vast majority of Sunday’s game. The Reds were able to scratch out a run in the bottom of the 8th to tie the game and the Mets responded by finding a run in the bottom of the 8th to take the lead for good. Now the Mets welcome a similarly scrappy team – the Angels – to Citi Field.

Like the Reds, the Angels are also in 4th place in their division, right around .500 and are playing sort-of well lately. The Angels are 14th in runs scored (Mets are 16th) but are 26th in runs allowed (Mets are 7th). Here’s hoping the Mets can make it two wins in a row!

Kodai Senga looked good last weekend in his first start back. Over four innings he allowed four hits and walked two batters while shutting out the Royals and racking up four strikeouts. The Mets let him get up to 67 pitches. Over 14 starts this season Kodai has pitched 77 2/3 innings with a 1.39 ERA, 3.17 FIP, 1.113 WHIP and a 276 ERA+. He pitched against the Angels back in 2023 allowing only two runs from four hits while striking out 10 batters. The Angels have the following career numbers against Senga:

• Travis d’Arnaud 1-2, K
• Kevin Newman 1-2
• Logan O’Hoppe 1-2, BB, K
• Luis Rengifo 1-3
• Nola Schanuel 0-2, K
• Jorge Soler 3-8, 2B, BB, 3 K
• LaMonte Wade Jr. 1-3, HR, BB

The Mets bats will try to get going against Tyler Anderson tonight. Over 19 games (101 2/3 innings), Anderson has a 4.34 ERA, 4.89 FIP, 1.407 WHIP and a 98 ERA+. Teams have been scoring against him lately scoring seven runs over 10 innings from 16 hits and four walks. The Mets hit him moderately well in 2024 scoring three runs over eights from five innings of work. The Mets have the following career stats against Anderson:

• Pete Alonso 2-9, HR, BB, K
• Francisco Lindor 2-12, K
• Jeff McNeil 1-6
• Brandon Nimmo 8-15, HR, 3 K
• Juan Soto 3-20, 5 BB, 2 K
• Tyrone Taylor 1-6
• Luis Torrens 0-4
• Mark Vientos 1-3, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Francisco Alvarez. Alvarez is back! The Mets sent him down to Syracuse on June 21st. Since then he has played in 19 games and has hit 11 home runs going 20-for-67 at the plate slashing .299/.397/.836 while striking out 21 times. He has been hitting absolute bombs including one shot over the batters eye this past weekend. Alvarez struggled to get power going at the plate this season slashing .236/.319/.333 over 35 games. He hit .237/.307/.403 in 2024 with his power taking a hit after his thumb injury.
2. Containing Taylor Ward. Taylor Ward has been a solid player stuck on a middling team for the last four seasons. He has a 9.2 bWAR from 2022 until now and has had an OPS+ above 100 for the last five seasons. He had 23 and 25 home runs in 2022 and 2024, but this season he has taken off already collecting 23 home runs by late July. He’s coming off a five hit series in Philly hitting two home runs.
3. Francisco Lindor. Lindor is in a funk right now. In his last four games he has gone 0-for-19 with six strikeouts. That being said, by the end of Sunday’s game he was making solid contact and loud outs. Hopefully this is the start of Lindor turning the corner.

Let’s Go Mets!

Oh boy, the Mets have put themselves in a pickle today.

The Mets have lost the first two games of the series against the Reds and could get swept this afternoon. As Gary Cohen pointed out multiple times during the broadcast on Saturday, both games this series have followed pretty much the exact same story. The Mets got the lead early, the Mets lost the lead, the Mets tried to make a comeback in the ninth but fell short. The only additional wrinkle on Saturday was an increase in defensive miscues by the Mets and some questionable umpiring calls against the Mets. Now the Mets will try to avoid the sweep against the ace of the Reds staff.

It’s a battle of All-Star pitchers this afternoon at Citi Field. David Peterson gets the start fresh off his first career All-Star game. Over 18 starts this season Peterson has pitched 109 innings with a 3.06 ERA, 3.37 FIP, 1.239 WHIP and a 125 ERA+. He’s allowed three runs, two earned over his last two starts and 13 2/3 innings while striking out 10 batters. The Reds have the following career numbers against Peterson:

• Santiago Espinal 0-2
• TJ Friedl 1-4, BB, 2 K
• Austin Hays 0-1
• Connor Joe 0-2, 2 BB, K
• Gavin Lux 0-2, BB
• Noelvi Marte 2-3
• Spencer Steer 1-3, HR, 2 BB
• Tyler Stephenson 2-5, 2 K
• Jose Trevino 1-1

Andrew Abbott has taken off this season with a 2.07 ERA, 3.52 FIP, 1.084 WHIP and a 217 ERA+ over 91 1/3 innings this season. He’s coming off of a 7 2/3 inning performance against the Marlins holding them to only one run from six hits. He’s not invincible though. He allowed four runs against the Phillies on July fourth and allowed five runs in two starts in June (he allowed three runs total in his other three June starts and one of those five run games in June was mostly due to bad defense). Abbott made one start against the Mets last season allowing three runs, two earned over five innings from seven hits. The Mets have the following career stats against him:

• Pete Alonso 0-4, BB, 2 K
• Brett Baty 1-3
• Francisco Lindor 3-4, 2B, HR, BB
• Ronny Mauricio 2-2
• Jeff McNeil 1-3, BB
• Brandon Nimmo 0-5, K
• Juan Soto 3-5, BB
• Tyrone Taylor 1-4, 2 K
• Mark Vientos 1-2, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Brandon Nimmo. Nimmo currently has a 13 game on-base streak where he is slashing .327/.411/.571 with three doubles, three home runs and four stolen bases. His season slash line has gone from .252/.313/.448 to .262/.327/.465. He’s now only five home runs, seven doubles and four stolen bases his 2024 numbers. He’s only six home runs and five stolen bases away from career highs in those categories.
2. Juan Soto. Speaking of career highs, Juan Soto stole his 12th stolen base of the season on Saturday. He has hit 12 stolen bases in a season now three times in his career and his next stolen base will be a career high.
3. Brett Baty. Let’s keep the career best conversation going! Brett Baty went 2-for-3 on Saturday with a home run, his 10th of the season. In 2023, when Baty played in 108 games and had 389 plate appearances, Baty had nine home runs. In 77 games (247 plate appearances) in 2025 he now has a career highs in home runs and stolen bases (4) and is only four doubles and three RBI’s away from career highs in those categories too. Baty has a 1.6 bWAR, by far the best in his career.

Let’s Go Mets!

Happy David Wright Day!

The Mets are retiring David Wright’s #5 today and inducting him into the Mets Hall of Fame. The fourth captain in Mets history defined a generation of Mets baseball with his trademark slick fielding, timely hitting and excellent leadership. If you’re going to the game today, have a wonderful time! Hope you are able to make new memories while celebrating one of the truly greatest Mets players of all time.

After the ceremony the Mets will try to get back in the win column. The Mets came out strong Friday night. Sean Manaea was dealing, Juan Soto was slugging and the Mets got a hit with runners in scoring position. As soon as the Mets went to the bullpen things fell apart and the Mets lost 8-4. Let’s bounce back!

Clay Holmes has tossed 103 1/3 innings over 19 starts with a 3.31 ERA, 4.23 FIP, 1.258 WHIP and a 115 ERA+. Holmes is coming off of a solid start where he allowed two runs over five innings against the Royals. Being a reliever in the American League for the last couple of years, the Reds have barely faced Holmes recently. Holmes faced the Reds once last season striking out all three hitters he faced in his one inning of relief. The Reds have the following career numbers against him:

• Will Benson 0-2
• Santiago Espinal 0-1, K
• Jake Fraley 1-1
• Austin Hays 2-8, 2B, 2 K
• Gavin Lux 1-2
• Noelvi Marte 0-1, K
• Matt McLain 0-1
• Spencer Steer 1-2, K
• Tyler Stephenson 0-2, K
• Brent Suter 0-2, K

Nick Martinez is finally, primarily, a starting pitcher. He debuted with the Rangers as a starter back in 2014 and slowly was moved into the bullpen over his four years with Texas. He then played four seasons in Japan, coming back to America in 2022. Since then he’s been slowly moved back to the rotation.

This season he has pitched in 21 games, 19 starts, totaling 111 innings with a 4.78 ERA, 4.14 FIP, 1.207 WHIP and a 93 ERA+. July is a good microcosm of his season. His last start was solid, allowing only two runs over 5 1/3 innings. His start before that was terrible, allowing 10 runs over five innings. Before that he allowed four runs from nine hits over 6 2/3 innings. He’s just been inconsistent in the rotation oscillating from excellent starts (one run over eight innings on June 27th) to terrible starts. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 1-4, HR, BB
• Brett Baty 1-3
• Francisco Lindor 2-6, 2B
• Jeff McNeil 0-3
• Brandon Nimmo 2-6, 2B, BB, 2 K
• Juan Soto 1-1, HR
• Tyrone Taylor 2-6, 2 2B, 2 K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Francisco Lindor. There are going to be a lot of eyes on the leader of the 2025 Mets today. For a while now Lindor has essentially been the assumed captain of the Mets. Official MLB accounts accidentally released a video for the David Wright celebrations that seemed to suggest that Lindor will be named named the captain soon. Whether or not that is true, the Mets need Francisco to be Francisco today. He’s gone 0-for-10 over his last two games. Before that that though he was on a mini-hot streak hitting .333/.438/.630 over seven games with two doubles and two home runs.
2. Juan Soto. Soto picked up right where he left off before the All-Star break, by hitting another tank. Soto has now homered in three of his last four games and has 24 on the season. He’s now at 4.0 bWAR for the season while still leading the league with 77 walks. The Mets broadcast noted that after his three strikeout game before the All-Star break, 2025 is the first season since 2019 that Soto has more strikeouts than walks. He struck out two more times yesterday and now has struck out 80 times this season.
3. Brooks Raley. The Mets activated Brooks Raley before Friday night’s game. Raley was traded to the Mets before the 2023 season and pitched in 74 games with a 2.48 ERA from 2023 to 2024. He needed Tommy John surgery after eight games in 2024. Raley has not allowed run in any of eight rehab games, scattering seven hits over nine innings. The Mets bullpen could use a boost and hopefully Raley can provide it.

Let’s Go Mets!

Mets baseball is back!

The Mets are half a game out of first place and 13 games above .500 to start the second half. After stumbling in the second half of June, the Mets have been better of late. Heading into the All-Star break the Mets got Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga back from injury, the best start we’ve seen from Frankie Montas. Plus saw signs that Mark Vientos was turning things around.

The Reds are in 4th in NL Central, but have a winning record. If the season ended today the Brewers, Mets and Padres would each get a wild card spot, with the Mets 2.5 games ahead of the Padres and the Reds 2.5 games back of the Padres. This is a big series for the Reds who are trying to collapse the Wild Card standings a bit heading into the trade deadline.

Sean Manaea makes his first start at Citi Field this afternoon. Manaea looked excellent in his outing of the season right before the All-Star break pitching 3 1/3 innings allowing one run on five hits while striking out seven. At one point he struck out five batters in a row. Manaea had two different starts against the Reds in 2024. In his first start (April) he held them to one run and three hits over five innings. In September he allowed four runs from three hits including two home runs over 6 2/3 innings. The Reds have the following career numbers against him:

• Will Benson 0-1
• Elly De La Cruz 2-5, HR, K
• Santiago Espinal 0-3, 2 K
• Jake Fraley 0-4, 3 BB
• TJ Friedl 2-5, HR, 2 K
• Austin Hays 2-6, HR, 2 K
• Connor Joe 0-8, BB, K
• Matt McLain 0-1, BB
• Spencer Steer 1-6, BB, 2 K
• Tyler Stephenson 1-5, BB, 2 K
• Jose Trevino 1-8, 2B, 2 K

The Mets bats will get the second half started against Nick Lodolo who is having a career year. Over 19 starts, 106 2/3 innings, Lodolo has a 3.38 ERA, 4.02 FIP, 1.106 WHIP and a 132 ERA+. Lodolo is coming off of a strong start where he shutout the Marlins over six innings while striking out four batters. In his last five games he has a 2.28 ERA and a 4.35 FIP. His rise FIP can be attributed to the home runs he’s been allowing of late. He’s allowed eight home runs over his last seven starts. The Mets have the following career numbers against Lodolo:

• Pete Alonso 0-2, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 0-2, 2 K
• Jeff McNeil 1-1, BB
• Brandon Nimmo 0-3, 2 K
• Tyrone Taylor 2-6, HR, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Getting Plunked. Surprise, surprise – the Mets are leading the league in getting hit by pitches. Mets batters have been plunked 57 times this season. This isn’t new as the Mets were 3rd in the league in 2024 (92 times), 2nd in 2023 (107), and 1st in 2022 (112). Tonight they are facing Nick Lodolo who is leading the league with 11 hit batters. He also led the league in 2022 (19). Let’s put 11 hit batsmen in perspective. The Reds as a team have hit 39 batters. Anyway, the Mets need to stay safe at the plate tonight.
2. Pete Alonso. The countdown is on for Pete Alonso! Alonso is sitting at 247 home runs, five runs back from Strawberry’s franchise leading 252 career home runs. Pete has had more home run success on the road this season hitting 13 bombs with a .553 SLG compared to 8 home runs and a .509 SLG at home (50 away games vs 47 home games). Pete is having a phenomenal season so far, leading the league in doubles (26) and he has already accumulated 3.0 bWAR (2.6 last season). He’s coming off a huge All-Star game where he smacked a three-run home run.
3. Mark Vientos. Vientos was starting to put things together right before the All-Star break. In his last five games he has gone 7-for-19 at the plate (.368/.368/.579) with two doubles, a triple and three RBI’s. This mini-hot streak has raised his season slash line from .210/.272/.341 to .223/.280/.361. Under the hood, Vientos has had an average exit velocity of 90.9 mph (67th percentile) and is hitting the ball hard 48% of the time (79th percentile). While the rest of his Baseball Savant page is blue, these are the signs that he’s starting to turn his 2025 around!
4. BONUS. This is for fans heading to Citi Field this weekend. The Wok n’ Roll stand behind centerfield has a rotating egg roll for each opponent this season. They’re bringing out the knock-off Skyline (or Gold Star, I’m not weighing in on this debate) this weekend. The roll, which they advertised in April, has chili and spaghetti in it.

Let’s Go Mets!