213 Miles From Shea

The Mets and Cubs are in a way playing two games this afternoon. First, they will need to resume their 1-1 tied game in the 10th inning that was suspended last night due to rain. The news from Mets camp yesterday was they needed to get Alonso more regular reps at first base, so they aren’t going to call him up (although the prevailing sentiment is they do not want to start the clock on major league service and that ownership is trying to make the Jay Bruce deal work). The only defensive miscue of the night came on a difficult play at first that led to a run and tied game. Jacob deGrom provided the only other RBI.

Once the first game clears up, Jason Vargas will take the mound. Vargas is 4-8 over 15 games and 64.2 innings with a 6.96 ERA, 5.47 FIP, 1.608 WHIP and a 53 ERA+. The last two starts Vargas has pitched in a Vargy jersey and has been so much better allowing 2 runs over 11.1 innings and 4 runs over his last 17.1 innings. The Cubs have the following numbers against Vargas:

• Zobrist 12-39, 4 2B, HR, 3 BB
• Rizzo 0-6

The Mets bats will get a look at Alec Mills who is making his 3rd appearance this year, his 2nd start. So far he has allowed 1 run over 3 hits from 7.2 innings with 10 K’s (most of this from a start against the Reds 5 days ago allowing 1 run over 5.2 innings). In AAA he is 5-12 over 23 starts this year totaling 124.2 innings with a 4.84 ERA. No one on the Mets have faced him in a major league game.

Let’s Go Mets!

On paper Lester vs Syndergaard last night looked like a pitcher’s duel but it ended up becoming a back and forth affair with the bats as the Cubs squeezed by the Mets in the series opener. Syndergaard struggled early and settled down towards the end retiring 9 of his last 10 faced but it just wasn’t enough. Michael Conforto crushed a 472-ft homer to straight away center as well.

Jacob deGrom looks to put the Mets back on the winning path today. He is 8-8 over 26 games and 174.0 innings with a 1.71 ERA (league leading), 2.07 FIP (league leading), 0.971 WHIP and a 216 ERA+ (league leading). In the month of August deGrom has pitched 5 games and 35.2 innings with a 1.26 ERA while striking out 50. At the start of June against hte Cubs deGrom allowed 1 run over 7.0 inning despite allowing 7 hits and two walks (the 13 K’s probably helped a lot). The Cubs have the following numbers against deGrom:

• Rizzo 7-19, 2B, HR, 2 BB
• Heyward 7-18, 2B, 3 K
• Bryant 4-14, 2 HR, 2 BB, 7 K
• Murphy 4-15, 3B
• Zobrist 1-13
• Russell 2-11, HR, BB

The Mets bats will see one of the newest Cubs tonight, Cole Hamels. As a Cub Hamels is 4-0 over 5 start sand 34.0 innings with a 0.79 ERA, 2.36 FIP, 0.941 WHIP and 550 ERA+ (really). As a Ranger before the trade he was 5-9 over 20 games and 114.1 innings with a 4.72 ERA, 5.19 FIP, 1.373 WHIP and a 101 ERA+. So, Hamels probably loves being a Cub. I guess. The Mets have the following numbers against Cole:

• Reyes 22-59, 6 2B, 5 BB, 10 K
• Bruce 8-35, 2B, 2 HR, BB, 9 K
• Frazier 5-20, 2B, HR, 6 K
• Bautista 6-17, 2 2B, 2 BB
• Jackson 4-17, 2B, BB, 7 K
• Flores 2-11, BB
• Plawecki 1-3
• Mesoraco 0-1

Let’s Go Mets!

Depending on when you tuned in and tuned to yesterday’s Mets game, you may have different opinions as to how the game went. Steven Matz cruised through 7 innings, his best outing in months holding the Nationals to only one run. The Mets bats on the other hand went quiet (and Jeff McNeil left with a right quad tightness). If you turned off the game there, your inner-monologue was something like “well Matz is getting the deGrom treatment”. You probably went on to have a lovely day.

If you stayed with the game then you got to see the Mets give up 14 runs in the next two innings, make several defensive miscues. Maybe you were frustrated by play. Maybe you’re numb to it by now. Maybe you found it funny. Just know that we both experienced that together and we are closer, even though you probably have no idea who I am.

The Mets themselves find themselves now in Chicago. Syndergaard will start and he is 9-3 over 18 games and 106.2 innings with a 3.38 ERA, 2.62 FIP, 1.238 WHIP and 109 ERA+. Syndergaard fought through his last start and allowed only 2 runs over 6.0 innings when the game was over. Since coming back from hand, foot and mouth disease he has posted a 4.50 ERA over 32.0 innings in 5 games. The Cubs have the following numbers against Syndergaard:

• Murphy 4-18, 2 2B, 2 BB
• Bryant 5-11, 2B, 3B
• Rizzo 1-9, 2 BB, 5 K
• Hayward 4-9, 2B, 3B
• Zobrist 1-8, 2B
• Schwarber 0-3, 3 K
• La Stella 2-3, BB

The Mets bats will try to find themselves against Jon Lester who is 14-5 over 26 games and 146.0 innings with a 3.64 ERA, 4.74 FIP, 1.322 WHIP and a 119 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed 1 run over 11.2 innings, in his two starts before that he allowed 13 runs, 12 earned, over 8.2 innings. Earlier this year he had a fantastic start against the Mets allowing no runs over 7.0 innings from 2 hits and 3 walks. The Mets have the following numbers against Jon:

• Bautista 14-62, 3 2B, 5 HR, 9 BB
• Reyes 6-34, HR, 3 BB
• Jackson 12-30, 2B, 2 BB
• Bruce 3-26, 2B, 7 K
• Flores 6-16, 3 HR, BB
• Plawecki 3-10, 2 BB
• Frazier 2-8, 2 2B
• Rosario 3-6
• Conforto 0-2, BB

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to sweep the Nationals today in Queens before the Mets go off to Chicago. So far the Mets have taken the first two games of the series by identical 3-0 scores yesterday thanks to 7.0 innings of dominant work from Zack Wheeler and some Rosario / Frazier muscle.

Steven Matz is 5-10 over 23 games and 114.2 innings with a 4.55 ERA, 4.93 FIP, 1.334 WHIP and 81 ERA+. Steven rebounded in his last start against the Giants allowing 2 runs over 5.0 innings. Before that in his first start back from the DL against the Phillies he allowed 6 runs, 4 earned in 2.o innings. The last time he faced the Nationals it was the start that sent him to the DL as he allowed 7 runs off 8 hits and a walk in 0.2 innings. In total against the Nationals this season he has allowed 14 runs, 13 earned over 16.0 innings in 4 games (or 7 runs, 6 earned in 15.1 innings in 3 games if you take out that last one). The Nationals have the following numbers against Steven:

• Taylor 4-18, HR, 2 BB, 8 K
• Rendon 6-19, 3 HR, 9 K
• Turner 4-18, 2B, BB
• Harper 3-16, 2B, 2 BB
• Zimmerman 2-14, HR
• Reynolds 4-11, 3 2B
• Wieters 2-8, HR
• Soto 3-5
• Difo 1-3

The Mets bats draw rookie Jefry Rodriguez who is 1-1 over 7 games and 5 starts logging 29.2 innings with a 5.46 ERA, 5.61 FIP, 1.517 WHIP, 79 ERA+. In the month of August he has made two starts allowing 5 runs, 3 earned over 10.0 innings and 4 walks. He’s played across AA and AAA this season combining to a 3.40 ERA over 19 games and 100.2 innings. This will be Jefry’s first time facing the Mets.

Let’s Go Mets!

Yesterday I learned that the Long Island Iced Tea originated in Kingsport, TN.

Gates open at 5:30pm THIS Friday! ⚾️🍹😎 @KingsportMets #DontMessWithTheOriginal pic.twitter.com/hx2QtWeNTo

— Visit Kingsport (@VisitKingsport) August 20, 2018

That was a bold design for a jersey. Since sublimating jerseys became popular for the better part of a decade, there have been a lot of wild minor league designs but this seemed so photo realistic. Finally this morning I found some pictures of what the actual jersey looked like:

We hope you enjoyed Long Island Iced Tea Night. We want to give a special thanks to @VisitKingsport for help with this promotion.

We’re back in action as the K-Mets tomorrow night at 6:30! #LGM

📷: @AllenGreenePhot pic.twitter.com/6utUmNqzxn

— Kingsport Mets (@Kingsport_Mets) August 25, 2018

The Mets took the opener last night 3-0 behind Jason Vargas’ best start as a Met and a DL returning homer from Jay Bruce! Normally this is said sarcastically, but this time we mean it: this is just how the Mets drew it up in Spring. It wasn’t always a good plan as it took until now to work, but hey! A win is a win.

Zack Wheeler gets the nod today. He is 8-6 over 24 games and 146.1 innings with a 3.63 ERA, 3.29 FIP, 1.210 WHIP and a 102 ERA+. In Wheeler’s last 5 games he has logged 32.0 innings with a 1.13 ERA while striking out 37. His last average start was against the Nationals where he allowed 4 runs over 7.2 innings. The Nationals have the following numbers against Wheeler:

• Rendon 8-23, 4 BB
• Harper 5-24, HR, 2 BB, 11 K
• Zimmerman 8-20, 2 HE, 2 BB
• Turner 4-11, 2B
• Eaton 3-8, 2B
• Taylor 3-5, 2B
• Difo 1-5
• Wieters 0-3

The Mets bats will take a crack at Tanner Roark who is 8-12 (league leading in losses) over 26 games and 25 starts logging 153.1 innings posting a 4.05 ERA, 4.07 FIP, 1.265 WHIP and a 105 ERA+. In his last 6 starts he has logged 38.2 innings posting a 1.63 ERA. He two starts against the Mets recently. On July 31st he held the Mets to only 1 run over 7.0 innings. On July 13th he allowed 4 runs over 5.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Roark:

• Conforto 4-20, 2 2B, HR, 4 BB
• Bruce 3-19, 2B, 4 BB
• Flores 4-16, 2 2B
• Frazier 2-9, HR, 6 BB
• Reyes 3-12, 2 BB
• Rosario 1-10, 3B
• Jackson 4-7
• Bautista 1-6

Let’s Go Mets!

Earlier this season the Mets were supposed to give out a Todd Frazier Pullover but they were held onto due to a Quality Control Issue. The fixed ones were just shipped out and came with a comically large patch on the sleeve:

If you turn the sleeve inside out, you can see what the Quality Control issue is:

The NY you actually see correctly above was originally screen printed on the sleeve. Look closely and you’ll see the ridge for the stitching of the NY on the patch. The N’s are opposite directions, so the originally N was printed backwards.

So mystery solved.

The Mets dropped the series finale with the Giants yesterday heading into their series with the Nationals. Yesterday deGrom was deGrom, allowing only 1 earned run (2 total) over 6 but the Mets bats remembered that they don’t hit against Bumgarner (and that historically in 2018, they don’t hit for deGrom) and fell silent.

The Nationals are a slightly different team heading into Queens as they sold off Daniel Murphy and Matt Adams earlier this week as they start to throw in the towel of the season. Change could still be on the way as Gio Gonzalez, Matt Wieters and Ryan Zimmerman all cleared waivers yesterday with the former making the start (and possibly an audition) tonight.

Before we get into that, lets break down the Mets starter Jason Vargas who made us all proud on a national broadcast last Sunday night. On the season he is 3-8 over 14 starts and 58.2 innings with a 7.67 ERA, 5.99 FIP, 1.722 WHIP and a 48 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed 4 runs over 11.1 innings with a 3.18 ERA (against the Orioles and Phillies). The Nationals have the following numbers against him:

• Wieters 5-19, 2B
• Reynolds 3-8, 2 2B
• Eaton 1-5
• Zimmerman 2-5, 2B

The Mets bats will get a look at Gio Gonzalez who is 7-10 over 133.2 innings in 25 games with a 4.51 ERA, 4.26 FIP, 1.548 WHUP and a 95 ERA+. He’s coming off back to back rough starts allowing a total of 13 runs over 8.2 innings (13.50 ERA). He hasn’t faced the Mets since April where he held the Mets to 1 run over 5.1 innings and then 2 runs over 5.1 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Gio:

• Bruce 6-29, 5 2B, 3 BB, 10 K
• Flores 6-28, HR, 3 BB
• Reyes 7-19, 2 2B, 2 HR
• Frazier 3-16, 2 2B, 2 BB, 8 K
• Jackson 3-15, 2 BB
• Mesoraco 2-8, 2B
• Rosario 1-7, 2B
• Conforto 0-2, BB

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to take the four game series tonight after winning the last two games. Yesterday the Mets got a solid start from Noah Syndergaard and some power from Dom Smith, Jose Bautista and Todd Frazier. The star of the night, for me at least, was Jeff McNeil, who recorded 8 straight hits after his 2nd hit of the night, becoming the second Met to do that this season (Nimmo was the other).

This afternoon Jacob deGrom takes the mound for his third straight start against a staff’s ace. First it was Severino and the Yankees then last time out it was Arrieta and the Phillies and today’s it is Bumgarner.

Jacob is 8-7 over 25 games and 168.0 innings with a 1.71 ERA (league leading), 2.08 FIP (league leading), 0.958 WHIP and 216 ERA+ (league leading). He’s coming off a complete game masterpiece against the Phillies where he allowed 1 unearned run and in the month of August he has posted a 1.21 ERA over 4 games and 29.2 innings. He faced the Giants twice last year allowing 3 runs over 6.0 innings in Queens and only 1 run over 8.0 innings in SF. The Giants have the following numbers against Jacob:

• Belt 3-14, HR, 4 BB
• Pence 6-17, 2B, HR
• Panik 2-14, 2B, 2 BB
• McCutchen 4-14, BB
• Posey 4-14, 2B, HR
• Crawford 3-13
• d’Arnaud 0-4

Madison Bumgarner is 4-5 over 14 games and 85.2 innings posting a 3.05 ERA, 3.89 FIP, 1.296 WHIP, 133 ERA+. Madison is coming off his worst start of the season where he allowed 6 runs, 5 earned over 6.0 innings against the Reds. Before that in August he had a 1.50 ERA over 3 games and 18.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Reyes 3-13
• Flores 1-11, 2B
• Frazier 5-12, 2B, HR
• Jackson 3-9, 3B
• Mesoraco 1-7, 2B
• Bautista 1-2
• Conforto 0-3
• Plawecki 1-3

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets! You tease!

The Mets once again teased what could have been this season with a 6-3 come back win. Conforto hit his 18th homer of the season as he continues to show that he is back and McNeil went 4-4 on his path to reclaim all of the lost hits from the Mets refusing to call him up earlier. Matz allowed 2 runs in the first and then kept things locked down through 5 and Corey Oswalt came out of the pen for a solid 3.0 innings allowing only 1 run.

The Mets look to keep the winning going tonight with Noah Syndergaard tonight. Noah is 8-3 over 17 games and 100.2 innings with a 3.40 ERA, 2.68 FIP, 1.252 WHIP and a 109 ERA+. August has been rough for Syndergaard as he allowed 14 runs over 26.0 innings in 4 games with a 4.85 ERA. The Giants have the following numbers against him:

• Belt 0-8
• Crawford 2-10
• McCutchen 1-8,2B
• Panik 2-9
• Posey 3-9
• Pence 1-8, HR
• Longoria 1-3

The Mets will see Casey Kelly who is 0-1 in 3 games and a start this season logging 10.2 innings with a 1.69 ERA, 3.07 FIP, 1.500 WHIP and a 247 ERA+. In the minors this season he has started 23 times logging 130.0 innings with a 4.78 ERA. He faced the Mets back in 2016 where he allowed 1 run over 3.0 innings. The only healthy Met who has seen him in a game is Conforto who is 0-2 against him.

Let’s Go Mets!