213 Miles From Shea

The Mets continued their losing streak last night. Great. At one point last night the Mets were down 5-1 when Flores hit a 3 run homer to pull it to 5-4. Like the last several games, the Mets had several chances after that to tie the game or possibly even take the lead, but they couldn’t get it to happen.

Steven Matz will look to stop the slide. He is 3-5 over 14 games and 71.0 innings with a 3.68 ERA, 5.05 FIP, 1.282 WHIP with a 103 ERA+. He is coming off one of his worst starts in a while where he allowed 5 runs over 5.2 innings from 8 hits and 2 walks. In Pittsburgh in 2016, Matz held the Pirates to 2 runs over 5.0 innings allowing 8 hits and 2 walks. The Pirates have the following numbers against him:

• Cervelli 0-2, BB
• Freese 1-3
• Harrison 3-3, 3B
• Ho Kang 2-3
• Marte 0-3
• Polanco 0-2

The Mets bats will get a look at Chad Kuhl who is 5-5 over 15 starts and 81.0 innings with a 4.56 ERA, 4.75 FIP, 1.444 WHIP, and a 87 ERA+.  He is coming off his worst start in 2018 where he allowed 8 runs over 2.0 inning from 8 hits and a walk against the Diamondbacks. Prior to that start Chad Kuhl had allowed 9 runs, 8 earned over 29.1 innings over 5 starts which led to a 2.45 ERA. In one start against the Mets last year he allowed 5 runs over 4.1 innings from 8 hits. The Mets have the following numbers against Chad:

• Bautista 0-2, BB
• Bruce 1-2, 2B
• Conforto 0-3
• Reyes 1-3, 3B
• Cabrera 0-2
• deGrom 1-2
• Mesoraco 0-1

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets losing streak extended to 6 games yesterday as the Mets fell to the Dodgers in a game that ended in extras off a go-ahead homer by Justin Turner. In so many different ways it was a Mets game to remember 20 years from now over a couple of beers watching the Mets be the Mets. I imagine the conversation would go something like, “Yeah this game is peak Mets but I remember back in 2018 the Mets had a late scratch for a starting pitcher due to injury, flew out a pitcher on a red eye from Las Vegas, started the game with a reliever Jerry Blevins, gave up 6 homers, somehow managed to tie the game before an ex-Met utility player turned All-Star hit the 7th homer of the game off said pitcher who traveled all night in the 11th inning.” Anyway the Mets will again tonight. Lucky us.

Seth Lugo gets the start. He’s 2-2 pver 25 game sand 4 starts pitching 53.2 innings with a 2.85 ERA, 3.15 FIP, 1.043 WHIP and 133 ERA+. Since rejoining the rotation he has allowed 11 runs, 8 earned, over 8.0 innings from 14 hits, 3 walks and 12 K’s. Honestly I don’t know which has been spinning more: his incredibly high RPM curveball or my head. He has never faced the Pirates before or any members of the Pirates lineup when they were with other teams.

The Mets bats broke a streak of 16 home games without scoring more than 4 runs yesterday. Let’s see if they can keep that going tonight against Jameson Taillon who is 4-6 over 15 games who has pitching 82.2 innings posting a 4.03 ERA, 3.70 FIP, 1.222 WHIP and 99 ERA+. In his last three starts he has allowed 8 runs in 17.0 innings from 21 hits and 4 walks which translates into a 4.24 ERA. The last time he faced the Mets was in 2016. His first two major league starts happened to be against the Mets. In Pittsburgh he allowed 3 runs over 6.0 innings and then 6 days later he held the Mets scoreless over 8.0 innings only allowing 2 hits and a walk. The Mets have the following numbers against Jameson:

• Cabrera 1-6, 2B
• Cespedes 1-5, BB
• Kelly 2-5, HR
• Confortion 0-2, BB
• Bautista 1-3, HR
• Flores 0-3
• Mesoraco 0-2
• Plawecki 0-2
• Syndergaard 1-2, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

Yesterday’s battle of the aces was anything but and ended with the Mets getting routed as they try to avoid the sweep. The Mets got an average start from Jacob deGrom allowing 3 runs over 6 innings, with two runs coming after a controversial strike 3 non-call. The Mets offense should have been able to overcome that for a few reasons, but they didn’t. First, they just owe it to deGrom. Second, Kershaw only last a few innings since this was really a rehab start for him. Third, they went 2-12 with runners in scoring position, leaving 8 men on base. Gsellman will become the scapegoat of this game (first for allowing 5 runs over 2.0 innings, second because the Mets will probably need him today and he shouldn’t be available, which isn’t his fault at all) but ultimately the offense needs to get it done. Nimmo got 3 hits on the night, which is nice!

Complicating the finale for the Mets today is the pitching situation. Jason Vargas was a late scratch from today’s start landing himself on the DL from conditioning injury. The Mets called up Flexen who was supposed to start for Vegas today and instead flew all night to get to New York. The situation is reminiscent of Tyler Pill in 2017 who got a last minute start for Harvey, traveled all night and did terrible. As of writing this, it is not clear if Flexen or Peterson will start the game but today looks like a bullpen game. Flexen has allowed 7 runs, 3 earned over 2.1 innings this year and last year allowed 44 runs, 42 earned in 48.0 innings (a 7.88 ERA) also posting a 6.95 FIP, 2.021 WHIP and 53 ERA+. Tim Peterson, who should get significant work today, has allowed 1 run over 7.2 innings and 5 games which leads to an ERA of 1.17, 3.23 FIP and 0.913 WHIP.

The Dodgers starting pitcher situation today is normal. I’m envious. Rich Hill his 1-2 over 7 starts and 30.2 innings with a 4.99 ERA, 5.51 FIP, 1.565 WHIP, 77 ERA+. His last start on the 19th was first start in exactly a month and he pitched well holding the Cubs scoreless over 6.0 innings off 3 hits and 2 walks. In LA against the Mets last year he held the Amazin’s to 1 run over 5.0 innings from 4 hits and 3 walks while in Queens he held the Mets to 3 runs over 5.0 innings from 6 hits and 1 walk. The Mets have the following numbers against Hill:

• Bautista 4-24, 2 2B, 3 BB
• Reyes 3-8
• Flores 2-6, 2B, HR
• Cabrera 0-4
• Confortion 1-3, HR
• Frazier 0-2
• Rosario 0-2

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets lost again last night, this time leaving a small army on the bases as they fell to the Dodgers 5-2. Overall on the night the Mets were 0-6 with runners in scoring position and left 7 batters on bases which together creates an inexcusable loss by three runs. As a positive for the night, Bautista hit a homer.

The Mets will rally behind Jacob deGrom who is 5-2 over 15 games and 95.1 innings with a 1.51 ERA (league leading), 1.98 FIP (league leading), 0.986 WHIP and 250 ERA+ (league leading). In his last start he allowed 2 runs, 1 earned over 8.0 innings from 5 hits and a walk while striking out 7. In his last 11 starts and 70.1 innings he has posted a 0.90 ERA. At home against the Dodgers last year he allowed 3 runs off 5 hits and 3 walks in 5.0 innings while striking out 8 (the damage done on two homers). The Dodgers have the following numbers against him:

• Utley 4-17, 2B, 4 BB
• Turner 5-19, 3 2B
• Pederson 1-12, 2B, 5 BB
• Kemp 4-16, 2 2B
• Grandal 2-13, 2B
• Puig 3-13, 2 HR
• Hernandez 0-4
• Bellinger 0-3
• Taylor 2-3, HR

The Mets draw Clayton Kershaw making his return from the DL tonight from a back strain. On the season he is 1-4 over 8 starts and 49.0 innings with a 2.76 ERA, 3.47 FIP, 1.122 WHIP and 139 ERA+. Kershaw pitched from March 29th to May 1st. Then missed a month of starts making an outing against the Phillies allowing 1 run over 5.0 innings on the 31st. He went out again and now he’s back. He faced the Mets last year in LA and it was one of his worst starts of the season allowing 6 runs over 6.1 innings from 6 hits and a walk while allowing 4 homers. The Mets have the following numbers against Clayton:

• Reyes 5-19, 2 HR
• Flores 3-15
• Frazier 3-13, 2 2B
• Cabrera 3-10, HR
• Plawecki 1-9
• Conforto 0-4
• Mesoraco 1-3
• Bautista 1-3, 2B
• Bruce 6-23, 3 HR (DL)
• Cespedes 1-18 (DL)

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets return home tonight after a road trip with an odd last 6 games. They won three games in a row and looked like things were starting to turn around. Then they lost the last three games, despite the offense going on overdrive for two of the games. It’s been frustrating to say the least and if you think the Mets still have a shot, there were things to grab on to the last 6 days, if you think the Mets should start over there were things to talk about from the last 6 days. Now the Mets gets the Dodgers, probably with Utley and maybe with Kershaw at some point.

Tonight Wheeler will start for the Mets. he is 2-5 over 13 games and 74.2 innings with a 4.82 ERA, 3.80 FIP, 1.393 WHIP and 78 ERA+. He rebounded in his last start against the Diamondbacks holding them to 2 runs off 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 8. So far in June he has posted a 3.65 ERA in 4 starts, mostly hurt by one outing where he allowed 6 runs over 5.2 innings that wasn’t exactly all his fault. The Dodgers have the following numbers against Wheeler:

• Utley 4-15, 2B, HR, BB
• Grandal 2-6, HR
• Wood 0-4
• Bellinger 2-2, 2 HR
• Taylor 1-2
• Turner 2-2, HR
• Pederson 0-1

The Mets bats will look to bring the excitement home against Alex Wood who is 2-5 over 14 starts and 74.2 innings with a 4.22 ERA, 3.30 FIP, 1.179 WHIP, 91 ERA+. He is coming off a stronger start against the Giants where he held them to 1 run over 5.2 innings. In his previous two starts he allowed 10 runs, 8 earned over 6.2 innings from 14 hits and 3 walks. In 2016 he allowed 2 runs, 1 earned over 6.1 innings against the Mets while striking out 9. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Flores 5-14, 2 2B, HR, 2 BB
• Frazier 1-6, 2B
• Cabrera 2-6, 2B
• Mesoraco 1-6, HR
• Wheeler 0-4, 2 K
• Bautista 0-3
• Confortion 0-3
• Reyes 0-3

Let’s Go Mets!

For a second straight day the Mets bats showed up in Colorado but couldn’t dig the team out of the hole left by the starting pitcher. Last night the Mets bats worked early and late but ultimately could not overcome Lugo’s start and then Gsellman’s inning of relief as the two of them allowed 9 runs, 6 earned in 4.0 innings. On the positive, Mesoraco continued to heat up as did Dom Smith who recorded three hits on the night including a triple.

The Mets will turn to Steven Matz to help the Mets escape Colorado with a series split. He is 3-4 over 13 games and 65.1 innings this year with a 3.31 ERA, 5.06 FIP, 1.240 WHIP, and a 115 ERA+. He is coming off a string start against the Diamondbacks where he allowed 1 run over 6.2 innings and since May 5th he has had a 2.47 ERA in 8 starts, 43.2 innings of work. That May 5th start was against the Rockies where he held them to 1 run over 6.0 innings from 3 hits and a walk, a game the Mets lost 2-0. The Rockies have the following numbers against Matz:

• Blackmon 6-11, 2 2B, BB
• Arendado 3-11, 3 HR
• Castro 4-9, HR
• LeMahieu 4-7, 2B
• Story 3-7, 2B, BB
• Gonzalez 1-7, 2B
• Desmond 1-4

The Mets bats draw Kyle Freeland who is 6-6 over 14 games and 85.1 innings with a 3.59 ERA, 3.89 FIP, 1.242 WHIP and 130 ERA+. He is coming off a good start against Texas where he allowed 2 runs from 8 hits and a walk in 7.0 innings. In his last five starts he has allowed 15 earned runs in 31.1 innings, a 4.31 ERA. Before his last start on June 16th, his last time pitching 7.0 innings was against the Mets on May 6th where he allowed 2 runs over 7. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Frazier 0-4, BB
• Bruce 0-4, 2 K
• Cabrera 1-4
• Flores 0-2, BB
• Conforto 0-2, 2 K
• Mesoraco 1-2
• Nimmo 0-2, 2 K
• Rosario 0-2

Let’s Go Mets!

Seth Lugo looks to rebound tonight against the Rockies!

Lugo’s last time out was one of his first, worst outings of the season. Overall he is 2-2 over 24 game sand 3 starts in 50.2 innings with a 2.49 ERA, 2.95 FIP, 0.947 WHIP and 153 ERA+. In Arizona he allowed 5 runs from 8 hits and a walk in 5.0 innings while striking out 2 and allowing 2 homers. Against the Rockies earlier this season, he held them scoreless over 3.0 innings with 1 hit, 1 walk and 3 K’s. The Rockies have the following numbers against Lugo:

• Blackmon 2-6, 2B, 3B
• Arenado 2-4, 2B
• Gonzalez 0-5, 2 K
• Story 1-5, 2B
• LeMahieu 2-3
• Parra 0-2, BB
• Wolters 0-2, 2 BB
• Desmond 1-2

Chad Bettis gets the start tonight. He is 5-1 over 14 games and 81.1 innings with a 4.65 ERA, 4.98 FIP, 1.291 WHIP, 100 ERA+. He is in a terrible stretch right now allowing exactly 5 runs in each of his last 4 starts leading to an ERA of 8.44 over 21.1 innings. In total he has allowed 20 runs from 28 hits and 5 walks including 8 homers ballooning his ERA from 3.30 to 4.65. His last great start, when his ERA on the season was 2.05, was against the Mets where he allowed no runs from 6 hits in 7.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Bruce 4-7, 2 2B, HR
• Flores 1-5
• Nimmo 1-5
• Cabrera 2-4
• Cespedes 0-3
• Conforto 0-3
• Frazier 0-2
• Nido 0-3
• Rosario 1-3

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets and Rockies play game two tonight as Jason Vargas gets the start. Vargas got a spot start over the weekend as Steven Matz got bumped back due to a blister. On the season Vargas is 2-5 over 8 games and 35.1 innings with a 7.39 ERA, 5.58 FIP, 1.698 WHIP, 52 ERA+. In his last three starts he has tossed 15.0 innings with a 3.00 ERA, his worst one being his last outing allowing 3 runs over 5.0 innings, so maybe he is starting to calm down. The Rockies have the following numbers against him:

• Iannetta 5-13, 2B, 2 HR, BB, 5 K
• Gonzalez 1-5
• Arenado 1-3, 2B
• Blacmon 0-3
• Parra 0-3
• LeMahieu 0-1

For the Rockies, German Marquez gets the start tonight. He is 4-7 over 14 game sand 73.2 innings with a 5.13 ERA, 4.76 FIP, 1.480 WHIP and 90 ERA+. June has been incredibly rough for German who has allowed 15 runs over 16.0 innings from 20 hits and 6 walks leading to a 8.44 ERA and an opponent OBP of .356 / OPS of 1.013. Before this stretch he was doing well allowing 4 ER over 19.0 innings dropping his ERA from 5.35 to 4.21. He had a good start against the Mets at the start of May allowed 2 runs off 6 hits and no walks while striking out 8. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Bruce 1-6
• Cabrera 2-6, HR
• Cesepdes 2-6, HR
• Conforto 0-6, 5 K
• Frazier 1-6, 2B
• Rosario 1-5, 3B
• Kelly 1-3
• Reyes 0-3

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets were great on their 11-1 run to start the season because it never felt the team was out of the game. Their starting pitching during that stretch ranged from average to bad but the offense kept them in games and they would fight back late. Yesterday, the offense felt like that again as the Mets were able to overcome being down 1-3 and win 5-3 thanks to homers in the ninth inning from Nimmo and Cabrera, the former who is in the midst of a breakout season and the latter who needed it to come out of a slump. Now the Mets will look to make it three wins in a row against the Rockies tonight.

Jacob deGrom is 4-2 over 14 games and 87.1 innings with an ERA of 1.55 (league leading), 1.98 FIP, 1.008 WHIP and 244 ERA+ (league leading). He had a dominating performance again his last time out, pitching 7.0 innings allowing 1 run, but the Mets bats were completely silent. In his last 10 starts in 62.1 innings he has posted a 0.87 ERA with 83 strikeouts. He faced the Rockies in Queens last year holding them to 2 runs, 1 earned over 8.0 innings allowing 4 hit sand a walk while striking out 11. The Rockies have the following numbers against him:

• Desmond 5-16, HR, BB, 7 K
• Blackmon 2-15, 2B, BB
• LeMahieu 2-13, 2B, 2 BB, 7 K
• Parra 2-15, 2B
• Arenado, 2-14, 2B
• Gonzalez 3-10, 2B, HR
• Story 1-8

The Mets bats draw Tyler Anderson who is 4-1 over 14 starts and 74.1 innings with a 4.48 ERA, 4.55 FIP, 1.305 WHIP and 103 ERA+. He is coming off strong back to back starts where he has allowed 3 runs over 14.0 innings. In the 16.1 innings over three starts before that he allowed 13 runs. He faced the Mets back in 2016 allowing 1 run over 6.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Cabrera 1-3
• Flores 1-3
• deGrom 0-2

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets won a game! AND THE METS SCORED MORE THAN 3 RUNS! The Mets beat the Diamondbacks 5-1 yesterday, mostly due to Conforto and Matz. Conforto hit a 3-run homer to make the game 3-0 and later added in another RBI while Matz allowed only 1 run. The Mets will look to build on this today behind Wheeler and win two games in a row for the first time in 33 years.

Wheeler is 2-5 over 12 games and 68.2 innings with a 4.98 ERA, 4.00 FIP, .1442 WHIP and 76 ERA+. He is coming off a start in Atlanta where everything fell apart in the 6th inning. His like reads 8 hits, 6 runs over 5.2 but everything happened in the 6th as the Mets defense, Wheeler and the bullpen just imploded. He faced the Diamondbacks last year in Arizona allowing only 1 run over 6.0 innings from 7 hits and a walk. The Diamondbacks have the following numbers against him:

• Goldchmidt 3-12, 2B, BB
• Owings 4-9, 2B
• Mathis 1-7
• Pollock 0-5
• Ahmed 0-3
• Lamb 2-3, HR

The Mets will get a look at the new Arizona Diamondback, Clay Buchholz who is 1-1 over 5 starts and 28.0 innings this year allowing 11 runs, 10 earned. His numbers are greatly impacted by his last outing where he allowed 6 runs, 5 earned over 4.0 innings raising his ERA to 3.21, it was a 1.88 before that start. His season debut was against the Mets where he allowed 1 run over 5.0 innings hold the Mets to 2 hits and a walk. The Mets have the following numbers against Clay:

• Bautista 14-61, 3 2B, HR, 9 BB
• Reyes 9-34, 2B, 3B, 4 BB
• Cabrera 8-16, 2 2B, 2 HR, 3 BB
• Frazier 1-4, HR
• Conforto 0-2
• Flores 1-2, 2B
• Rosario 1-2, HR

Let’s Go Mets!