213 Miles From Shea

The Mets scored 3 runs in the first inning yesterday. If the game ended right after the top of the first frame, the Mets would have won! But the game went on for 17 more frames and the Mets lost 17-6. The pitching was off in just about every way imaginable and ultimately if the offense scores 6 runs, that team should win the ball game. Anyway the Mets will get out of Miller Park today, which stinks for Mets fans in attendance as tomorrow is $1 Hot Dogs at Miller Park and at least that has an almost 0% chance of disappointment, unlike the Mets.

Maybe Zack Wheeler can get things going on the right path today! Wheeler is 2-4 over 8 games and 44.0 innings with a 5.32 ERA, 3.97 FIP, 1.500 WHIP, 71 ERA+. His line from his last start is confusing. He allowed 3 runs, 1 earned, over 6.0 innings from 7 hits and no walks while striking out 9. In reality, he pitched a great game but Reyes misplayed at least two balls behind him, one that should have ended an inning where the Marlins plated two more runs. Last year he allowed 2 runs from 10 hits and a walk in 6.1 innings against the Brewers who have the following numbers against him:

• Yelich 2-15, HR, 2 BB
• Sogard 3-4
• Anderson 1-3
• Braun 0-3
• Cain 2-3
• Franklin 2-2, BB
• Shaw 0-3
• Thames 0-3

The Mets bats will get a look at veteran Jhoulys Chacin who is having a better than career average season for the Brewers. The long time Rockies pitcher is 3-1 over 11 starts and 57.0 innings with a 3.32 ERA, 4.30 FIP, 120 ERA+ and 1.316 WHIP. In the month of May he has tossed 23.1 innings with a 1.54 ERA. In April he faced the Mets and allowed only 1 run over 4.0 innings in a game the Mets eventually won. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Gonzalez 8-22, 2B, HR, 3 BB
• Cabrera 2-12, HR, 3 BB
• Conforto 5-12, HR, 2 BB
• Bruce 3-10, 2B, 2 BB
• Flores 4-10, 2B, 2 BB
• Nimmo 2-3, 3B

Let’s Go Mets!

Last night’s game was terrible, and hopefully the Mets can move on. On the positive side, Rosario and Conforto continued their offensive resurgence but the Mets scoring three runs (three comeback runs) wasn’t enough as the bullpen imploded in the 10th inning and allowed a walk-off walk. Now the Mets turn to Jason Vargas to get back on the winning path.

On the season Jason Vargas is 1-3 over 4 games and 17.1 innings with a 9.87 ERA, 6.57 FIP, 2.077 WHIP, and a 39 ERA+. His last start was by far the best of the season as he held the Marlins scoreless through 5.0 innings from 2 hits and a walk while striking out 7. The difference between last time out and his first three starts? Last time he hit his spots on the corners. In his first three starts he was missing spots on the edges, coming over the plate with not electric stuff. He doesn’t have the speed variance of a Bartolo Colon but if Vargas is going to be successful tonight, he is going to have to paint a Rembrandt. The Brewers have the following numbers against Vargas:

• Cain 2-11, 2 BB
• Saladino 1-9, 2 BB
• Thames 3-8, 2 2B
• Franklin 1-4, HR
• Braun 0-3
• Villar 1-3

The Mets bats will try to wake up against Chase Anderson, who is 4-3 over 9 games and 51.1 innings with a 3.86 ERA, 6.01 FIP, 1.130 WHIP and 104 ERA+. He is coming off a good start after two bad starts. His last start he went 6.0 innings allowing 2 runs. Before that he allowed 9 ER over 10.2 innings from 11 hits and 6 walks. One of his best starts of the year was against the Mets where he allowed 1 run over 6.1 innings off 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5. The Mets have the following numbers against Anderson:

• Gonzalez 9-21, 2 2B, HR, 5 BB
• Bruce 1-17, BB, 9 K
• Frazier 0-10, BB (DL)
• Confortion 1-7, HR, BB
• Cabrera 1-7, BB
• Reyes 2-8
• Cespedes 2-5, 2B (DL)
• Mesoraco 1-2, HR

Let’s Go Mets!

Wednesday was a terrible night for the Mets. Thursday was an incredible night for the Mets. The offense in both games was rooted in the same person though. The Mets sole run on Wednesday came from a solo shot by Brandon Nimmo. Yesterday Nimmo went 4-4 at the plate scoring to runs and adding a walk to boot. His four hits included two doubles and a triple and he raised his OPS to .991. In addition to Nimmo, Matz was fantastic pitching 6.0 innings, allowing no runs from 4 hits and 3 walks, getting out of jams and keeping cool.

Syndergaard looks to keep the good times going. He’s 4-1 over 10 game sand 58.2 innings with a 2.91 ERA, 2.54 FIP, 1.193 WHIP, 129 ERA+. His last start was one of the best of the season where he allowed 1 run off 6 hits and a walk in 7.0 innings. In mid-April he faced the Brewers allowing 1 run, none earned, over 5.1 innings while striking out 11. The Brewers have the following numbers against Syndergaard:

• Yelich 2-14, 2B, 6 K
• Cain 2-10, BB
• Braun 1-6
• Villar 0-6
• Perez 3-5
• Anderson 1-3
• Shaw 0-2

The Mets bats will get a look at Junior Guerra who is 3-3 over 8 games and 42.1 innings with a 2.98 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 1.228 WHIP and 134 ERA+. In his last two starts he allowed 3 runs over 10.1 innings from 7 hits and 6 walks. These two good starts come off two, back-to-back, horrible starts where he allowed 9 runs over 10.0 innings. Ultimately he is trying to find his groove from April where he finished the month with a 0.82 ERA over 4 starts. The last time he faced the Mets was almost a year ago to the day where he allowed no runs over 6.0 innings from 4 hits and 3 walks. The Mets have the following numbers against Junior:

• Bruce 0-4, 2 BB
• Cabrera 1-6
• Flores 2-6
• Gonzalez 0-4
• Mesoraco 1-3
• Cespedes 1-3, HR (DL)
• Conforto 0-3

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets dropped two in a row as they head into Milwaukee to play the Brewers. It has been a frustrating two night as a lack of offense (both nights) and defense (two nights ago) played the major roles in the Mets loss. It is easy to get frustrated at Familia for allowing 2 runs last night in the 9th inning, but if you look at the Mets pitching staff as a whole, we all would be very happy with the team allowing only 2 runs. Last night is all about the lack of hitting that has been plaguing the Mets for a while now but has been exasperated since Frazier and Cespedes both went on the DL together.

Steven Matz looks to move the Mets in the right direction tonight. He is 1-3 over 8 games and 36.2 innings with a 4.42 ERA, 5.89 FIP, 1.309 WHIP and 86 ERA+. After two, strong, back to back starts where he allowed 2 runs in 11.0 innings from 8 hits and 5 walks while striking out 8, Matz took a step back in his last outing allowing 4 runs from 6 hits and a walk (and two homers) over 4.0 innings. He faced the Brewers earlier this year and allowed 4 runs, 3 earned from 3 hits and 2 walks in 5.1 innings, his second longest outing of the year. The Brewers have the following numbers against Steven:

• Yelich 3-14, K
• Perez 2-8, HR
• Villar 2-7, 3 K
• Braun 2-5, 2B, HR
• Cain 1-4, 2 BB, 2 K
• Broxton 2-5, 2 K
• Shaw 0-3

The Mets bats will continue their month long finding themselves journey against Zach Davies who is 2-3 over 6 games and 34.0 innings with a 4.24 ERA, 4.88 FIP, 1.265 WHIP and 95 ERA+. Davies will be making his first start since April 29th from a rotator cuff injury, so I’m sure he will be watched carefully tonight by the Brewers staff. In his last three starts before the injury he was on a roll posting a 2.00 ERA across 18.0 innings of work. His last bad start was against the Mets on April 13th where he allowed 5 runs from 7 hits and 2 walks, including 2 homers in 4.1 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Davies:

• Bruce 1-15, HR, 2 BB
• Conforto 2-9, 2 2B, 3 BB
• Gonzalez 4-12
• Cabrera 5-9, 2 2B
• Cesepdes 5-9, HR (DL)
• Frazier 3-5, 2 HR (DL)
• Flores 0-2
• Rosario 0-2

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets are 0-1 in the José Bautista era as the Marlins snapped the Mets’ 4 game winning streak last night. Wheeler did a lot better than his line suggests as two of his three runs came after a critical José Reyes error on the field. Reyes’ fielding, coupled with an offense that struggled to string hits together led to a 5-1 loss.

Luckily Jacob deGrom is here to make us all feel better. Jacob is 4-0 over 9 games and 51.1 innings with a 1.75 ERA, 1.82 FIP, 1.013 WHIP and 219 ERA+. In his last five starts he has allowed 1 run over 26.1 innings from 17 hits and 8 walks while striking out 39 batters leading to a 0.34 ERA. His worst start of the season came in Miami, in a game the Mets eventually won, where he allowed 4 runs from 6.0 innings, 7 hits and 1 walk. The Marlins have the following numbers against deGrom:

• Dietrich 4-19, BB, 9 K
• Castro 6-15, BB
• Bour 7-15, 2B,2 HR, 2 BB
• Rojas 4-16, BB
• Prado 3-13, 2B, BB
• Realmuto 2-12
• Maybin 0-9
• Anderson 1-1, BB

The Mets bats are still on a journey to find themselves. Will they do it against Dan Straily tonight? Dan is 2-0 over 4 starts and 20.0 innings with a 3.60 ERA, 6.57 FIP, 1.450 WHIP and 102 ERA+. He is coming off by far his best start of the season where he shutout Altanta over 7.0 innings allowing 3 hits and 3 walks. He was great in three games against the Mets last season where he held the Mets to 3 runs over 15.1 innings (1.76 ERA). Surprisingly, the discrepancy between his ERA and FIP/WHIP this year was also featured against the Mets last year as the Mets only scored 3 times despite getting 8 hits and 10 walks. The Mets have the following numbers against Dan:

• Reyes 2-11, 4 BB
• Cabera 3-8, 2 2B, BB
• Gonzalez 0-5, 2 BB
• Bruce 1-6, HR
• Flores 1-6

Lets Go Mets!

Can the Mets make it 5 in a row?

That’s the question tonight as Jason Vargas was able to extend the Mets winning streak to four games! Vargas came out looking like a different pitcher from his first three starts yesterday as he tossed 5 scoreless innings. That may not sound like a lot but in his first four starts he maxed at around 84 pitches and gave up a ton of runs so this was a welcome surprise. To summarize the Mets Radio Team: Vargas was similar last night to Colon in terms of hitting his spots (not as much in speed differentiation) and that was the difference for him! The Mets survived a dicey 6th inning when they loaded the bases and used 3 pitchers but didn’t allow any runs. The hope for tonight is the offense returning to give the Mets pitchers some breathing room.

Zack Wheeler gets the nod for the Mets. On the season he is 2-3 over 7 games and 38.0 innings with a 5.92 ERA, 4.61 FIP, 1.553 WHIP and 65 ERA+. He is coming off of one of his worst starts of the season against the Blue Jays were he allowed 6 runs over 4.0 innings from 7 hits and 3 walks. In the month of May so far he has been terrible, followed by amazing, followed by terrible again, so here’s hoping the pendulum swings back to amazing tonight. His 2018 debut was against the Marlins where he held the fish to 1 run (a solo homer) 7.0 innings of work while striking out 7, so more of that please! The Marlins have the following numbers against Wheeler:

• Dietrich 2-9, 3B, 6 K
• Castro 2-9
• Prado 3-8
• Maybin 1-7
• Bour 0-4, 2 BB
• Rojas 1-3, HR

The Mets bats draw former Yankee now Marlin Caleb Smith who is 2-5 over 9 starts and 42.2 innings this year with a 4.22 ERA, 3.30 FIP, 1.289 WHIP and 87 ERA+. He is coming off of a short outing where he allowed 4 runs in 4.0 innings off 2 hits and 4 walks. Before that he had a stretch of four games where he pitched 24.0 innings with a 1.50 ERA. Earlier this season he faced the Mets allowing 3 runs from 5 hits and 1 walk in 5.0 innings while striking out 7. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Conforto 2-3
• Flores 1-3, 2B
• Cabrera 1-2, HR
• Mesoraco 0-2
• Rosario 1-2, 2B

Lets Go Mets!

What a weekend for the Mets! The Mets finally swept a series at home and put together a winning streak against the division leading Arizona Diamondbacks. Yesterday, Syndergaard pitched one of his best games of the year holding the Diamondbacks to 1 run. The Mets offense wouldn’t show up until late with Rosario hitting a solo shot to knot the game at one, Cabrera hitting a two run shot to put the Mets ahead, and Rosario, again, hitting a ball out of the park on the next pitch.

Jason Vargas gets the start tonight and this is a big moment for the 2018 Mets. Can Vargas, who has struggled so far this season, keep the winning going? In three starts this year Vargas has allowed 19 runs from 26 hits and 7 walks in 12.1 innings. His last start, which was all the way back on May 8th, was his best one where he allowed 4 runs in 4.0 innings. Unsurprisingly, between the amount of time that Vargas has spent in the American League and the amount of new-to-baseball players on the Marlins roster, only two Marlins batters have seen Vargas in a major league game: Castro (3-8, 3 2B, 2 BB) and Maybin (4-6).

Despite three wins this weekend, the Mets bats as a whole haven’t woken up yet (however it was a great weekend for two of the sleepiest bats this year – Conforto and Rosario), so the Mets bats will hope to wake up against rookie pitcher Elieser Hernandez. Elieser is a rule 5 pick from the Astros, so he must stay on the roster for the entire season. He was held up for about 6 weeks due to a tooth infection and finally made his major league debut on the 10th where he pitched 8.0 innings allowing only 2 runs off 9 hits and a walk while striking out 3. In four rehab games this year he allowed 10 runs, 8 earned, over 15.0 innings from 16 hits and 8 walks.

Let’s Go Mets!

Stop the Narrative: The Mets won two games in a row! For the first time in what feels like forever, the Mets have one back to back games, won the series and set themselves up to sweep the first place Diamondbacks today at Citi Field. Last night the Mets got a lackluster start for Matz (4 runs over 4.0 innings, but it felt like Matz was pitching better than that to be honest) and the bullpen bailed the Mets out with 5.0 innings allowing only 2 hits and no walks. The Mets bullpen was great at the start of April and has been terrible of late, this was a welcomed change of pace. It allowed Mesoraco to hit a homerun in the 8th to make the game 4-4 and Wilmer “Walk-Off” Flores ended it in the 9th.

Syndergaard looks to build off last night’s momentum and hammer in the win today. He is 3-1 over 9 games and 51.2 innings with a 3.14 ERA, 2.72 FIP, 1.219 WHIP and 122 ERA+. In his last start he allowed 2 runs over 5.0 innings from 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7. In his last two starts he has allowed 4 runs over 11.0 innings from 11 hits and 6 walks. The last time Noah faced the Diamondbacks was in back to back starts in 2016 where he allowed 7 runs, 5 earned over 10.2 innings from 15 hits and 3 walks while striking out 14. Arizona has the following numbers against Noah:

• Goldschmidt 2-8, 2B, BB, 4 K
• Lamb 0-8, BB
• Owings 1-9, 2B, 5 K
• Descalso 3-6
• Mathis 0-5
• Peralta 1-4, 2B
• Ahmed 0-3

Clay Buchholz will make his 2018 major league debut today as he has not pitched in more than a year. The long time, and successful, Boston Red Sox pitcher was traded to Philly before the 2017 season, made a couple of starts, had season ending surgery, signed with the Royals, was released by the Royals and recently signed with the Diamondbacks. In the minors this year he has tossed 27.2 innings over 5 games with a 2.93 ERA. Last year he allowed 10 runs from 16 hits in 7.1 innings including his 2017 debut which was against the Mets where the Mets scored 4 runs in 5.0 innings from 8 hits and 2 walks. In his last full season with Boston, he went 8-10 over 37 games and 21 starts logging 139.1 innings with a 4.78 ERA, 5.06 FIP, 1.328 WHIP and 94 ERA+. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Reyes 9-34, 2B, 3B, 4 BB
• Cabrera 8-16, 2 2B, 2 HR, 3 BB
• Bruce 1-2

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets needed some good news in the worst way yesterday. Hours before first pitch the Mets announced Juan Lagares was heading to the DL for the rest of the season and the Mets were one loss away from falling to .500 for the season. Thanks to a wonderful performance by deGrom, the Mets got a win against the first place Diamondbacks and at least for one night could breath a little easier. Last time out the Mets ace threw 45 pitches in a scoreless, laboring inning. This time he threw 44 pitches across three great innings and ended up tossing 7.0 innings of 1 run ball with 13 strikeouts.

Matz will look to keep the Mets on the right path tonight. He is 1-3 over 7 games and 32.2 innings with a 3.86 ERA, 5.50 FIP, 1.255 WHIP and 100 ERA+. In his last two starts he has tossed 11.0 innings allowing 2 runs from 8 hits and 5 walks while striking out 8. His last two starts has dropped his ERA from 4.98 to 3.86. In one career start against the Diamondbacks he allowed 2 runs from 5 hits and 1 walk in 6.0 innings while striking out 9. Arizona has the following numbers against Steven:

• Mathis 2-5, HR
• Goldschmidt 1-3, HR
• Lamb 0-3
• Murphy 0-3
• Owings 0-2

The Mets bats will try to spark back to life against Patrick Corbin tonight who is in the midst of a career year. So far he is 4-1 over 9 starts with a 2.53 ERA, 2.72 FIP, 0.860 WHIP and 167 ERA+. His career numbers, for comparison, are 4.00 ERA, 3.87 FIP, 1.313 WHIP and 106 ERA+. Corbin is coming off of by far his worst start of 2018 where he allowed 4 runs from 6 hits and a walk in 6.0 innings while striking out 8. Outside of that start he has allowed 3 runs in only two other starts and in four starts has allowed 1 run or less. He faced the Mets twice last year. In May he allowed 4 runs over 6.0 innings from 9 hits and a walk and in July he allowed only 1 run from 4 hits and 2 walks in 8.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Corbin:

• Gonzalez 5-26, HR, 3 BB, 10 K
• Bruce 2-14, HR, 3 BB
• Flores 3-12
• Reyes 7-11, 3 2B, BB
• Mesoraco 2-9, 2B
• Cabera 0-3
• Conforto 1-3, HR

Let’s Go Mets!

The New York Mets, New York’s National League Water Polo team, returns to the pool tonight to play the Arizona Diamondbacks. Our nation’s collective rainy spring continues as tonight’s game looks to find a dry slot in weather in water logged Queens. The Mets are coming off an off day after a loss as they continue a one week trend of one step forward, one step back.

Jacob deGrom takes the mound for the Mets tonight. He’s 3-0 over 8 games and 44.1 innings with a 1.83 ERA, 2.22 FIP, 1.038 WHIP and 211 ERA+. His last start on Sunday was utterly bizarre, mostly due to Mother Nature. The Mets and Phillies had a long rain delay to start the game. When the game finally got underway, deGrom proceeded to walk the first three batters he faced to load the bases. He then got two strikeouts and got out of the inning unscathed but tossed an enormous amount of pitches (45) and was done for the day. The Diamondbacks have the following numbers against Jacob:

• Mathis 2-7, BB, 3 K
• Pollock 1-4
• Ahmed 0-3
• Avila 1-3
• Descalso 0-3
• Goldschmidt 1-2, BB
• Lamb 0-3
• Owings 1-3

The Mets bats will try to find some positive consistency against Zack Godley tonight who is 4-2 over 8 game sand 46.1 innings with a 4.08 ERA, 4.20 FIP, 1.424 WHIP and 104 ERA+. In his last two starts he has pitched 12.0 innings allowing 8 ER from 13 hits and 5 walks. He’s allowed 4 runs or more in three of his last fours starts and four of his last six starts. He pitched well against the Mets last year allowing 1 run from 1 hit and 5 walks in 6.2 innings and then allowed 3 runs, 2 earned in 5.0  innings in Queens. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Bruce 1-8, 2 BB
• Gonzalez 1-8, 3 K
• Reyes 1-5, BB
• Conforto 2-6
• Flores 0-4
• Cabrera 0-3
• Nimmo 1-1, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!