213 Miles From Shea

Piazza coming out to Shea Faithful. It was a great day. Picture taken on 7/30/16.

The Mets have a chance to take the series today against the Rockies. After dropping the first game in a back and forth affair at the end of the game, the Mets won yesterday in a come from behind fashion. The Mets bullpen which has mostly been a garbage fire this season, recorded 6 shutout innings in Coors Field, evidence that anything can happen in baseball. Today Rafael Montero will look to get the job done against German Marquez.

Montero is 1-7 over 21 games and 7 starts with 56.2 innings posting an 5.72 ERA, 4.26 FIP and 1.747 WHIP. He had back to back statistically average starts before his last one in Seattle where he allowed 5 runs over 4.2 innings off 3 hits and 5 walks in a game the Mets came back to win 7-5. Several Rockies have seen Montero before:

• Arenado 0-2, BB
• Blackmon 0-3
• Parra 0-2, BB
• LeMahieu 0-1, BB

The Mets draw German Marquez who is 9-4 over 17 starts and 97.0 innings with a 4.08 ERA, 3.64 FIP and 1.289 WHIP. The youngster (22 years!) has been incredibly consistent in his last two starts allowing 2 runs in each start, 3 hits over 7.0 innings. In the first start he allowed 2 walks and struck out 9, in the last start he walked no one and struck out 10. He has never faced the Mets before or anyone on the Mets roster.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets got the details correct on Piazza induction day. Picture taken on 7/30/16.

The Mets lost the game yesterday in the 9th inning, but really the important game note was Amed Rosario. Rosario made his major league debut last night collecting an infield hit as his fourth AB as his first hit. He also made four consecutive put outs until he tapped his gloved before tossing a first just barely missing the runner (which in recent memory is the most I have seen baseball pundits break down a fairly routine play, but it’s a prospect so it make sense). Anyway, Matz was doing great until he wasn’t in the 6th and after that point the game became a back and forth affair until it was over.

Chris Flexen will make his second start for the Mets tonight as they continue to take a look at the 22 year old arriving straight from Binghamton. In his debut in San Diego, he allowed 5 hits and 4 walks over 3.0 innings leading to 4 runs, 3 earned and his order for game two doesn’t get easier as he draws the stronger Rockies team in Colorado. Before being called up he was 6-1 between Binghamton and St. Lucie this year tossing 10 games and 61.1 innings with a 1.76 ERA and a 0.815 WHIP.

The Mets bats draw Tyler Chatwood who is 6-11 over 20 games and 9 starts with 107.1 innings posting a 4.78 ERA, 5.12 FIP and 1.463 WHIP. He’s also leading the league in walks at 62. He is making his first start since facing the Mets back on July 15th where he allowed 4 hits and 4 runs with 3 walks while recording 1 out. He tossed an inning in relief between these starts where he allowed 1 hit and 2 walks leading to a run in 1.0 innings. In his last 17.0 innings over 5 games he has allowed 20 walks. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Cabrera 2-10, HR, 3 BB
• Bruce 3-7, HR
• Cespedes 1-7, HR
• Conforto 1-4, 3 BB
• Reyes 2-7, 3B
• Granderson 1-5, HR, BB
• Walker 1-5, BB

Let’s Go Mets!

The field was set up spectacularly for Piazza day on 7/30/16.

After a disappointing weekend dropping the series and the last two games against the Mariners, the Mets travel to Rockies without Addison Reed but with Amed Rosario. For the Mets, their Sunday woes continued in their last game allowing 9 runs before scoring 1 in the top of the 9th inning. But it’s a new day in Metsville with Amed Rosario. He’s not surprised, he’s ready. In the minors this year he was hitting .328/.367/.466 which you can compare to his career minors line of .291/.336/.405. His current line is also comparable to his line last year (split St Lucie and Binghamton) of .324/.374/.459.

The attention will be on Rosario tonight, and he’ll be playing behind Steven Matz who is 2-4 over 9 games and 47.1 innings this year with a 5.51 ERA, 4.95 FIP and 1.500 WHIP. He had another rough outing his last time out against the Padres allowing 6 runs off 9 hits over 3.0 innings. In his last 4 starts he has allowed 21 runs off 34 hits in 13.1 innings. As a positive, he hasn’t walked anyone in his last two starts while striking out 9 (although you could probably make a joke about hitters not being patient since he’s allowing so many hits). He allowed 10 hits and a walk over 6.0 innings leading to only 2 runs last year against the Rockies. This year he had his worst start of the season against them allowing 7 runs off 9 hits and a walk over 1.0 inning. The Rockies have the following numbers against Matz:

• Blackmon 4-6, 2 2B
• Arenado 1-5, HR
• LeMahieu 3-4, BB
• Reynolds 3-5, 2 2B
• Story 2-4, 2B
• Gonzalez 1-3, 2B

The Mets bats will get a look at Jeff Hoffman who is 6-3 over 13 games and 12 starts over 69.1 innings with a 5.58 ERA, 4.19 FIP, 1.385 WHIP. In his last 7 starts he has tossed 37.1 innings allowing 48 hits and 36 runs leading to an ERA of 8.44. In his last two starts he has allowed 14 runs, 13 earned over 7.0 innings. In the start before that, he faced the Mets where he allowed 4 runs off 7 hits and a walk in 6.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Bruce 2-3, 2B
• Cabrera 1-3, HR
• Conforto 0-3
• Granderson 0-2
• Reyes 0-2
• R Rivera 1-2, BB

Let’s Go Mets!

Today starts a series of pictures taken from Piazza Induction weekend. This picture was taken 7/30/16

Picture of The 7 Line crew on the last day of the regular season in 2016. I sat here in 2015 and now am a season ticket holder. Fun time with a fun crew!

(Picture taken 9/25/16)

The last day of the season is always a great day and last year, 9/25/16, was a particularly nice day.

After taking the opener in Seattle on Friday, the Mets were unable to take the series yesterday forcing a rubber game today. The Mets felt close the entire game yesterday but they just couldn’t get hits to fall in a row, and deGrom uncharacteristically allowed several hits in a row giving the Mariners an early lead. He still had a good game yesterday as he was hurt by a bad throw from Walker.

Seth Lugo looks to send the Mets off to Denver happy today. He is 5-2 over 9 games and 8 starts over 52.2 innings with a 4.10 ERA, 4.25 FIP and 1.348 WHIP. In his last start against the Padres, Lugo was hurt by base runners. He allowed 8 hits over 6 innings which turned into 4 runs, but only 3 earned. Lugo has never faced the Mariners or anyone on the Mariners roster.

The Mets bats will get a look at James Paxton who is 10-3 over 17 starts and 101.1 innings with a 2.84 ERA, 2.43 FIP and 1.105 WHIP. His winning percentage is the best in the majors, which as a stat is rather silly because those numbers are not always in his control, his FIP and WHIP highlight his season. Another important note is his wild pitch count. He has already thrown 11 this year, more than he has in any other season. In his last two starts he has tossed 14.0 innings allowing 10 hits and a walk leading to only one run while striking out 17. The only member of the Mets who has seen him in a game is Jose Reyes who is 1-3 against him.

Let’s Go Mets!