213 Miles From Shea

The battle for third place is on! Before the weekend the Mets were in the driver seat for third place but the Tigers did what the Tigers do. Yesterday the Tigers jumped out to an early lead against the Mets but the Mets came back to take the lead 3-2. The Tigers then nudged forward making it 4-3 and the score stayed like that for a while until the top of the ninth where the game ballooned into a 11-3 score. Tonight Zack Wheeler gets the nod as he goes up against Cliff Lee.

Zack Wheeler is 6-2 over 12 starts with a 3.49 ERA over 69.2 innings with 62 strikeouts. He’s 2-0 over his last three starts pitching 19.0 innings with a 2.37 ERA, 4 BB and 21 strikeouts. In his one start against the Phillies this year he allowed 2 ER over 4.2 innings. The Phillies have the following numbers against Wheeler:

Brown 0-3
Rollins 2-3, HR
Ruf 0-2
Utley 1-2
Young 0-1
Bernadina 0-2
Mayberry 1-2

Cliff Lee is 10-6 over 24 starts this season pitching 170.2 innings with a 3.16 ERA. He has made 4 starts in the month of August going 0-2 and 26.0 innings with a 3.81 ERA and 26 strikeouts. Lee has had two very different starts against the Mets this season. Back in April he allowed only 2 ER over 8.2 innings of work. In July, he allowed 5 ER over 6.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Lee:

Buck 16-55, 3 2B, 4 HR
Byrd 10-28, 3 2B, HR
Murphy 8-26, 4 2B
Duda 6-18, 2B, HR
Lagares 2-3, HR

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets signed 16 year old Ricardo Cespedes yesterday, actually on his 16th birthday. Cespedes just made the cut to be signed this year by 8 days. If he was 8 days younger, teams would not be able to sign him until next July.

According to Baseball America, Cespedes has “a nice swing and a line-drive, gap-to-gap approach”. The Mets reached an agreement with him in July but had to wait until his 16th birthday to sign him (which makes sense). Anyway, at the age of 16, Cespedes is already 6 feet tall and 2 inches. He’s an outfielder right now, and speculation is he will start in center field.

Before you get excited, the reason you don’t hear a lot of press around these signings is the how far down the charts these guys are. It’s essentially like giving 725 K (Cespedes’s contract) to a high school sophomore/junior and their have been few players that have accurately projected into stars from that age.

The Mets try to get one from the Tigers today as Dillon Gee takes on Rick Porcello. Yesterday was much hyped as a pitching matchup and for the most part it was as Harvey went into the 7th allowing 2 runs and Max was fantastic. Sadly for the Mets, the lumber was a slumber and didn’t do much thus leading to a 3-0 Tigers win.

Dillon Gee is 9-8 over 25 starts this season with a 3.60 ERA over 152.2 innings. Dillon is 2-0 in the month of August pitching 28.1 innings with an ERA of 1.27, 20 strikeouts and 4 walks. Not surprisingly, Dillon Gee has never faced the Tigers before however he has faced a few members of the Detroit squad:

Infante 2-8
Fielder 0-1
Anibal Sanchez 0-1

The Mets bats draw Rick Porcello in today’s finale, who is 9-7 over 24 games this season with a 4.52 ERA over 135.1 innings. He has pitched 15.1 innings in his last three starts with a 6.46 ERA. He has pitched 3.2 innings against the Mets in his career and has allowed 7 earned runs in that stretch. However, few active players with the Mets have faced him:

Buck 0-8
Murphy 2-3, 2B
Duda 0-2
Turner 0-2

Lets Go Mets!

In what may possibly be the first time ever, the two starting pitchers of the All-Star game meet up again for a regular season game with their same respective teams. Previously the only way this was possible was if an interleague game from May/June was postponed and made up later in the season. Anyway, Matt Harvey takes the mound against Max Scherzer. For both pitchers 2013 was their first All-Star game and they both got to start for their respective leagues. The American League eventually won that game, and both Harvey and Scherzer put on a show.

Matt is 9-4 with a 2.25 ERA over 25 starts and 171.2 innings of work. In that time he was struck out 187 batters and walked 31. Two starts ago he pitched a complete game shut out, the following start he showed he was human allowed 4 ER over 6 innings and in his last start he allowed 2 over 6 in a game the bullpen let slip away. Harvey has never faced the Tigers nor anyone on the Tigers roster in a regular season game.

Max is 18-1 this year. Seriously. 18-1. That’s a 94.7 winning percentage. He has pitched 25 games and 172.1 innings with a 2.82 ERA, so his time on the field this year has been very similar to Harvey. He has struck out 185 batters and walked 38 (seriously these numbers are incredibly close). In his last three starts he is 2-0 over 21.0 innings of work with a 2.57 ERA. In his career he has pitched 12.2 innings against the Mets with a 4.26 ERA. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Murphy 1-5
Young 1-4
Buck o-3
Byrd 1-2, 2B

Lets Go Mets!

The Tigers come to town tonight and start a weekend series with the Mets. The Mets actually had a day off yesterday, crazy I know, after splitting a two game series with he Braves. The real story for the Mets tonight is their starting pitcher, Daisuke Matsuzaka. As I tweeted yesterday, half-a decade ago, I’d be very excited about this signing. I do like this signing for this point of the season if Daisuke can soak up some innings from our young guns. Recently he hasn’t been successful in the majors. Last year he was 1-7 over 11 games with a 8.28 ERA. The year before he was 3-3 with a 5.30 ERA over 7 games. He’s been alright in the Indians minor league system this year posting a 5-8 record and a 3.92 ERA over AAA. The Tigers have the following numbers against Matsuzaka:

Hunter 5-18, HR
Cabrera 4-9, HR
Martinez 1-6
Santiago 2-4, 2B
Jackson 1-4, 2B

Doug Fister gets the nod for the Tigers tonight. Fister is 10-6 with 3.63 ERA over 25 starts this season. He’s o-1 in his last three starts over 18.1 innings where he has posted a 4.42 ERA. He has never faced the Mets in his career but a few Mets have faced him on other teams:

Buck 1-2
Byrd 0-3
Omar 0-2

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets and Braves finish off their two game set this afternoon as the Mets try to sweep Atlanta. Last night Wheeler had his pitches working early, but the Braves were able to keep it close. Thanks to some timely hitting and defense, the Mets were able to get it done. Today they look to contend with Alex Wood as the Mets send out Jon Niese.

Jon Niese is 5-6 over 16 starts this year with a 4.25 ERA over 89.0 innings of work. On August 11th he returned to the majors to 6 innings, 4 earned runs and in his last start he allowed only one earned run over 6. The Braves were not kind to him this season scoring 7 ER over 4.1 innings and then 3 ER over 3.1 innings. The Braves have the following numbers against Niese:

Freeman 8-24, 2 2B, 2 HR
Heyward 9-22, 2 2B, 2 HR
J Upton 8-15, 2B
McCann 1-12
Schafer 0-8

The Mets draw Alex Wood for the finale who is 2-2 with a 2.61 ERA over 21 games, 6 starts and 51.2 innings in his rookie season. In the month of August he’s been on a tear allowing only 2 ER over 18.1 innings. Against the Mets he’s allowed 5 ER over 7.1 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Alex Wood:

Byrd 3-4
Myrd 2-5
Buck 1-3
Lagares 0-2
Satin 1-2

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets finally, FINALLY return home tonight…but it’s against the Braves. In case you missed yesterday’s game, Dillon Gee was fantastic shutting down the Twins over 7.2 innings and the Mets offense was able to put some runs on the board to support him. While the Mets have been away for the last 11 games, the Braves have been caught up in a rivalry with the Nationals regarding plunking each others players. Tonight Brandon Beachy starts for the Bravos as he goes up against Zack Wheeler (Happy Wheeler Day!).

Zack Wheeler is 5-2 with a 3.43 ERA over 11 starts and 63.0 innings of work. In his last two starts, he’s pitched 12.1 innings, allowed 2 ER and struck out 16 batters, most in his last start where he struck out 12 over 6. He has had two very different starts against the Braves. In his major league debut, he held the Braves scoreless over 6.0 innings and in his second start, he allowed 4 runs, 3 earned, over 6 innings. The Braves have the following numbers against Wheeler:

Freeman 2-3, 3 BB
C Johnson 1-5
Simmons 1-4, 2 BB
J Upton 0-6, 2 K
Gattis 0-3
Heyward 0-3
BJ Upton 1-3

Brandon Beachy is 2-0 with a 4.50 ERA over 4 starts and 24.0 innings of work. The last time Beachy faced the Mets was back in 2011 where he allowed 4 ER over 4.1 innings. This year, he is 3-4 over 9 games in the minors with a 2.92 ERA. The Mets have the following numbers against Brandon:

Buck 2-9
Byrd 3-5, HR
Gee 0-1
Turner 0-1

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets finally finish a long, long road trip on the West Coast with a make up game in Minnesota today. Ok, so Minnesota isn’t on the West Coast, but it’s in a different time zone so whatever. Anyway, in case you forgot, at the start of the season the Mets rolled into snowy Minnesota and Colorado thus causing the hectic schedule they are experiencing now. In other news, d’Arnaud, who has walked 4 times since being called up and looks like he is staying until the end of the year is still in search of his first major league hit. He will try to get against Kyle Gibson tonight as the Mets counter with Dillon Gee.

Dillon Gee is 8-8 over 24 games and a 3.79 ERA over 145.0 innings and 105 strikeouts. In the month of August he has made three starts with a 1.74 ERA over 20.2 innings with 11 strikeouts. He missed Minnesota earlier this season and since the Twins are in the American League, it is understandable that Gee has never faced the Twins before and never has faced anyone on the Twins roster.

Kyle Gibson is 2-3 this season over 9 starts and 47.1 innings of work with an ERA of 6.27. This season he has walked 18 batters and struck out 27. In the month of August he has made three starts, pitched 14.0 innings and has posted an ERA of 6.43. Gibson is a rookie this season and missed the Mets earlier this year, thus he has never faced them nor has he faced anyone on the Mets in a major league game.

Lets Go Mets!

Happy Harvey d’Arnaud day!

After dropping last night’s game 8-2, the Mets look to take the four game set and leave San Diego on a high note. The true story of the game is the battery pair for the Mets with Harvey on the mound and d’Arnaud behind the plate. As a bonus, this game will be on 4:00 local time so people like me who fall asleep hella early can finally watch a Mets game for the first time in a week. Anyway Harvey will face off against Eric Stults.

Matt Harvey is 9-4 this season with a 2.23 ERA over 24 starts and 165.2 innings and 181 strikeouts. His last outing was fairly human where he allowed 4 ER over 6 innings and three strikeouts against a good team. His first start of the season was against the Padres where he allowed no runs over 7 innings while striking out 10, kicking off Harvey Day as a weekly holiday. The Padres have the following numbers against Harvey:

Alonso 2-6, 2B, HR
Venable 1-5, 3B
Amarista 0-5
Headley 1-2, HR
Hundley 0-2

Eric Stults is 8-10 with a 3.68 ERA over 25 starts and 156.1 innings of work. In that stretch he has walked 33 batters and struck out 97. He has pitched 11.2 innings in the month of August and allowed 7 ER. His first start of the season was against the Mets where he shut the Amazin’s out for 5.0 innings, allowing 3 hits and struck out 7. The Mets have the following numbers against Eric:

Turner 3-3, 2 2B
Young 1-2
Buck 1-2
Byrd 0-2
Davis 0-2

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets look for the series victory today in San Diego as they play game 3 of 4. So far the Mets have done well against the Padres and last night’s game featured three Mets homers (Byrd, Davis, Murphy) and a nice outing from Niese. Recker had a nice day at the plate too, going 3-3 with a run. That being said, a new catcher is coming to town tonight for the Mets as Travis d’Arnaud looks to be on the major league roster for tonight’s game. Anyway, Jenrry Mejia gets the nod for the for the Amazin’s tonight as he faces off with Edison Volquez.

Jenrry Mejia is 1-2 over 4 starts this season with a 2.22 ERA while pitching 24.1 innings and striking out 22 batters. In his short career, Mejia has faced the Padres twice, both in relief and both for one inning a piece. He’s allowed 2 hits and no runs. Because of the limited time in front of Mejia, the Padres have really limited stats against him:

Cedeno 0-1
Hundley 0-1
Denorfia 0-1

The Mets bats get to see Edison Volquez who is 8-10 over 25 starts this year with a 5.80 ERA. In that stretch he has pitched 136.2 innings, struck out 111 batters and has allowed a league leading 88 earned runs (he also leads the league in starts). He started August off on the right foot allowing only 2 ER over 6.0 innings but in his last start he allowed 8 ER over 4.1 innings. His first start of the season was against the Mets where he allowed 6 ER over 3.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Edison:

Byrd 4-11
Young 2-9, 2B
Murphy 2-7
Baxter 2-6, 2B, HR
Turner 2-6, 2B

Lets Go Mets!