213 Miles From Shea

The Mets broke their three game slide last night beating the Padres 4-1! The Amazin’s look to keep that going tonight as they play game two of four. In case you missed last night, Wheeler was great going 6 innings, allowing 1 ER striking out 12 batters. Byrd hit a key double that brought in two runs and Buck added his 15th homer of the year. Tonight Niese will get his second start since coming back from the DL as he squares up against Ian Kennedy.

Jon Niese is 4-6 over 15 starts with a 4.45 ERA while pitching 83.0 innings and striking out 54 batters. He allowed 7 hits and 4 ER over 6 innings in his first start back from the DL. He also walked a batter and struck out 5. His first start of the season was against the Padres where he allowed 2 ER and 4 hits over 6.2 innings. The Padres have the following numbers against Jon:

Guzman 2-7
Forsythe 2-7, 2B
Hundley 2-7, 3B
Cedeno 1-4
Alonso 1-3, HR

The Mets bats get to deal with Ian Kennedy tonight who is 4-8 on the season over 23 games and 137.2 innings with a 4.97 ERA. Kennedy was traded midseason to the Padres and since joining them he is 0-1 with a 2.63 in two starts. He faced the Mets earlier this season with the Diamondbacks where he allowed 2 ER over 7 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Byrd 3-12
Young 2-11
Buck 2-8
Davis 3-7, 3 HR (Seriously)
Brown 1-7
Murphy 1-7

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets roll into San Diego for a four game set after being swept by the Dodgers in rather close fashion. Last night the Dodgers came back, pushed the game into extras and were able to take it in the 12th as the Mets racked up more extra innings this season. Zack Wheeler looks to stop the slide tonight as he takes on Tyson Ross.

Zack Wheeler is 5-2 over 10 games with a 3.63 ERA over 57.0 innings. Wheeler made a good rebound start his last time out posting only 1 ER over 6.1 innings, the time before he allowed 4 ER over 5 innings. Zack was not up with the major league organization earlier this year when the Padres came to New York and he has not faced any specific batters on the Padres’s roster in a major league game before (so no batting stats).

Tyson Ross is 3-5 with a 2.75 ERA making 7 starts and pitching in 26 games overall this season totaling 72.0 innings with 62 strikeouts. He has made a string of four starts recently and he’s been very good in that stretch posting a 1.33 ERA over 27.0 innings. He has never faced the Mets before but two Mets have faced him, and are both 0-1 (Byrd and Young).

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets have dropped their last two at Dodgers Stadium and they look to correct that tonight as Dillon Gee goes up against a former Met in Chris Capuano. Dillon Gee is 8-8 this season with a 3.82 ERA over 139.0 innings while striking out 101 batters. In his last two starts he has pitched 14.2 innings allowing only 2 ER (one in each start) and two walks while striking out 7 batters. He missed the Dodgers earlier this year but last year he allowed 4 runs, 2 earned over 6 innings of work. The Dodgers have the following numbers against him:

Uribe 1-7, 2B
Ethier 0-4
AJ Ellis 1-3, 2B
Gordon 1-2
Ramirez 1-2

The Mets get a look at their strong starter back in the 2011 season tonight. Chris is 4-6 over 80.0 innings with a 4.50 ERA. His two August starts have been very different. He was fantastic in his first start shutting out his opponent in 6.1 innings of work. Last time out he allowed 5 ER over 4.1 innings. He missed the Mets earlier this season but last year over two starts he allowed 6 ER over 14.0 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Capuano:

Byrd 4-12, 2B
Buck 0-10
Davis 1-6
Young 3-4
Brown 2-3, 2B

Lets Go Mets!

Happy Harvey Day!

The Mets try to make up for last night’s game as they play the second game in the set tonight. Last night, the Mets dropped the game by a score of 4-2. They had strong pitching from Mejia but couldn’t get runs across the board. In a critical seventh inning, writers have been talking about two major blown calls that would have heavily assisted the Mets. I didn’t stay up to see the game, so I can’t really comment on that, the Mets did however leave 20 men on base. Harvey will square off today against Hyun-jin Ryu.

Matt Harvey is leading the league in ERA since the All-Star Break with a 0.91. Overall on the season he is 9-3 with a 2.09 ERA pitching 159.2 innings with 178 K’s. He is coming off of his first complete game shutout where he dominated the Rockies keeping his pitch count incredibly low. He faced the Dodgers earlier this season where he was more human and allowed 3 ER over 6 innings. The Dodgers have the following numbers against Matt:

Schumaker 1-6
M Ellis 1-3
Ethier 1-3
Gonzalez 1-2
AJ Ellis 0-2
Hairston 0-2

The Mets bats draw Hyun-jin Ryu who is 11-3 over 22 starts with a 2.99 ERA while pitching 141.1 innings with 118 strikeouts. In his last three starts he has allowed 3 ER over 19.1 innings. Earlier this season he faced the Mets for 7.0 innings and allowed only 1 ER. The Mets have the following numbers against Ryu:

Byrd 1-3, 2B
Davis 0-3
Murphy 1-3
Recker 0-3

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets continue their West Coast Road swing by going into Dodger Town tonight to try their recent hot streak against one of the leagues best teams right now. Yesterday the Mets bats came alive as they trounced the Diamondbacks 9-4 in the rubber game featuring the first homer by Wilmer Flores. Tonight Jenrry Mejia takes the mound for the Mets as he takes on an old foe in Ricky Nolasco.

Jenrry Mejia is 1-1 over 3 games and 18.1 innings with a 1.96 ERA. After his first start (7 scoreless) he allowed 3 ER over 6 in his second outing. Last time out he allowed 2 runs, 1 earned over 5.1. He’s logged one inning against the Dodgers where he has allowed no hits, no runs, no strikeouts and one walk. The Dodgers have the following numbers against Jenrry:

Ramirez 1-3
Hairston 0-1
Nolasco 0-2Ellis 0-1
Uribe 0-1

For those who don’t remember, Ricky was one of the few players that survived the fire sale of the Marlins back in the offseason. He was also one of the players that a lot of people predicted would be moved at some point this season (which was not at all a bold prediction). Nolasco was traded back on July 6. On the season he is 8-9 with a 3.65 ERA over 145.1 innings. His ERA with the Marlins was 3.85 and has been reduced to 3.00 with the Dodgers. His second start of the season was against the Mets where he allowed 3 ER over 5.1 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against Nolasco:

Murphy 8-28, 3 2B
Davis 5-23, 2 2B
Byrd 2-11, 2B
Baxter 1-2
Young 1-3

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets and Diamondbacks play the rubber game today as the Mets look for a series win to start this road trip off on the right foot. It is also a big day for the Mets as Jon Niese finally rejoins the rotation after injury. In case you missed last night’s game, Wheeler was great through 6.1 innings and the bullpen was able to hold it together as the Mets (and specifically Wilmer Flores) were able to put some runs on the board. Niese in his return today will be facing Zeke Spruill.

As stated earlier, this is the first start for Niese in a minute. Niese is 3-6 over 14 innings with a 4.32 ERA over 77.0 innings and 49 strikeouts this year. In his rehab starts, he pitched 11.0 innings allowing only 3 ER (2.45 ERA) while walking 4 and striking out 11. Last year Niese faced the Diamondbacks once and it didn’t go well as he allowed 9 hits, 8 runs, 6 earned over 6 innings of work. The Diamondbacks have the following numbers against Niese:

Prado 6-29, 4 2B, 3B
Ross 2-6
Hill 0-2
Goldschmidt 1-3
Kubel 1-3, 2B

Zeke Spruill is 0-1 with a 6.48 ERA over 5 games, 1 start and 8.1 innings of work. The 23 year old rookie made his first start in his last outing where he allowed 5 ER (he’s allowed 6 in his career) over 4.1 innings. He’s made 17 starts in the minors this year with a 2.68 ERA pitching 104.0 innings with 54 strikeouts. He’s never faced the Mets or anyone on the Mets roster in a major league game.

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets look to bounce back from last night’s loss as they take on the Diamondbacks for game two tonight in Arizona. Yesterday the Mets did not get a good performance from Hefner which put Atchison in a position to give up the walk off homer. The Mets bats didn’t help going 3-13 with runners in scoring position. Tonight Zack Wheeler takes the mound for the Mets as he takes on Brandon McCarthy.

Zack Wheeler is 4-2 over 9 games with a 3.91 ERA over 50.2 innings with 41 K’s. His last start against Kansas City was rocky. He allowed 4 ER over 5 innings. This will be Wheeler’s first start against the Diamondbacks in his career and he hasn’t faced anyone on their roster in a major league game.

The Mets bats draw Brandon McCarthy tonight who is 2-5 over 12 games with a 4.94 ERA. His last start (4.1 IP, 2 ER) was a good bounce back, sorta, from his start before that lasted 2.2 innings with 6 ER. Even though McCarthy has been pitching since 2005, almost all of his seasons have been in the American League and he never faced the Mets as a team. But since he has been teaching since 2005 there are a few Mets who have seen him on other teams:

Buck 1-7, HR
Byrd 0-2
Young 1-3

Lets Go Mets!

Go West Boys From Queens!

But actually yes, head west. The Mets start an 11 game road trip tonight with the Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Padres and Twins on the heels of a 3 game sweep of the Rockies. Yesterday, the Mets got another great start from a starter, this time Gee as he was able to hold the Rockies to one run and the offense scored the minimum to win with 2. Tonight Hefner gets the mound as he squares up against Corbin:

Hefner is 4-8 on the season with a 4.23 ERA over 125.2 innings of work. His last tart, 3 ER over 6 innings, was the best since the All-Star break so hopefully he can continue to put it back together tonight. The last time he faced the Diamondbacks he allowed only one run over 7 innings. The Diamondbacks have the following numbers against him:

Prado 2-5, 2B, HR
Corbin 0-3
Goldschmidt 0-3
Hill 0-3
Kubel 1-2
Ross 0-3

The Mets get to look at Corbin again (and I guess Corbin gets another look at Hefner specifically). Corbin is 12-3, the best winning percentage in the league, with a 2.33 ERA over 150.1 innings of work. After four straight starts of allowing only 1 ER, he allowed 3 ER over 6 in his last outing. His last terrible outing was against the Mets as he allowed 5 ER over 6 innings. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Young 3-9, 3 2B
Brown 3-7, HR
Buck 1-3
Byrd 1-3, 2B
Lagares 1-3, 2B
Satin 1-3, 2B
Murphy 2-2

Lets Go Mets!

Yesterday Mark Simon posted this article to ESPN explaining that the Mets are doing something so positive, so well that we are making the rest of the league look silly.

What are they doing? UBR!

…what?

Yes, this seems like the most hipster of all of the hipster sabermetrics, but it stands for Ultimate Base Running (also BSR). Its calculated for doing positive things on the bases like taking an extra base, stealing but not being caught, not doing something stupid and being called out, etc. It attempts to calculate how many runs the base running alone has contributed. Here are the top 5 teams in the league:

1. Mets 15.3
2. Royals 8.9
3. Indians 7.6
4. Pirates 7.6
5. Rockies 7.0

We are above and beyond the best at this. Mark Simon points out that for the Mets, taking the extra base has been the critical for the Mets this year and reflecting on that there have been a lot of times watching that I’ve commented or someone else has commented something to the effect of “Way to take the extra base.” Now while a lot of this is intuition, I think Terry deserves a lot of credit for this. It was one of his initiatives to take the extra base this year in spring and it has been paying off in this objective stat about the Mets baserunning abilities this year.

Now if you look at the teams with the Mets, the Rockies are also a team not heading towards meaningful games in September this year. It is important to remember though that earlier this year they were at the top of the West division, so there seems to be some correlation that good UBR means competitive teams. For the Mets, a lot of their UBR has come from Eric Young (so this hurts the objective stat for Terry argument) and the Mets have been competitive since he has joined.

The Mets go for the series sweep this afternoon in Queens against the Rockies as this blogger finds himself in an unusual situation. I usually write these articles before 6 AM and the Rockies, who will be playing 6 hours and 15 minutes from this exact moment (5:45 AM) still have not announced a starter yet. Last night the Rockies announced that the planned starter, Tyler Chatwood, is suffering elbow inflmation and will be bumped. Anyway last night Harvey was masterful in a 4 hit shutout as Wilmer Flores had his first two major league hits with 3 huge insurance RBI’s. Dillon Gee will get the nod today against the Rockies mystery man.

Dillon Gee is 7-8 on the season with a 3.97 ERA pitching 131.1 innings. His last start was a nice bounce back as he allowed only 1 ER over 7 innings of work and now has allowed 1 ER or fewer over 6.2 innings or more in three of his last four starts. He faced Colorado before this season and it was a rough game as he allowed 5 ER over 4.2 innings and 7 hits. The Rockies have the following numbers against Gee:

Herrera 0-7
Cuddyer 2-5, 2B
Gonzalez 3-4, HR
Helton 2-5, 2B
Tulo 2-5
Fowler 0-3

Lets Go Mets!