213 Miles From Shea

The Mets look to bounce back from dropping a series against the Dodgers by taking one from Phillies tonight at Citi Field. Yesterday was a frustrating day as the Mets offense just could not build any rallies off of Hefner’s strong start and ended up losing 3-2 after winning the previous game with a walk off grand slam. Tonight Dillon Gee will take the mound for the Mets as he squares off against Kyle Kendrick.

Dillon Gee is now 1-3 on the seasoon with a 5.85 ERA over 19.2 innings of work. He looked a lot better in his last start against the Nationals where he allowed 3 hits and no runs over 5.2 innings of work and tonight he has a shot of redemption. In his last start against the Phillies, the second start of the season for Gee, he allowed 7 ER over 3.0 innings. Now he gets the Phillies outside of their sand box and inside of Citi Field. The Phillies have the following numbers against him:

Mayberry 4-11, 2B, 2 HR
Rollins 7-11, 2B
Utley 2-10, 2B
Howard 3-9, 3 HR
Nix 2-6
Young 4-5, 2 HR

Kyle Kendrick is 1-1 this season over 4 starts with a 3.28 ERA. Kendrick’s only bad start was the first of the season where he allowed 5 ER over 5.2 innings, after that he has allowed 2 ER or less between 6 or 7 innings (including a 2 ER, 6 IP outing against the Mets). On the bad side, he has allowed 8 hits in three of his four starts this year. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Wright 11-34, 2 2B, 2 HR
Davis 4-19, 2 2B
Murphy 3-17, 2B
Duda 3-12, 2 2B, HR
Buck 1-10, HR
Baxter 3-6, 2B, HR

Lets Go Mets!

The Dodgers and Mets finish off their three game series this afternoon as the Mets look to take another series via the rubber game. Last night the Mets rallied in the 9th inning to tie the game 3-3 and then won on a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the tenth via Jordany Valdespin. Hopefully the magic continues today as Jeremy Hefner takes on rookie Hyun-jin Ryu.

Hefner had another off start last time out lasting 4.0 innings allowing 3 ER. He started the season well allowing only one earned run over 6 innings of work. Since that start he’s pitched 8.0 innings and has allowed 10 ER. Last year he made 3 appearances (no starts) against the Dodgers pitching a total of 4.0 innings allowing only 2 ER. The Dodgers have the following numbers against Hefner:

A.J. Ellis 0-2
Cruz 0-1
Ethier 0-1
Kemp 1-1, 3B
Uribe 0-1

The Mets bats will get their first look at Hyun-jin Ryu today who is 2-1 with a 4.01 ERA over four starts this season. In his first two starts he lasted 6.1 innings and since then he has gone an even 6 innings in each start. Each start has also gotten progressively worse for him as he has allowed 1 ER, 2 ER, 3 ER and 5 ER in that order. As you can imagine, he’s never played against the Mets and this is his rookie season, so there are no batting statics against anyone currently on the Mets.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to rebound after last night’s loss against the Dodgers as they play game two tonight. It’s the time of the week that all Mets fans look forward to because ITS HARVEY DAY.

If no one has wished you a Happy Harvey Day yet today, well a Happy Harvey day to you. Harvey will be making his fifth start of the season today. Fun fact, if the Mets wear the blue softball tops (and I don’t think they will) then Harvey will have worn 5 different jersey tops in his first 5 starts of the season. Anyway Harvey has dominated this season posting a 4-0 record with a 0.93 ERA over 29.0 innings where he has struck out 32 batters. Harvey has never faced the Dodgers and the only Dodger who has statistics against him is Schumaker who was 1-3 last year.

For the Dodgers, Ted Lilly will be making his season debut for a starting rotation that has caught a serious injury bug. Last year Lilly was 5-1 over 8 starts  over 48.2 innings with a 3.14 ERA. This year, he has allowed 13 ER, 15 total over 17 innings in three starts in the minor leagues. The last time he faced the Mets was in 2011 where he allowed 3 ER and 6 hits over 6 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against Lilly:

Byrd 8-17, 2B, HR
Murphy 1-6, 2B
Wright 1-5
Buck 1-4
Cowgill 1-3
Duda 0-3

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets and Dodgers start a series tomorrow night as the Mets look to build off of a series win against the Nationals. The Mets are catching the Dodgers at a good time as several players are struggling and moral is low. The Dodgers catch the Mets at an interesting time as they just beat two of the better pitchers in baseball (Strasburg, Zimmermann) and the Mets will get another challenge tonight in Clayton Kershaw.

Jon Niese had two rough starts in a row in two cold weather environments. In his first two starts, he was 2-0 over 12.2 innings with 9 strikeouts and a 2.13 ERA. In his next starts he was 1-1 after pitching 11.0 innings allowing 8 runs with 7 earned. Tonight he looks to channel the first two starts. He had a no decision in one start last year against the Dodgers allowing 3 ER over 7 innings. The Dodgers have the following against Niese:

Uribe 0-11
Hairston 1-10
Kemp 4-9
Ethier 4-9
Cruz 1-5
Punto 0-5

The Mets batters will try to rough Kershaw tonight who is 2-2 with a 1.88 ERA in his first four starts on the season. He started off the season with 16.2 scoreless innings which he followed up with 6 ER over 12.2 innings. He had one start against the Mets last year and he allowed 3 runs, 1 earned over 7 innings of work. The Mets have the following numbers against Clayton:

Wright 2-12, 2B
Buck 1-8
Turner 1-10
Byrd 6-9
Tejada 3-5
Davis 1-6, 2B

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets are have a couple of question marks in the starting rotation and by the end of the month, if Hefner doesn’t up his game, he may be on the way out (to the pen). While Wheeler will probably get the first call up in late May/June, there is room for another pitcher to move up. If someone else moves up, there may be some shuffling in the lower leagues. Anyway, here are some stat lines that may jump off the page:

Las Vegas:
Collin McHugh: 2-0, 3 G, 18.0 IP, 0.50 ERA, 2 BB, 15 K

Binghamton:
Rafeal Montero: 3-0, 4 G, 22.2 IP, 1.59 ERA, BB, 27 K
Logan Verrett: 2-0, 3 G, 19.2 IP, 2.75 ERA, 6 BB, 11 K

St. Lucie:
Domingo Tapia: 2-1, 4 G, 19.2 IP, 2.29 ERA, 7 BB, 18 K
Hansel Robles: 1-1, 3 G, 15.2 IP, 3.45 ERA, 4 BB, 10 K

Savannah:
Matthew Bowman: 2-0, 3 G, 16.2 IP, 1.62 ERA, 4 BB, 14 K
Steven Matz: 1-0, 3 G, 14.0 IP, 1.29 ERA, 4 BB, 18 K

Looking forward to seeing how these guys develop!

From time to time this season, let’s check in on some former Mets and see how they are doing with their new clubs:

Josh Thole (AAA Buffalo): 11-31 (.355 BA), 3 R, 2B, 8 RBI
Mike Nickeas (AAA Buffalo): 2-19 (.105 BA)
Fernando Martinez (Houston): Activated, Playing In His First Game Back Now
Mike Pelfrey (Twins): 2-1, 3 G, 12.1 IP, 20 H, 12 R, 10 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 7.30 ERA
Jeff Francoer (Royals): 15-54 (.278 BA), 5 R, 3 2B, HR, 5 RBI
RA Dickey (Blue Jays): 2-2, 4 G, 23.0 IP, 22 H, 13 R, 11 ER, 9 BB, 20 K, 4.30 ERA
Jason Bay (Mariners): 7-33 (.212 BA), 5 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI
John Maine (Marlins): DFA, more to come

Anybody else you wan to see on this list? Let me know!

The Mets and Nationals find themselves in a rubber game this afternoon as the Mets look to rebound from yesterday’s 7-6 loss. After a phenomenal start on Friday, the Mets pitching could not repeat which put the Mets offense in a tight position.Gee looks to get back on the right track today as he takes on Jordan Zimmermann.

Gee is 0-3 this season in as many starts with a 8.36 ERA over 14 innings of work. Looking closer at his stats, he started off with a 6.1 inning performance where he allowed one run, followed by 7 ER over 3 innings and then 5 ER in 4.2 innings. In one start against the Nationals last year, he allowed 4 runs, 3 earned over 8 hits in a 5.1 inning start. The Nationals have the following numbers against Gee:

Werth 5-15, 2B
Desmond 4-15, 2 HR
Espinosa 1-11
LaRoche 0-6
Suzuki 0-2

The Mets bats get to rip apart Jordarn Zimmermann today who is 3-0 this season with a 2.45 ERA over 22.0 innings. Last year he was very good against the Mets with a 1-0 record over 4 games and 23.0 innings with the Mets where he posted a 1.96 ERA. The Mets have the following numbers against Jordan:

Wright 9-27, 2 2B, 2 HR
Murphy 7-21, 2 2B, HR
Davis 3-13, 2B, HR
Tejada 5-13,
Buck 3 -11, 2 2B
Duda 2-11, 2B
Valdespin 1-4, HR

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets try to take the series today against the Nationals! Last night was a -ahem- Harvelous or Matt-tastic day for the Mets as Matt Harvey dominated the Nationals over 7 innings. Also during the game Ike and Duda broke out with two homers each providing some exciting pop to a great game. If you were there, you know how awesome the crowd was and how into it we were. Anyway, today will be a tougher order for the Mets as they go against Gio Gonzalez and counter with Jeremy Hefner.

Hefner is 0-2 this season with a 7.20 ERA and this has really been a result of his last start. He started off the season pitching 6.0 innings allowing only one earned run and in the following start he allowed 5 ER over 3 innings of work and then allowed 2 earned runs in an inning of relief. He had three starts against the Nationals last year where he had a 5.29 ERA over 17 innings. The Nationals have the following numbers against him:

Harper 3-9, 2B, 3B, HR
LaRoche 2-9, HR
Zimmerman 2-8
Espinosa 4-8, 2 HR
Desmond 0-6
Lombardozzi 2-6

The Mets look to continue in knocking in the homers against Gio Gonzalez today who is 1-1 this season over 3 starts and a 4.50 ERA. Over those three starts he’s pitched 16 innings allowing 8 ER while walking 7 and striking out 15 batters. Last season he was 3-1 against the Mets over as many starts pitching 22.0 innings with a 3.28 ERA. The Mets have the following numbers against Gio:

Buck 2-11, 2B
Davis 4-10, 2B, HR
Wright 2-9, HR
Turner 1-10
Byrd 1-6
Tejada 2-6
Duda 1-2

Lets Go Mets!

The Mets finally get out of Colorado and return home to Queens tonight to one of the most anticipated pitching matchups in a long time. The Mets entered Denver with a 7-4 record and were swept, dropping them down to a record of 7-7. While there is plenty of blame to go around, the bullpen, who saved the Mets in an earlier Laffey start at home and was strong at the start of the season, fell apart on the road. Anyway, Matt Harvey looks to keep his strong start going against Stephen Strasburg.

Harvey is 3-0 in first three starts with a 0.84 ERA over 22.0 innings. In that stretch he has allowed only 2 ER and only 6 hits while walking 6 and striking out 25 batters. He’s leading the league in WHIP, Wins, and H/9. He faced the Nationals once last year picking up the loss after allowing only one earned run over 5 innings of work while striking out 10 batters. The Nationals have the following numbers against Matt:

Desmond 1-2
Harper 0-3
LaRoche 1-3
Werth 0-2
Zimmerman 1-2, HR
Suzuki 0-2

The Mets will get a crack at the National’s phenom today in Stephen Strasburg who is 1-2 over 18.1 innings and 3 games so far this year while posting a 2.95 ERA. He has had two dominant games where he went 7 shutout innings 6 innings allowing 0 earned runs (2 unearned). He also had one start where he allowed 6 ER over 5.1 innings. He was good against the Mets last season holding them to one earned run over 13 innings and two starts, who have posted the following numbers against him:

Buck 2-9
Davis 3-8, HR
Tejada 1-8
Murphy 1-5
Wright 1-6
Byrd 1-3
Duda 0-2
Valdespin 1-3

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets will try to salvage a game of this series today this afternoon in Denver. After dropping both games of the doubleheader, the Mets were postponed due to snow yesterday. The Mets are playing their regularly scheduled game today and there is no word yet on when a make up game will be played. Jon Niese will get his normal start today, yesterday’s starter, Hefner, will get pushed to Saturday which will push Laffey out of the rotation this time around.

Jon Niese is 2-0 over 3 starts with a 3.57 ERA over 17.2 innings and 9 runs, 7 earned. Niese’s numbers were fantastic before the Minnesota game on Friday night however Niese had problems throwing/gripping the ball in the cold and snow, thus laboring through innings. It also didn’t help that the Mets bats stayed out forever in the first and second inning. Anyway, Niese looks for some normalcy today. Niese hasn’t faced the Rockies since 2011 where he allowed 10 ER over 12.1 innings. The Rockies have the following numbers against Jon:

Helton 7-16, 3 2B, HR
Tulo 5-13, 2B, HR
Gonzalez 0-7
Fowler 1-6
Herrera 3-6, HR
Garland 0-2

Garland is 1-0 this season over two starts and 12 innings of work allowing 5 ER and 10 hits in that stretch. He missed the 2012 season in its entirety and in 2011 he had a 4.33 ERA with a 1-5 record over 9 starts and 54 innings of work. In 2011 he had one start against the Mets where he allowed 3 ER over 6 innings and 7 hits. The Mets have the following numbers against Jon:

Buck 10-42, 4 2B, HR
Byrd 5-18
Wright 2-15, 2B
Murphy 2-7, 2B
Davis 2-5
Tejada 0-3

Let’s Go Mets!