213 Miles From Shea

The Grimace-era Mets go for their 8th win a row and their second consecutive series sweep tonight in Texas!

The key aspect of the 2022 Mets that made them feel so invincible was this inevitability about them, a never say die attitude. That can only happen the offense clicks! After the Mets took a 2-1 lead on Tuesday night, the Rangers roared back with a five-run inning, taking a 6-2 lead. The Mets then proceeded to score in five consecutive innings to eventually take the lead. In the ninth inning, after a bloop hit, José Iglesias took a massive hit turning a key double play before Edwin Díaz locked down the game. The vibes are great!

Sean Manaea has made 13 starts this year tossing 65 2/3 innings with a 4.11 ERA, 3.78 FIP, 1.325 WHIP and a 93 ERA+. He is looking to build off of his last start where he held the Padres to to run over five innings while striking out seven batters. In the previous two starts he allowed a total of 12 runs over 9 1/3 innings. The Rangers have the following career numbers against Manaea:

• Adolis García 2-6, 2B, HR, 3 K
• Robbie Grossman 5-12, BB, 4 K
• Travis Jankowski 0-2
• Nathaniel Lowe 1-6, HR, 2 K
• Corey Seager 3-6, HR
• Marcus Semien 0-3, K
• Leody Taveras 1-3, K

Andrew Heaney has pitched in 14 games (13 starts) totaling 66 2/3 innings this season with a 4.19 ERA, 4.19 FIP, 1.320 WHIP and a 94 ERA+. He hasn’t been great over over his last two starts, allowing six runs from 11 hits and four walks over 10 1/3 innings. Heaney had a very good start against the Mets in 2023 where he held the Mets to five runs and no runs over 5 1/3 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against Heaney:

• Pete Alonso 0-4, BB, 4 K
• Francisco Alvarez 0-2, K
• José Iglesias 2-7, K
• Francisco Lindor 2-8, 2B, K
• Starling Marte 2-3, HR
• J.D. Martinez 4-11, 2 HR, 4 BB, 3 K
• Jeff McNeil 3-5, K
• Brandon Nimmo 3-6, K
• DJ Stewart 1-1
• Tyrone Taylor 0-6, 3 K
• Luis Torrens 1-6, BB, K
• Mark Vientos 1-2, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The next generation. Twice in Tuesday’s game Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez had back-to-back hits. In his last two games Vientos has gone 6-for-10 with five runs scored. Francisco Alvarez has gone 6-for-9 in his last two games, including a game tying double Tuesday night. It’s one thing to have the top of the lineup clicking, but now back of the lineup is in overdrive at the same time. The Mets booth multiple said multiple times during Tuesday’s broadcast that there is no place to breath as a pitcher right now against the Mets.
2. Pete Alonso – RBI machine. Pete Alonso has gone 7-for-14 at the plate over his last three games with eight RBI’s. His seven hits include a double and homerun. You’ve probably have noticed that multiple Mets over the last several days have had absurd times on base to runs scored ratios, and Pete (among others) has been a massive reason why.
3. A different Adam Ottavino. Adam Ottavino last pitched on Monday, so he could pitch today. His role has shifted a bit in his last two outings where he has pitched multiple innings. In those outings he has allowed one hit and nothing else over 3 2/3 innings while striking out five batters. This is something to keep an eye on.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Grimace Era Mets are on a roll!

The Mets won their sixth game in a row on Monday night recording more than 20 hits for the first time since 2019. The Mets are now one game out of the last wild card spot and for the first time since they started this improbable run, the Mets have leapt over two teams they were chasing.

Tonight the Mets will attempt to climb over another wall they’ve encountered this year. There have been times when the offense is clicking that the next game the offense vanishes – it’s even happened during this win streak! The vibes are good, let’s go for win seven in a row tonight!

Luis Severino has pitched 78 innings over 13 starts this year with a 3.12 ERA, 3.92 FIP, 1.179 WHIP and a 123 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed two earned runs from 14 hits and three walks over 14 innings. He’s allowed exactly one run in three of his last four starts. Severino had a strong start against the Rangers in 2023, holding them scoreless over six innings scattering five hits. The Rangers have the following career numbers against him:

• Ezequiel Duran 0-2
• Adolis García 2-5, BB, K
• Robbie Grossman 1-5, K
• Andrew Knizner 1-2
• Nathaniel Lowe 0-5, BB, 2 K
• Corey Seager 0-7
• Marcus Semien 3-15, BB, 3 K
• Josh Smith 0-1, BB
• Leody Taveras 1-3, 2B

The Mets bats will look to channel Monday night’s energy against tonight’s starter, Michael Lorenzen. Over 11 starts this season he has pitched 66 innings with a 2.86 ERA, 4.71 FIP, 1.182 WHIP and a 138 ERA+. Lorenzen’s ERA is quite a bit better than his career mark (4.01) but his FIP is actually worse than his career number (4.35). Since May 13th he has allowed six runs over 37 innings (1.46 ERA, 4.12 FIP) . He faced the Mets three times last year (one start, two relief outings) holding the Mets to one run over nine innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 2-9, BB
• Francisco Alvarez 0-2
• Harrison Bader 1-4, 2 BB, 2 K
• José Iglesias 1-2
• Francisco Lindor 3-12, K
• Starling Marte 6-17, 2 2B, HR, 3 BB, 3 K
• J.D. Martinez 1-3
• Jeff McNeil 0-6, 3 BB
• Brandon Nimmo 1-10, 2B, K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-0, BB

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Francisco Lindor. Since May 19th Francisco Lindor has hit .330/.395/.566 with 15 extra-base hits. He’s hit five home runs and he’s stolen five bases. On Monday night he went 4-for-4 with three runs scored. Since June 12th he has reached based 13 times and scored nine times! This is exactly what we’ve been dreaming about.
2. Hitting with runners in scoring position. The only way players like Lindor can have stats like scoring nine times in 13 times on base is hitting with runners in scoring position. On Sunday the Mets went 5-for-8 with RISP and scored 11 runs. Monday nigh the Mets went 9-for-17 with RISP and scored 14 runs. I’m trying to contain my optimism right now, but it’s near impossible after seeing results like that!
3. Which Lorenzen do the Mets get tonight? Lorenzen had good success against the Mets last year and has had pretty fantastic true results in the last month or so, despite the Rangers not always taking advantage of it. However there are some warning signs for him in the underlying numbers. His xERA is 4.65, nearly two runs higher than his actual number. His xFIP is 4.71 suggesting that his actual FIP is probably accurate.

Let’s Go Mets!

This is Texas (woo), ain’t no subway (hey)
So bring your Grimace down, down, down down

The Mets head down to Arlington today today on a five game win streak. Going into play today the Mets are one seven* teams that are within 1.5 games of the third wild card spot in the National League (* depending on how you count the Padres and Nationals being tied, could be eight teams). The vibes on the Mets are so good right now that an 8th inning blow up on Sunday fired up the offense to pile on insurance runs.

The Mets will play a struggling Texas team who have lost three games in a row but have one of their better pitchers this season on the mound. Lets stick around, ’round, ’round, ’round for Mets baseball!

David Peterson has pitched 16 2/3 innings over three games this season with a 4.32 ERA, 4.47 FIP, 1.500 WHIP and a 90 ERA+. Peterson is coming off of a start where he allowed four runs from eight hits and two walks over five innings of work. Obviously his sample sizes are small this season so far, but players have been hitting his slider and four seamer. His slider has a .412 BA, .364 XBA compared to a .314 and .303 rate last year. Hitters are getting at his four seamer with a .444 BA, .450 XBA compared to .288 and .286 in 2023. The Rangers have the following career numbers against Peterson:

• Adolis García 0-3, K
• Robbie Grossman 0-2, K
• Nathaniel Lowe 1-2, HR
• Corey Seager 0-3
• Marcus Semien 2-3, HR, K
• Josh Smith 0-2, K
• Leody Tavaras 0-2, 2 K

Jon Gray has pitched in 13 games, making 11 starts tossing 62 1/3 innings in 2024. So far this season he has a 2.17 ERA, 2.67 FIP, 1.203 WHIP and a 182 ERA. This is a drastic improvement from his career line of a 4.33 ERA, 3.91 FIP, 1.302 WHIP and a 108 ERA+. His success has come from keeping the ball in the ballpark. He has a 0.4 HR/9 rate. From 2018 through 2023 his rate ranged from 1.1 to 1.4.

Jon Gray was activated off of the injured list on June 8th and pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. A couple of days after that he allowed one run over three innings. Today is going to be his first start on regular rest since landing on the injured list on May 21st. The Mets have the following career numbers against Gray:

• Pete Alonso 0-8, BB, 4 K
• Harrison Bader 1-7, 2 K
• José Iglesias 1-2
• Francisco Lindor 0-6, 2 K
• Starling Marte 5-18, 2 HR, BB, 3 K
• J.D. Martinez 2-7, 2 HR, 2 K
• Jeff McNeil 2-9, 2B, 2 K
• Brandon Nimmo 1-5, HR, BB, 2 K
• DJ Stewart 1-2, HR, K
• Luis Torrens 0-2, 2 K
• Mark Vientos 0-1, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. There’s a heatwave (there’s a heatwave) coming at us. Nimmo is continuing to heat up! Sunday he went 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Overall in the series against the Padres he went 7-for-13 with four runs scored. Getting on base seven times and scoring four times is a recipe for Mets success.
2. Too hot to think straight. There is no Met hotter than J.D. Martinez right now. In the series against the Padres, Martinez went 6-for-9 at the plate with three runs scored, two doubles, two homers and five walks. He hit .667/.786/1.556 with six RBI’s. Since May 30th he is hitting .333/.449/.702 raising his season OPS from .730 to .881.
3. Too cold to panic. There was a moment Sunday where I’ll admit, I almost stopped believing. Diekman and Drew Smith together allowed two walks and two hits to become three runs. The Padres were able to bring it within one. Thankfully the Mets bats scored more runs and Reid-Foley with ice waters in his veins pitched a clean ninth to finish the game. The good news is Edwin Díaz and Adam Ottavino come into today’s game with two days rest and Reed Garrett has only tossed eight pitches in the last four calendar days.

Let’s Go Mets!

Let’s go sweeping!

The Mets will look for the sweep this afternoon against the Padres after Saturday’s 5-1 win. The Mets have now won four consecutive games and have gone 10-4 since calling a team meeting. The Padres enter play with a 0.5 game lead for the second wild card spot. Thanks to the Mets winning and the Padres losing (among others), the wild card race has collapsed in the National League with the Mets 2 games behind the third sport, and 2.5 games behind the Padres spot. Overall seven teams are within two games. Are the Mets rewriting their seller status for the deadline?

The Mets turn to Tylor Megill to complete the sweep against the Padres this afternoon. Over five starts, 25 2/3 innings, Megill has a 3.51 ERA, 2.68 FIP, 1.286 WHIP and a 110 ERA+. He’s coming off of a shorter outing where he allowed three runs from five hits and two walks over 4 2/3 innings. He still recorded eight strikeouts though! He held the Padres to two runs over five innings last year, scattering three hits and three walks. The Padres have the following career numbers against him:

• Luis Arráez 4-6, 2B
• Jake Cronenworth 0-2
• Manny Machado 0-2, BB, K
• David Peralta 0-6, 2 K
• Jurickson Profar 1-3, K
• Donovan Solano 0-2, K

The Padres got Dylan Cease from the White Sox right at the start of the season, and it was a major sign that the Padres were not throwing in the towel on the season. Over 14 starts (83 innings) this season Cease has a 3.36 ERA, 3.02 FIP, 1.000 WHIP and a 116 ERA+. He’s coming off of a strong start against Oakland where he held the Athletics to only one run from eight hits in six innings of work. Before that start he had a stretch of five starts with a 5.86 ERA, 4.23 FIP where opponents hit .279/.314/.487 against him. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 0-3, 2 K
• Harrison Bader 0-1, BB
• José Iglesias 1-2, K
• Francisco Lindor 2-7, 2 HR, K
• Starling Marte 0-2, BB, K
• J.D. Martinez 3-7, BB, 2 K
• Jeff McNeil 1-3
• DJ Stewart 0-3, K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-3, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. We are just living J.D.’s world. Martinez went 3-for-3 Saturday with two home runs, 3 RBI’s and two walks yesterday. Since May 30th, J.D. has gone 17-for-54 hitting five home runs and slashing .315/.422/.685. He now has 26 RBI’s on the season, 5th on team, despite only playing 43 games. This is the whole reason why the Mets brought Martinez to the team!
2. Nimmo is continuing to bounce back. Nimmo went 2-for-5 at the plate on Saturday with a double and two RBI’s. He has been the team leader for a while in RBI’s but his slump over the last couple of weeks allowed Pete and Lindor to catch up. Nimmo is now back on top and has gone 4-for-8 in the last two games. Don’t let Nimmo get hot!
3. Adrian Houser? Adrian Houser was last used on June 8th in the Mets 7-2 loss against Philly in London. In his last three outings he has allowed no runs, scatting four hits and three walks over seven innings of work. This feels like a logical day to use Houser if Megill has a short day. At some point Houser is going to have too much rest.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Padres offense was red hot going into Friday’s game. The Mets offense was heating up going into Friday’s game.

Naturally the Mets won the game 2-1.

The Mets look to extend their winning streak to four games this afternoon and take the series against the Padres. Winners of nine of their last 13 games, the vibes on the Mets are starting to turn around and checked off a key component in Friday’s game: Edwin Díaz saves the game. Díaz was pitching on back-to-back days, something that was bothering him early in the season, and he shut the door last night, working around letting the leadoff hitter on. Let’s keep the vibes going today!

Jose Quintana has pitched 66 1/3 innings over 13 starts this season with a 5.29 ERA, 5.24 FIP, 1.432 WHIP and a 72 ERA+. He has allowed exactly three earned runs over his last three four starts, the problem is the amount he has pitched has decreased over those starts. After two starts going six innings, he has pitched four innings and 3 2/3 innings over his last two starts. His last start was his first start over his last three where he didn’t allow a home run. The Padres have the following career numbers against him:

• José Azocar 0-2
• Jake Cronenworth 1-3
• Kyle Higashioka 0-3, 2 K
• Ha-Seong Kim 1-3, HR, BB
• Manny Machado 5-23, 2B, HR, 3 BB, 6 K
• David Peralta 1-4, K
• Jurickson Profar 2-8, HR< 2 K
• Donovan Solano 2-4, 2B
• Fernando Tatis Jr. 2-5, HR

Adam Mazur was the fifth best prospect in the system according to MLB Pipeline with an estimated major league debut of 2025. He bucked that projection and is already making his third major league start this afternoon. In his debut against the Angels he allowed only one run from two hits and four walks over six innings. His last start against the Diamondbacks was the polar opposite as he allowed eight runs from eight hits over three innings. In his two starts he has used his mid-90’s fastball about 40% of the time mixing in a high-80’s slider 36% of time. He also uses a changeup (average 90 mph) and a curveball (average 80 mph).

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Home runs and Jose Quintana. Over his first seven starts of the season, Quintana allowed only three home runs. Over his last six starts he has allowed eight homers, including three games where he allowed more than one. He has a career 0.9 HR/9 inning and lead the league in HR/9 back in 2022 with a 0.4 mark. This season he his allowing 1.5 HR/9, a rate he hasn’t seen since 2021. The weather is only getting warmer, how will Quintana adjust?
2. Can Nimmo build on his bounce-back game? Friday night Nimmo went 2-for-3 at the plate with a run scored and most importantly, no strikeouts. From June 5th to the 13th Nimmo struck out 11 times in 23 trips to the plate. Today we’ll see if Friday night was a blip or the start of a rebound.
3. Mark Vientos is due. Since coming back to the Mets Mark Vientos has been on fire. The fire has started to die down a bit over the last week. In his last six games he has gone 3-for-18 at the plate with a double and two walks. Over the last two games he has gone 0-for-6.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets rolled on Thursday night thanks to the first walk-off home run in J.D. Martinez’s career. For most of the night the Mets were befuddled at the plate but the bats were able to figure things as the night went on and beat the Marlins 3-2 to take the series.

The Mets will now welcome the San Diego Padres who are on a three game winning streak right now and have a surging offense. They now have a +26 run differential on the season. The Mets offense has been one of the better offenses in baseball the last couple of weeks. Both teams are catching each other while they’re hot, but there’s one thing that can slow them down – the weather.

Starting the late afternoon throughout a larger portion of the evening we are expecting scattered to severe storms across the tri-state area.

Sean Manaea has made 12 starts in 2024 tossing 60 2/3 innings. He has a 4.30 ERA, 3.79 FIP, 1.352 WHIP and an 89 ERA+. Manaea is coming off back-to-back difficult starts where he has allowed 12 runs, 11 earned, from 13 hits and three walks spread across 9 1/3 innings. His ERA has jumped from 3.16 to 4.30 from this pair of starts. Before this, Manaea allowed only five runs over 16 innings in three starts.

In four games against the Padres last season, Manaea pitched 12 1/3 innings allowing eight runs, seven earned from 15 hits. He also recorded 14 strikeouts in that stretch. The Padres have the following career numbers against him:

• Luis Arráez 2-6, HR, K
• José Azocar 1-2, 2B
• Jake Cronenworth 2-9, 2B, 2 K
• Kyle Higashioka 1-2
• Ha-Seong Kim 1-8, BB, K
• Manny Machado 7-17, 3 2B, BB, 2 K
• David Peralta 1-7, K
• Jurickson Profar 7-21, 2 2B, 3B, HR, BB, 3 K
• Donovan Solano 3-8, BB, 3 K
• Fernando Tatis Jr. 2-12, BB, 6 K

It’s a knuckleball night! Matt Waldron brings his knuckleball to Citi Field. Over 13 starts, 69 1/3 innings, Waldron has a 3.76 ERA, 3.26 FIP, 1.226 WHIP and a 104 ERA+. Since May 11th he has made six starts allowing only seven runs over 35 1/3 innings which has translated into a 1.78 ERA, 2.07 FIP. Over this stretch opponents are hitting .189/.243/.268 against him. In his last three starts he has allowed only two runs over 19 1/3 innings while recording 16 strikeouts. No player on the Mets roster has faced Waldron in a major league game before.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The Mets bats against a knuckleball. It has been a minute since the Mets have faced a starting pitcher who uses a knuckleball. Waldron has used his knuckleball about 37% of the time this year followed by his fastball at 23% of the time. He also mixes in a sweeper, sinker and cutter. This has produced some interesting stats via Baseball Savant. He’s in the 86th percentile in hard-hit% which is what you would expect from a pitcher having success with his knuckleball. Teams are not chasing his pitches (10th percentile), which also makes sense when you’re not sure where the pitch is going. Let’s see how the Mets watch Waldron over the first couple of innings and what adjustments they make throughout the game.
2. J.D. Martinez, RBI machine. The hero of Thursday’s game went 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and homer. In his last five games eh has gone 4-for-20 over 23 trips to the plate. Over that time though he has recorded six RBI’s. He now has 21 RBI’s over 41 games as a Met, which is good for sixth on the team. There are three players on the Mets sitting at 32 (Alonso, Lindor, Nimmo) and they have each played between 63 and 67 games this season.
3. Bullpen management. The Mets got a huge boon on Thursday with the return of Edwin Díaz who pitched a clean ninth inning. Tonight the Mets will have to balance the game script with the weather on the field. If Manaea doesn’t got deep, then the Mets will have to turn to Houser for multiple innings. But then the Mets have to hope his long relief doesn’t get interrupted by a delay.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets are back!

On Tuesday night the Mets looked sluggish after the second inning with flat at bats and shotty defense. Wednesday night was more like the Mets we’ve seen for the better part of the week. They racked up hits, answered the Marlins when they scored runs and the bullpen looked good! Overall the Mets racked up 14 hits with four hits having two or more hits including Tyrone Taylor who went 4-for-5 with a run scored.

Now the Mets have a chance to win another series! Let’s go!

Luis Severino has made 12 starts totaling 72 innings this season with a 3.25 ERA, 3.73 FIP, 1.139 WHIP and a 118 ERA+. He’s coming off of a tremendous start against the Nationals where he he held them to one run from seven hits and no walks over eight innings. It was the second time in his last three starts where he pitched at least seven innings allowing one run.

The Marlins got to Severino in mid-May scoring five runs from six hits and three walks over 6 2/3 innings. They have the following career numbers against him:

• Tim Anderson 5-17, 5 K
• Josh Bell 1-3
• Christian Bethancourt 0-2, 2 K
• Vidal Bruan 0-4, BB
• Jake Burger 2-6, 2B, HR, K
• Jazz Chisholm Jr. 2-4, HR
• Bryan De La Cruz 0-3, K
• Nick Fortes 0-3, K
• Nick Gordon 2-2, 2B, BB
• Otto Lopez 1-3, 2B
• Emmanuel Rivera 0-3, 2 K
• Jesús Sánchez 0-2, BB, K

Roddery Muñoz is making the fifth start in his rookie season tonight. Over his first four games he has a 5.95 ERA, 7.88 FIP, 1.424 WHIP and a 73 ERA+ over 19 2/3 innings. Muñoz’s first two starts win the majors were fine, allowing three runs over 11 innings. Since then he has allowed 10 runs over 8 2/3. He has also pitched in eight games in Jacksonville, the Marlins AAA team, totaling 41 innings with a 5.49 ERA and a 1.293 WHIP.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Fielding Wins Games. The Mets fielding was suspect on Tuesday night with multiple errors and multiple plays that just looked off. The Marlins fielding Wednesday night was worse – weird paths to flyballs, throwing errors. The Tuesday Mets and the Wednesday Marlins just made things look difficult.
2. Hitting with runners in scoring position. When things were going poorly for the Mets in May, we kept talking about how the Mets were either not getting hits, not hitting with runners in scoring position, or both. Wednesday night the Mets got 14 hits and more importantly went 6-for-13 with runners in scoring position. This relentless is what the Mets need to start chipping away at the long list of teams they are chasing for the Wild Card.
3. Starling Marte’s hot streak. Marte extended the streak he is on by another game on Wednesday night going 2-for-4 with a homerun and two runs scored. In his last nine games he has gone 16-for-34 with a double, two triples, a homer and eight runs scored while hitting .471/.526/.706. His season OPS over this stretch has gone from .690 to .774!

Let’s Go Mets!

Tuesday night started off strong for the Mets looking to win their fifth game in their last sixth. Megill was dealing early and Vientos ripped a two-run double in the bottom of the second. Things started to fall apart for the Mets about midway through the game though as the Marlins were able to create a “blow-up” inning against Megill and the Mets bats just couldn’t get anything else going against the Marlins bullpen.

The Mets tailspin in May was fueled by dropping a series against the Marlins in Miami, can the Mets recover tonight?

David Peterson makes his third start of the season tonight. He has allowed five runs, four earned, over 11 2/3 innings this season while striking out five batters. Peterson had a rough 2023 but not against the Miami Marlins. Over two starts he held them to only one run despite allowing 12 hits and five walks over 12 innings. He also struck out 13 fish in that stretch. The Marlins have the following numbers against him:

• Tim Anderson 0-0, BB
• Josh Bell 3-10, K
• Jake Burger 0-3, 2 K
• Jazz Chisholm Jr. 0-7, BB, 2 K
• Bryan De La Cruz 2-9, 2 BB, 4 K
• Nick Fortes 3-10, 2 K
• Jesús Sánchez 0-3, K

The Mets bats look to shake off Monday night against Braxton Garrett tonight. Over five starts (26 1/3 innings) this season, Garrett has a 5.81 ERA, 3.33 FIP, 1.215 WHIP and a 74 ERA+. Braxton’s season has been truly bizarre. Over his first two starts he allowed 11 runs over 9 2/3 innings (including six runs over 4 1/3 against the Mets). Then in his next two starts he allowed one run over 14 innings, including a complete game shutout against the Diamondbacks. His last time out he allowed five runs over 2 2/3 against the Rays. Will the Mets get Braxton at his worst or his best tonight? So far there hasn’t been an in between. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 7-18, 2 HR, 2 BB, 4 K
• Francisco Alvarez 1-6, BB, 3 K
• Harrison Bader 0-2, 2 K
• José Iglesias 1-3, K
• Francisco Lindor 5-16, 2B, 3 HR, 4 K
• Starling Marte 4-7, 2 2B, K
• J.D. Martinez 1-6, 4 K
• Jeff McNeil 4-10, 2B, BB
• Brandon Nimmo 1-13, BB
• DJ Stewart 0-2, K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-4, K
• Mark Vientos 2-5, 2B, BB, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Mets defense. Before Tuesday’s game, we were praising the Mets defense because of Sunday’s game. The Mets turned three double plays in the game including an incredible one to end the game. Last night the defense was the Mets kryptonite again committing two errors. (Although to be fair, the error on Vientos really could have been ruled as a hit as he had to make an amazing play to just get to the ball). The Mets bullpen is tired, fielding well today can make a world of difference for the Mets.
2. Starling Marte is getting hits in bunches. Marte went 2-for-4 Tuesday night at the plate, recording his sixth multi-hit game in his last eight games played. Since May 29th Marte has gone 14-for-30 at the plate with a double and two triples hitting .467/.515/.633. He has raised his season OBP from .302 all the way up to .332 over this stretch.
3. Brandon Nimmo is getting strikeouts in bunches. Nimmo went 0-for-4 at the plate Tuesday night with three strikeouts. It was his second straight game with three strikeouts. Over his last four games he has gone 3-for-18 with no walks and nine strikeouts. He went through a similar stretch at the start of the season. While his stats overall have taken a hit since he has dropped to the third hole, maybe it’s a product of the Mets schedule? The off-days and rainouts at the start of the season created a similar chaotic schedule to the last week.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets return from London to take on the Marlins at Citi Field! It may not feel like it, but the Mets have won six of their last nine games and four of their last five. The Mets enter play today 3.5 games out of the Wild Card (with six other teams between them and the last Wild Card spot). If there was ever a time for the Mets to make a move, it is right now.

Tylor Megill has made four starts for the Mets this season tossing 21 innings with a 3.00 ERA, 2.91 FIP, 1.238 WHIP and a 129 ERA+. Megill had a tremendous start against the Dodgers back on May 28th where he shut them out over seven innings in a game the Mets eventually lost. He didn’t have his best stuff his last time out, allowing five runs, four earned over five innings in a game the Mets eventually won. The baseball universe is like that sometimes. Anyway the Marlins have the following career numbers against him:

• Josh Bell 3-8, HR, 2 K
• Christian Bethancourt 0-2, K
• Jazz Chisholm Jr. 3-8, 2B, BB, 3 K
• Bryan De La Cruz 0-5, 2 K
• Nick Fortes 1-3, HR, BB, K

Jesús Luzardo had a 124 and 129 ERA+ respectively in 2022 and 2023. So far this season he has made 10 starts throwing 56 innings with a 5.60 ERA, 3.88 FIP, 1.250 WHIP and an 81 ERA+. Luzardo had a solid stretch going though in May where he allowed five earned runs over 25 2/3 innings (1.75 ERA) which includes back to back starts where he didn’t allow any runs over 14 innings. One of those starts was six shutout innings against the New York Mets. He is looking to bounce back from a dreadful start against the Rays where he allowed nine earned runs from nine hits over 4 1/3 innings (raising his season ERA from 4.18 to 5.30). The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 2-19, HR, 8 K
• Harrison Bader 2-4, BB
• José Iglesias 0-1
• Francisco Lindor 4-15, 2 BB, 3 K
• Starling Marte 2-8, 2 K
• J.D. Martinez 2-3, K
• Jeff McNeil 5-12, 2 K
• Brandon Nimmo 3-9, 2B, HR, 2 BB, K
• DJ Stewart 0-4, K
• Tyrone Taylor 2-6, 2B, K
• Mark Vientos 0-9, BB, 4 K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. “Jet lag is a choice” Pete Alonso’s famous quote was repeated multiple times from multiple different broadcasts over the weekend. While I admire Pete Alonso’s perspective on the issue, I’m not sure how much I agree. Tonight’s game starts 10 minutes after midnight London time. Hopefully with trainers, pre-planning and caffeine the Mets look awake tonight to take advantage of a game with the Marlins.
2. He’s back! Francisco Alvarez returns to the Mets tonight after tearing the UCL in his left thumb and having surgery. He only recorded three hits throughout his six rehab games but one of them was a home run. Before landing on the injured list, Alvarez was hitting .236/.288/.364 with a 91 OPS+. The Mets really missed his pitch framing and his skills behind the plate.
3. Mets Fielding. The Mets have not been the best team in the field this season. For example, Marte’s path to a fly ball on Saturday led to a hit, which then led to a huge inning. Sunday the Mets looked a lot sharper in the field, with the Mets infield turning three double plays. Two were of the normal variety (6-4-3). The game ended on a fairly spectacular play with Torrens getting the force at home before getting the ball to Alonso for the out at first.

Let’s Go Mets!

Maybe the Mets should have lied Saturday to their British fans and said baseball only last a few innings. The game got off to a good start with the Mets with Manaea looking good and the Mets offense clicking, just not scoring a bunch. Then the Mets had a classic blow-up inning and that just put the game out of reach.

Now the Mets look to split the series with the Phillies overseas before skip across the pond back home. Thanks to the time difference we get to enjoy a full English breakfast of baseball this morning!

Jose Quintana has made 12 starts this season totaling 62 2/3 innings with a 5.17 ERA, 5.24 FIP, 1.388 WHIP and a 74 ERA+. Quintana has now allowed exactly three earned runs in each of his last three starts. Two of those starts were at least quality starts but his last start he pitched only four innings in a game the Mets eventually lost 5-4 when the bullpen lost the lead.

His last start against the Phillies though was good! He held the Phillies to two runs from four hits over 5 1/3 innings. The Phillies have the following numbers against him:

• Alec Bohm 3-13, 2B, HR, 3 K
• Nick Castellanos 12-48, 3B, 2 HR, 2 BB, 9 K
• David Dahl 1-9, 3 K
• Bryce Harper 3-17, HR, 6 K
• Whit Merrifield 5-17, 2 BB, 2 K
• J.T. Realmuto 4-15, HR, 2 BB
• Johan Rojas 3-5, 2 K
• Kyle Schwarber 4-19, 2B, HR, 7 K
• Edmundo Sosa 2-8, 3 K
• Bryson Stott 0-1, BB
• Garrett Stubbs 0-2

The Mets batters will get to face an old friend overseas today in Taijuan Walker. Over seven starts, 37 2/3 innings, Walker has a 5.73 ERA, 5.66 FIP, 1.593 WHIP, 70 ERA+. He faced the Mets back on May 16th allowing two runs from four hits and two walks over 3 1/3 innings. Since then he has allowed 13 runs, 12 earned over 15 2/3 innings over three starts with opponents hitting .308/.387/.508 against him. The Mets have the following career numbers against Walker:

• Pete Alonso: 3-12, 2 2B, HR, BB, 3 K
• Harrison Bader 0-6, 2 K
• Brett Baty 2-10, 2B, K
• José Iglesias 4-10, 2B, BB
• Francisco Lindor 2-17, 2 BB, 4 K
• Starling Marte 2-8, BB
• J.D. Martinez 7-15, 2B, HR, BB, 3 K
• Jeff McNeil 1-7, BB
• Brandon Nimmo 3-9, 2B, HR, 2 BB, K
• DJ Stewart 0-9, BB, 2 K
• Tyrone Taylor 1-5, 3 K
• Luis Torrens 0-2
• Mark Vientos 0-2

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Jeff McNeil returns. Jeff McNeil will finally get a start after sitting for the last four games. José Iglesias has gone 9-for-22 since his call-up, hitting .409/.435/.500 (six games). In McNeil’s last six games he has gone 3-for-22 (.136/.136/.136). Will McNeil seize his opportunity back in the lineup today?
2. Hotter than cuppa. Francisco Lindor continues to be hotter than a cup of tea. It doesn’t matter what capital city he’s playing in right now. Saturday in London, Lindor went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk. Over his last three games he has gone 6-for-14 with two doubles and a homer. Since May 21st he has gone 25-for-68 hitting .368/.419/.603.
3. Pete Alonso’s doubles game. Pete Alonso hit his 16th double of the season yesterday. The most doubles he has ever hit in season is 30, and he did that back in his rookie year (2019). Last season he had 21 doubles. So he seems to be on track to break his personal best for doubles this season.

Let’s Go Mets!