213 Miles From Shea

The Mets try to avoid a sweep by the Giants this afternoon as they wrap up their first west coast trip of the year. If you are like me, your relationship with the Mets this week has been something like this. “Woah, the pitching for both teams looks good after one inning, time for bed!” That sentiment ends today as the Mets play a game starting in the mid-afternoon!

Sean Manaea looks to salvage the series for the Mets as he takes on his former team. Over four starts (19 2/3 innings) Manaea has a 4.12 ERA, 3.51 FIP, 1.373 WHIP and a 96 ERA+. Back on April 13th Manaea had a terrible start where he allowed eight runs against the Royals. He has only allowed 11 runs total this season. His last start was more normal as he held the Dodgers to just two runs from four hits and three walks over five innings. Since his first start of the season, he has not finished six full innings. The Giants have the following career numbers against him:

• Nick Ahmed 2-7, HR
• Michael Conforto 2-4, 2B
• Thairo Estrada 3-10, K
• Wilmer Flores 7-21, 2 2B, 3 K
• Tom Murphy 3-8, HR, BB, 2 K
• Austin Slater 3-20, 2B, 2 BB, 5 K
• Jorge Soler 2-6, HR, K
• Mike Yastrzemski 2-8, 3B, BB, 3 K

Blake Snell signed a contract with the Giants late in spring training and has had a rough go of it coming back to the majors. Over his three starts, 11 2/3 innings, he has a 11.57 ERA, 4.62 FIP, 1.971 WHIP and a 35 ERA+. At some point his stats have to return to his career like numbers, the Mets are hoping that is not going to be tonight. Last season he lead the league with a 2.25 ERA, 185 ERA+ and 99 walks.

Snell had two very different starts against the Mets last season. In New York he allowed four runs, three earned, from six hits over five innings. Then in July he held the Mets to only one hit over six innings while striking out 11. The Mets have the following career numbers against Snell:

• Pete Alonso 5-16, 2B, 2 HR, 4 BB, 4 K
• Harrison Bader 0-2
• Brett Baty 0-1, K
• Francisco Lindor 5-32, 2B, 2 HR, BB, 8 K
• Starling Marte 5-21, 2B, HR, BB, 7 K
• Jeff McNeil 2-10, 2 BB, 2 K
• Omar Narváez 0-1, 3 BB
• Tomás Nido 0-6, BB, 2 K
• Brandon Nimmo 9-17, 2 2B, 2 BB, 2 K
• DJ Stewart 0-3, 2 K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-4, 2 K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Starling Marte is heating up! Marte went 3-for-4 at the plate on Tuesday night with a double. It was his second consecutive game with multiple hits and his fifth time in his last eight games with multiple hits. Since April 13th, where Marte went 3-for-5 at the plate with a homer, Marte has gone 16-for-43 with three doubles, three homers and three stolen bases. On the season now he is hitting .305/.347/.474 with a 134 OPS+.
2. Hitting with runners in scoring position. During the Mets hot streak, they were raking with runners in scoring position. The Mets out-hit the Giants on Tuesday 9 to 8. They had three doubles compared to the Giants one double and one triple. The difference came to hitting with RISP. The Mets went 1-for-7 while the Giants went 4-for-9. The good news is the Mets are hitting, this should fall back together.
3. Working walks. The Mets pitchers collectively didn’t walk a single Giants batter on Tuesday night, a great trend the Mets hope continues this afternoon. The Mets hitters though only worked one walk (Brandon Nimmo). This afternoon they are facing a pitcher who works around the zone, led the league in walks last year and has struggled this year. Make the Giants pitching staff work today!

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to end their two game skid tonight as they take on the Giants for game two of the series. After Sunday’s loss in Los Angeles, the Mets fell flat Monday in San Francisco only collecting four hits, all recorded by Starling Marte and Pete Alonso. The Giants offense scored four runs over the first three innings and never looked back.

On the line tonight is the Mets series win streak, a loss tonight will clinch the Mets first losing series since they lost to the Tigers the second series of the season.

Luis Severino looks to get the Mets back on the winning track this evening. Over four starts (21 innings) he has a 2.14 ERA, 3.73 FIP, 1.381 WHIP and a 189 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed only two runs, one earned, from six hits and seven walks while striking out eight. This is compared to 14 hits and two walks over his first two starts this season which led to eight total runs. The Giants have the following career numbers against Severino:

• Matt Chapman 1-13, 2 BB, 4 K
• Michael Conforto 0-8, BB, 4 K
• Wilmer Flores 0-4, 3 K
• Jorge Soler 1-3

The Mets will have to figure themselves out against Logan Webb. Over five starts (30 2/3 innings) Webb has a 2.93 ERA, 2.88 FIP, 1.174 WHIP and a 138 ERA+. He’s been even better in his last two starts where he allowed only one earned run over 14 innings while striking out nine in 14 innings of work. He’s coming off a season where he had a 3.25 ERA over a league leading 216 innings pitched.

Logan Webb faced the Mets exactly one year and one day ago. He held the Mets to two runs from five hits over seven innings on his way to his first win of the season. The Mets have the following career numbers against Webb:

• Pete Alonso 1-11, HR, BB, 5 K
• Harrison Bader 2-4, 2 BB
• Brett Baty 0-2, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 2-7, 2B, 2 K
• Starling Marte 4-11, K
• Jeff McNeil 2-9, 2B, BB, K
• Omar Narváez 0-5, K
• Tomás Nido 1-6
• Brandon Nimmo 1-11, HR, BB, 3 K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-4, BB, 2 K
• Joey Wendle 0-3, 2 BB

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Middle of the night milestone? Pete Alonso hit his 199th career homerun Monday night, putting him just one away from 200 for his career. Alonso hit six homers over the first 14 games of the season. Before he hit homer 199, he was in a seven game home run drought where he went 4-for-26 at the plate. Hopefully the two hits last night gets his bat going again.
2. The back of the bullpen is ready to go. Between the lopsided game on Sunday and Monday’s lost, several key Mets pitchers in the bullpen have had a lot of rest. Adam Ottavino and Jake Diekman last pitched on Friday night. Edwin Díaz and Reed Garrett last pitched on Saturday. Overall the Mets bullpen is still putting in a lot of work as Mets starters have not been able to pitch beyond five innings recently, let alone six.
3. The back of the Giants bullpen on the other hand may not be ready to go. Camilo Doval had a rough ninth inning closing the door in Monday night’s game, allowing a run and walk, leading to 27 pitches thrown. He has now thrown 43 pitches over the last three calendar days. The setup man, Tyler Rogers, has thrown 21 pitches over the last three calendar days split over two games. If the Mets can knock Logan Webb out early tonight it could prove helpful both today’s game and tomorrow.

Let’s Go Mets!

Tonight is the first time this season the Mets will face a team with a losing record. Every team the Mets have faced, with the exception of the Pirates, still have a winning record! (As of writing, the Pirates are at .500). The first team with a losing record the Mets will face, the San Francisco Giants, were projected to finish the season with a winning record, so it’s not like tonight will be an easy event.

Despite getting crushed by the Dodgers on Sunday, the Mets are coming off of a successful weekend winning their fifth consecutive series in a row. Was Sunday a blip or does it impact play tonight?

Luis Severino looks to get the Mets back on the winning track this evening. Over four starts (21 innings) he has a 2.14 ERA, 3.73 FIP, 1.381 WHIP and a 189 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed only two runs, one earned, from six hits and seven walks while striking out eight. This is compared to 14 hits and two walks over his first two starts this season which led to eight total runs. The Giants have the following career numbers against Severino:

• Matt Chapman 1-13, 2 BB, 4 K
• Michael Conforto 0-8, BB, 4 K
• Wilmer Flores 0-4, 3 K
• Jorge Soler 1-3

Life doesn’t get a lot easier for the Mets bats tonight, going from Tyler Glasnow on Sunday to Logan Webb tonight. Over five starts (30 2/3 innings) Webb has a 2.93 ERA, 2.88 FIP, 1.174 WHIP and a 138 ERA+. He’s been even better in his last two starts where he allowed only one earned run over 14 innings while striking out nine in 14 innings of work. He’s coming off a season where he had a 3.25 ERA over a league leading 216 innings pitched.

Oddly enough, the last time that Logan Webb faced the Mets was April 22nd, 2023. He held the Mets to two runs from five hits over seven innings on his way to his first win of the season. The Mets have the following career numbers against Webb:

• Pete Alonso 1-11, HR, BB, 5 K
• Harrison Bader 2-4, 2 BB
• Brett Baty 0-2, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 2-7, 2B, 2 K
• Starling Marte 4-11, K
• Jeff McNeil 2-9, 2B, BB, K
• Omar Narváez 0-5, K
• Tomás Nido 1-6
• Brandon Nimmo 1-11, HR, BB, 3 K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-4, BB, 2 K
• Joey Wendle 0-3, 2 BB

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Old Friends! The Mets and Giants are always a fun series if you like seeing old Met players. Wilmer Flores is hitting .218/.297/.273 this season over 64 plate appearances with a 65 OPS+. He has not hit a homer yet this season. Michael Conforto is hitting .259/.302/.469 over 86 plate appearances with a 117 OPS+. He already has four homers this season and nine extra-base hits total.
2. We tried it, didn’t work. The first two games of the series with the Dodgers the Mets were racking up stolen bases. Then Sunday happened and the Mets were thrown out twice during both of their attempts. Will the Mets be aggressive today like yesterday?
3. Tomás Nido tossed a runner out! Baserunners have been running wild on the Mets all season. Sunday Tomás Nido became the first catcher on the Mets to toss a runner out stealing a base. The Mets are going to need Nido and Narváez behind the plate to do this more often so teams don’t feel as empowered to steal.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look for their second consecutive sweep and seventh consecutive win this afternoon in Los Angeles!

The Mets won their sixth game in a row Saturday afternoon, clinching a series victory against the Dodgers. It was the second time in the last two weeks that the Mets had won a series against a World Series contending team. Saturday’s game featured the Mets doing one thing they haven’t done a lot of this year – stealing bases. The Mets stole three bases in the game (Nimmo, Wendle and Marte). Further there were four Mets who each collected two hits in the game (Marte, Lindor, McNeil and Wendle). We love to see it.

Adrian Houser is on the bump this afternoon for the Mets. Over three starts (15 1/3) innings this season, Houser has a 4.70 ERA, 4.40 FIP, 1.500 WHIP and an 88 ERA+. Most of the damage to his season stats was done in Atlanta in his second start where he allowed five runs from eight hits over five innings of work. He bounced back nicely in his last start allowing only two runs from two hits (and five walks) over 5 1/3 innings of work. Houser faced the Dodgers once last season and allowed four runs, three earned, over 5 1/3 innings with no walks and six strikeouts. The Dodgers have the following career numbers against Houser:

• Austin Barnes 0-2
• Mookie Betts 1-4, 2 BB, K
• Freddie Freeman 2-9, HR, 3 BB
• Teoscar Hernández 1-3, K
• Max Muncy 1-5, 3 K
• James Outman 0-2, 2 K
• Miguel Rojas 2-9, HR, 3 K
• Will Smith 0-3
• Chris Taylor 2-3, 2B

The Mets will not get out of town without facing the ace of the Dodgers staff – Tyler Glasnow. Glasnow has made five starts (29 innings) this season with a 3.72 ERA, 3.61 FIP, 0.966 WHIP and a 114 ERA+. He is coming off of his worst start of the season against the Nationals where he allowed six runs from eight hits and two walks over five innings of work. Before that start Glasnow had 2.25 ERA, 2.77 FIP over his first four starts including a start against the Twins where he struck out 14 batters over seven innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 0-6, 6 K
• Harrison Bader 1-7, K
• Francisco Lindor 1-10, 4 K
• Starling Marte 1-5, HR, 3 K
• Jeff McNeil 2-7, 2B, BB, K
• Brandon Nimmo 0-2, 3 BB
• DJ Stewart 0-3, 2 K
• Joey Wendle 0-1, BB, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Can the Mets limit walks today? The Mets pitchers allowed an absurd 10 walks in Saturday’s game with Buttó allowing five as a starter. You cannot give a team like the Dodgers a chance with free passes to first base. Further, it taxes the entire pitching staff. Houser is coming off of a start where he allowed five walks and already has nine total on the season.
2. Keep the strikeouts coming. The ten walks yesterday did not crush the Mets because the Mets batters got the Dodgers to strike out 14 times. The big three at the top of the lineup went 4-for-7, with two doubles, three RBI’s and one strikeout. That means the rest of the lineup had 13 K’s including Outman, Pages and Hernández who struck out three times each. This is a winning recipe.
3. Starling Marte! Marte has been a savior for the Mets lineup this season. Since April 6th, Marte has made 13 starts and has hit .322/.365/.509 (through April 5th, before this streak he was hitting .192/.250/.346). In his last five games he has gone 7-for-24 at the plate with two doubles and two homers, which are four of his overall six extra-base hits this season. He has now stolen bases in back-to-back games for the first time this season.

The Mets can win their fifth consecutive series this afternoon! Friday night the Mets extended their winning streak to five games with a 9-4 win over the Dodgers in a game that felt like three games. The Mets went up 4-0 early. Then after a few defensive mistakes, the Dodgers tied the game up. The vibes pendulum at this point had fully swung from good to terrible. The Mets then rallied and scored five runs over the final three innings to put the Dodgers away.

As of writing, there is a lot concern around Francisco Alvarez who stumbled rounding first base early in the game an injured the same thumb that he injured multiple times earlier in the week. Carlos Mendoza said after the game he was “pretty concerned”, and after the game is usually when injuries are downplayed.

Jose Buttó makes his third start of the season today. In his first two starts of the year he has allowed one run from five hits and four walks while striking out 15 batters in 12 innings. The Mets have had starting pitchers go six innings twice this year and Buttó has two of them. Obviously 12 innings is a bit early to start putting a lot of weight into Baseball Savant numbers, but so far this season his fastball run value is in the 98th percentile. He isn’t getting a ton of ground balls though (18th percentile) and is in 36th percentile for hard-hit%, which against the top of this Dodgers lineup is always a concern. This will be his first time facing the Dodgers and facing anyone on the Dodgers roster in a major league game.

The Mets bats look to keep the offense rolling against Gavin Stone this afternoon. Over three starts he has allowed 10 runs from 18 hits and five walks over 14 2/3 innings while striking out 15 (6.14 ERA, 2.18 FIP, 1.568 WHIP, 70 ERA+). Stone is coming off of his best start where he held the Padres to two runs on five hits over six innings. This will be Stone’s first start against the Mets and no one on the Mets major league roster has faced Stone in a major league game before.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. If Harrison Bader keeps hitting, we’ll keep writing about him. Bader went 4-for-5 at the plate Friday night with a double, a run scored and a stolen base. He has now reached base in eight consecutive games and has gone 14-for-31 over that stretch hitting an absurd .452/.485/.613. Before this streak his season line was .192/.222/.192 and now sits at .333/.367/.421.
2. DJ Stewart is having a DJ Stewart season. Last night Stewart went 2-for-4 at the plate with his third homer of the season. Five of his seven hits are for extra bases. At first I thought this was odd, but it seems like a small-sample size version of what happened last year. Stewart last season had a .244 batting average with a .506 slugging percentage. This year he’s hitting .241 with a cartoonish .621 slugging. The big difference about Stewart this year is his walk rate which has jumped from 8.1% to 18% (12.3% career average). This has translated to .410 OBP (compared to .333 in 2023).
3. Francisco Lindor. Lindor swung the vibe pendulum Friday night. After the Mets allowed the Dodgers to tie the game, Lindor hit a massive two-run homerun, his first from the left side of the plate this season. In his last five games he is 7-for-20 at the plate with a double, home run and a .409 OBP. Lindor looks like he’s having fun on the field and he is lifting up the energy of those around him.

Let’s Go Mets!

The red-hot Mets face a world series contender for the second time the last two weeks tonight! The Mets have won their last four games in a row, four consecutive series and ten of their last 13 games. This includes a series win against one of the favorites to win the National League pennant – the Atlanta Braves.

Now the Mets face the other favorite to win the pennant – the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers started off the season 10-4. Since then they have won two of their last seven games. They have dropped back-to-back series against the Padres and the Nationals.

Sean Manaea gets the nod for the Mets tonight and looks to rebound after a tough start last Saturday in Queens. This season, over three starts (14 2/3 innings), he has a 4.30 ERA, 3.47 FIP, 1.364 WHIP and a 96 ERA+. This is close to his career line of 4.10 ERA, 4.04 FIP, 1.225 WHIP and a 100 ERA+. Almost all of the damage was done his last start where he allowed eight runs, six earned, from nine hits and three walks over 3 2/3 innings.

In two games (one start) against the Dodgers last season Manaea pitched 10 2/3 innings allowing four runs from seven hits and a walk while striking out eight. The Dodgers have the following career numbers against him:

• Austin Barnes 2-7, BB, K
• Mookie Betts 10-29, 2 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• Freddie Freeman 5-14, BB, 2 K
• Kiké Hernández 1-9, 2 K
• Teoscar Hernández 2-13, HR, 3 K
• Max Muncy 1-6, BB, 2 K
• Shohei Ohtani 1-5, BB, 2 K
• James OUtman 1-4
• Miguel Rojas 3-9, 2B, 2 K
• Will Smith 8-16, 2B, BB, K
• Chris Taylor 4-16, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 7 K

It is just too poetic that the first pitcher for the Dodgers this week is the major player the Mets tried and failed to sign this off-season. The Mets made a strong push for Yamamoto this winter with a lucrative offer, but ultimately Yamamoto wanted to be a Dodger. Over four starts this year he has a 4.50 ERA, 3.14 FIP, 1.063 WHIP and a 95 ERA+ over 16 innings. He’s also struck out 21 batters. Yamamota’s major league debut was during the two-game Korea Series that occurred during spring training. If you remove that start from his season, he has a 1.80 ERA, 3.00 FIP. Opponents have a .167 BA against him. If you take the Padres out of his season, he has a 0.00 ERA over two starts.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The Dodgers Big Three. The Dodgers have a stacked lineup top to bottom, and the lineup is anchored by Mookie Betts (213 OPS+), Freddie Freeman (116 OPS+) and Shohei Ohtani (184 OPS+). How Mets pitchers navigate the big three will dictate how the weekend goes for the team. There are several starting players for the Dodgers that are also struggling right now and the Mets cannot allow them to beat Mets pitchers: Gavin Lux (6 OPS+), Chris Taylor (-41 OPS+), James Outman (74 OPS+).
2. The Mets pitching staff has been rolling. The Mets have won 10 of their last 13 because of the pitching staff. The team ERA is 3.15, which sixth overall in baseball and first in National League. They have struck out 176 batters which is tied for sixth overall and second for the National League. They have allowed 133 hits which is the least in the league. The Dodgers will be a big test for the Mets pitching staff this weekend.
3. Harrison Bader. This season Harrison Bader is hitting .288/.327/.365 with a 98 OPS+. He is a career .244/.311/.395 hitter. Right now he is on a hot streak that has fueled the Mets offense. He has reached base safely in seven consecutive games going 10-for-26 with a double and a homer, his only extra-base hits of the year.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to sweep the Pirates this afternoon to closeout the homestand!

The Mets are rolling right now, winning three straight games, four consecutive series and nine of their last 12 games. Tuesday night was their second come-from-behind victory in a row. This time the Mets were down 1-0 and were able to capitalize on a Pirates team struggling with fundamentals by scoring a key run on a balk. The Mets bullpen continued their dominance shutting the door once the Mets had the lead.

Luis Severino is on the bump to finish off the Pirates today. Over his first three starts of the season Severino has pitched 15 innings with a 3.00 ERA, 3.91 FIP, 1.400 WHIP and a 139 ERA+. He’s coming off of arguably his best start of the season where he held the Royals to one run from one hit over five innings. He was limited to only five innings due a season high four walks allowed. His next step, like many of the starters in the Mets rotation is to get through six or more innings (he’s pitched exactly five innings in each start this season). The Pirates have the following career numbers against Luis Severino:

• Oneil Cruz 1-3, BB
• Ke’Bryan Hayes 1-4 2 K
• Bryan Reynolds 2-5, 2B, K
• Jack Suwinski 0-5, 2 K
• Michael A. Taylor 2-2, HR
• Rowdy Tellez 0-4, 2 K

The Mets bats will look to give Severino some breathing room tonight by scoring runs against Bailey Falter. Over three starts this season (15 innings), Falter has a 4.20 ERA, 4.98 FIP, 0.933 WHIP and a 102 ERA+. Early season stats are easy to skew and that is happening to Falter here. In his first start of the season he allowed six runs from five hits and three walks over four innings in Miami. Since then he has allowed one run from five hits and a walk over 11 innings against the Orioles and Phillies. Falter faced the Mets once last year and allowed one run from four hits (including a solo homer) over 5 1/3 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against Falter:

• Pete Alonso 1-6, HR, BB, K
• Francisco Alvarez 1-2
• Brett Baty 0-2
• Francisco Lindor 2-5, 3 BB, K
• Starling Marte 1-5, K
• Jeff McNeil 1-6, K
• Brandon Nimmo 2-7, HR, BB, 3 K
• Tyrone Taylor 1-4, K
• Joey Wendle 0-4

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The Mets pitchers have been limiting hits. The Mets have allowed 128 hits this season, that’s tied with the Guardians for second best in the league (Tigers lead the league at 116). The last two days the Mets have allowed a total of eight hits. While this is an unsustainably low rate, this is at the heart of the Mets comeback over the last 12 games. The Mets lead the National league in ERA at 3.33 and sixth overall in the league (Royals lead the league at 2.86).
2. Doubles, again! Before Tuesday’s game we talked about how a major change for the Mets was hitting doubles, the Mets had four of them in Monday night’s game. Three of the four hits Tuesday night were doubles. Hitting doubles has put the Mets in a position over the last several days for more interesting things to happen. Double steal? Did that Monday night. Score on a balk? Did that Tuesday night. When the Mets get runners into scoring position, good things happen.
3. The back of the Bullpen is rested. The Mets needed to give Raley, Ottavino and Díaz the night off on Tuesday after all pitched on back-to-back days. Reed Garrett came in as a savior again, pitching two spectacular innings. López and Smith slammed the door closed behind Garrett. Now the big arms rested and ready to go to complete the sweep today.

Let’s Go Mets!

For the first time since Opening Day, the Mets have a chance to end the day with a winning record.

Monday night the Mets completed a come-from-behind victory, knocking off the Pirates 6-3 after falling behind 3-0. The Mets are now playing with an energy that was completely missing from their first week of the season. The dugout looks fun, the vibes are good, and there is a feeling that they are never truly out of the game. The Mets will look to tap into that energy tonight as they look to lock down a fourth consecutive series win.

Jose Quintana will make his fourth start of the season today against his former team. Quintana signed with the Pirates in 2022 and made 20 starts before being traded to the Cardinals. This season Quintana has made three starts (15 2/3 innings) with a 3.45 ERA, 4.88 FIP, 1.532 WHIP and a 121 ERA+. His last start was the least inspiring of the three, where he allowed three runs from five hits and two walks over 5 1/3 innings. One thing Quintana has not been able to do yet this season is finish the sixth inning. the Pirates have the following numbers against Quintana:

• Oneil Cruz 0-4, K
• Ke’Bryan Hayes 1-5
• Connor Joe 1-5, BB
• Andrew McCutchen 7-24, 2B, HR, 3 BB, 8 K
• Edward Olivares 1-3
• Bryan Reynolds 3-16, 2B, 3 K
• Jack Suwinksi 0-2, BB, K
• Michael A. Taylor 1-2, K
• Rowdy Tellez 0-8, 5 K

The Mets bats will get a look at Jared Jones who is making the fourth start of his debut season. Over the first three games he has allowed eight runs from 15 hits over 18 innings while striking out 25 (4.00 ERA, 3.84 FIP, 0.944 WHIP, 107 ERA+). Jones has a high strikeout rate at 12.5 K/9 and is leading the league in walks at 1.0 BB/9. On the other hand he has allowed four homers already this season, leading to a high 2.0 HR/9.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Francisco Lindor is coming around. Lindor recorded his second consecutive two-hit game Monday Night. Over his last two games he is 4-for-8 with a double and a run scored. One of the signs that he was going to come around, outside of just having an awesome skill-set, is his strikeout numbers. Lindor struck out six times over the first six games of the season. In the last ten games he has struck out only once.
2. Extra-base hits. A key part of the Mets scoring their runs in two sets of three Monday night was their extra-base hits. The Mets had four doubles, one each from Lindor, Marte, Stewart and Bader. For everyone except Bader it was their second double of the year. For Bader, it was his first extra-base hit period this year. This could be the last missing piece for the Mets offense.
3. Getting into Chapman’s head. Jeff McNeil struck out against Pirates setup-man Aroldis Chapman Monday night, but the ball got by catcher Henry Davis. The Mets then played one of their better innings this year. DJ Stewart worked a walk, McNeil and Stewart pulled off a double steal. Harrison Bader crushed a two-run double. Chapman then got tossed for arguing balls and strikes. The Pirates closer David Bednar is having a rough stretch too. The back of the Pirates bullpen will be a story for the rest of this series.

The Mets are rolling! With Sunday’s win over the Royals, the Mets have now won three consecutive series and have won seven of their last ten games. The schedule for the Mets has been unforgiving to start the year as many of the teams they’ve faced have overperformed and are rolling themselves. The Pirates find themselves in that position for a second consecutive year. They are 11-5, winning six of their last four, and have a +24 run differential, second best in the NL Central. Can Adrian Houser throw them off their game?

Over his first two starts of the season Houser has allowed six runs from 11 hits and five walks over 10 innings of work. Almost all of his negative stats came in his last start where the Braves racked up five runs over five innings against him. He had only one start against the Pirates last season and held them to one run from four hits and two walks over six innings while striking out five. The Pirates have the following career numbers against Houser:

• Oneil Cruz 1-2, HR, K
• Henry Davis 0-3
• Ke’Bryan Hayes 4-17, 3 K
• Connor Joe 0-1
• Andrew McCutchen 1-4
• Edward Olivares 0-2
• Bryan Reynolds 6-21, 2B, HR, 3 BB, K
• Jack Suwinksi 1-3, HR, BB, K
• Michael A Taylor 0-1, K
• Alika Williams 1-2

The Mets bats will get a look at Martín Pérez this evening. Pérez is in Pittsburgh now after his second stint with the Texas Rangers. He’s off to a good start this season with a 1.89 ERA, 3.14 FIP, 1.211 WHIP and a 229 ERA+ over three games (19 innings). He’s coming off of his best start of the season where he held the Tigers to one run over eight innings of work. Last season Pérez had a stint as a long reliever and ended up facing the Mets twice in the same three game set. Over both games he allowed no runs off four hits over five innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 0-9, 3 BB, K
• Francisco Alvarez 0-1
• Francisco Lindor 5-14, 5 BB, K
• Starling Marte 4-8, 2B, HR
• Jeff McNeil 4-10, 2B
• Omar Narváez 1-1
• Brandon Nimmo 4-11, 2B
• Zack Short 2-3
• DJ Stewart 0-1
• Tyrone Taylor 1-1, BB
• Joey Wendle 1-7

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Brandon Nimmo: Over his last eight games Nimmo has gone 12-for-34 at the plate with three doubles, a triple and two homers. He’s scored seven times and he has worked five walks. His .450 OBP has been setting the pace for the Mets. It’s a complete flip of his first six games of the season where he went 1-for-21 at the plate with a .286 OBP.
2. Just collecting two-hit games. Harrison Bader got the start on Sunday after having Saturday off. In his last four games he has collect eight hits, exactly two hits each per game. His batting average is up to .302 for the season now. Further he has scored five runs during this stretch (all but one of the runs he scored this season). He still hasn’t had an extra-base hit yet but the Mets will absolutely take their 9th hitter constantly turning over the lineup with singles.
3. Reed Garrett: Garrett has been a critical piece for the Mets this season, soaking up innings when starters fall short and has kept the Mets in games they had no business being in. In three games he has allowed only three hits and two walks over 6 2/3 innings while striking out 11. Over the last five calendar days, he pitched once (Friday), tossing only 15 pitches.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets offense looks to keep rolling for one more game against the Royals as the Mets seek to clinch a series win. Yesterday the Mets were able to score seven runs, fueled by Pete Alonso’s two homers and three-hit day, but everything else fell apart and the Mets lost 11-7.

This afternoon is also Doc Gooden’s retirement ceremony as the Mets continue a recent tradition over the last couple of seasons of finally recognizing the great players who have made their mark on the organizations history. It would be a wonderful tribute if today’s starting pitcher, Jose Buttó can turn out a classic Dr. K-esque performance.

Jose Buttó has rejoined the Mets organization. Buttó barely lost the rotation spot at the start of the season to Tylor Megill as both players had dominant springs. Because of roster rules, Buttó could not be recalled until earlier this week. He was able to make a spot start for the Mets during the first week of the season due to the Mets doubleheader against the Tigers as the 27th roster spot. During that start he allowed one run from three hits and three walks while striking out six batters in six innings of work. The only member of the Royals who has seen Buttó in a major league game is Garrett Hampson (1-for-2).

The Mets bats will have their work cut out for them this afternoon as they face off against Cole Ragans. Over three starts this season Ragan has allowed five runs from 16 hits over 17 1/3 innings (2.60 ERA, 2.61 FIP, 1.269 WHIP, 162 ERA+). He looked a lot more human in his last start against the Astros allowing three runs on ten hits over five innings. Ragans had an excellent start against the Mets last year where he held the Mets scoreless over six innings, scattering seven hits while striking out eight. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 0-3
• Francisco Alvarez 0-2, BB, K
• Brett Baty 0-3, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 0-3, K
• Jeff McNeil 3-3
• Zack Short 0-1, 2 BB, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Pete Alonso’s 200th Homerun: While it’s unlikely to happen today, we are in striking distance for Pete’s 200th homer. He had two homers in Saturday’s game, bringing him to 198 for his career. Alonso has played 698 career games. Ryan Howard reached this mar in 658 games and Aaron Judge took 671 games. Pete Alonso is trying to beat out the legendary Ralph Kiner (706 games).
2. Fundamentals and Luck. The game fell apart for the Mets in the fourth inning on Saturday when Starling Marte dropped a fly ball and then later Brandon Nimmo knocked a ball over the fence while trying to make an amazing play. Francisco Lindor also got played out on the basepaths. It’s baseball and random things will happen from time to time. On Saturday those events defined the game. Hopefully the Mets play with tighter fundamentals today the baseball gods don’t create any additional bizarre moments.
3. Edwin Díaz: It has been a while since we have seen the most electric closer in baseball. For the first week or so of the season the Mets had to use Díaz every other day because the bullpen was stretched so thin. As the Mets haven’t played a close game in a while, he’s gotten an extended rest. We’ll probably see him used in some capacity today.

Let’s Go Mets!