213 Miles From Shea

The Mets will try to get back in the win column this afternoon as they take on the Twins in game two of their three game set. Kodai Senga kept the Mets in the game last night but the bullpen behind him melted down as the Mets allowed three runs in the seventh inning to give the Twins a 5-2 lead. The Twins never looked back after that and could take the series today.

David Peterson goes for the Mets tonight. Over 23 games and 88 1/3 innings he has a 5.40 ERA, 4.73 FIP, 1.608 WHIP and a 77 ERA+. He’s coming off of a start where he allowed four runs over four innings against the Mariners, his second time in three starts he allowed that many runs. Curiously, thanks to the new interplay roles in baseball, this will be his third consecutive start against an American League team. Very few Twins have faced him before in a major league game:

• Christian Vázquez 0-2, 2 K
• Kyle Farmer 1-2, 2B, K
• Donovan Solano 0-2, K

The Mets bats will get to see Kenta Maeda this afternoon. In 17 starts throwing 83 2/3 innings, Maeda has a 4.73 ERA, 4.08 FIP, 1.267 WHIP and a 92 ERA+. Over his last four starts he has pitched 18 innings, allowing 15 runs (7.50 ERA, 6.04 FIP) from 27 hits including five homers. The Mets have the following career numbers against Maeda:

• Omar Narváez 1-8, K, 2 BB
• Francisco Lindor 1-5, 2 K, 2 BB
• Tim Locastro 0-2
• Brandon Nimmo 1-1, HR
• Rafael Ortega 0-1, K
• DJ Stewart 0-1

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Francisco Lindor milestones. Lindor is still four homers and four stolen bases away from a 30-30 season. He had both RBI’s yesterday, putting him at 85 on the season. His best RBI season was last year where he had 107. While that’s probably not attainable in the final three weeks of the season, he’s only nine RBI from tying his second-best single-season mark (92, 2018). He’s also only 15 away from 100 on the season. It’s a reach, but not impossible.
2. David Peterson milestones. Peterson is only five strikeouts away from his second consecutive season with at least 100 strikeouts. He’s also only 11 2/3 innings away from throwing 100+ innings in the majors for the second time in his career. If Peterson throws two more quality starts, he’ll hit these milestones easily.
3. Carlos Correa. Carlos Correa was almost a Met. Honestly the whole Correa saga feels like a lifetime ago. He had a big night yesterday against his quasi-former team going 2-for-3 at the plate with his 18th homer of the season. Do the Mets keep him in check tonight or does this become the Correa weekend?

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets head to Minnesota tonight to start a three game set against the Twins. The Mets are coming off of a week with two off-days and a split series against the Nationals. Currently the Mets are 1.5 games ahead of the Nationals for last in the division. The Twins are the first place team in the AL Central, six games above .500 and 6.5 games ahead of the Guardians.

Kodai Senga continues his fantastic rookie season tonight. Over 25 starts throwing 143 1/3 innings, Senga has a 3.08 ERA, 3.47 FIP, 1.228 WHIP and a 136 ERA+. In his last three starts he has allowed four runs from 11 hits and seven walks while striking out an astounding 27 batters over 20 2/3 innings. He has a 1.74 ERA over this stretch. Tonight will be Senga’s first start against the Twins and he has not faced anyone on the Twins in any other Major League games.

The Mets bats will get a look at Dallas Keuchel tonight who is pitching in his sixth game with the Twins. Over 21 1/3 innings he has a 5.06 ERA, 4.85 FIP, 1.500 WHIP and an 88 ERA+. Keuchel has either been terrific or terrible this season. He has three games where he allowed a combine one run over 16 1/3 innings. There are two games where he has allowed a combined 11 runs over five innings. Which version will the Mets see tonight? The Mets have the following career numbers against Keuchel:

• Francisco Lindor 3-16, HR, 2 BB
• Pete Alonso 1-7, HR, 2 K, BB
• Jeff McNeil 0-2
• Brandon Nimmo 1-3, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Will Francisco Lindor make progress to a 30-30 season? On Tuesday night Lindor hit his 26th homer of the season. On Wednesday night he stole his 26th base of the season. He’s practically knocking on the door of this major milestone. His 26th stolen base on Wednesday night was a new career-best for Lindor (previous was 25 in 2018).
2. It’s Ronny’s World. Ronny Mauricio went 2-for-4 at the plate on Wednesday night and stole his third base of the season. It was the third time in five games that Mauricio has recorded two hits and he continues his five game hitting streak. He is one of the key reasons to keep watching the Mets this September.
3. Can Senga reach 200 strikeouts this season? This is going to be a tough milestone to hit, but it’s not an impossible milestone. Thanks to the tear that Senga has been on recently, he’s 24 strikeouts away from 200 on the season. If he has about three more starts this season, then he would need 8 a start to hit that milestone. It’s not probable at this point, but it is possible.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets walloped the Nationals last night 11-5, hitting four home runs and collecting 11 hits in total. It was also the first time that all four baby Mets started in the same game, collectively going 5-for-13, with Vientos and Álvarez doing most of the damage. The Mets are now 3-1 since all four baby Mets have been on the roster together and they look for the two game sweep of the Nationals tonight.

José Butto makes the start tonight as Carlos Carrasco landed on the injured list with a fractured finger before yesterday’s game. Butto has pitched in four games this season, starting two for the Mets totaling 14 2/3 innings with a 4.30 ERA, 5.65 FIP, 1.773 WHIP and a 99 ERA+. His last outing wasn’t great for the Mets on August 15th where he allowed three runs from two hits and three walks over 2 2/3 innings. He made one start against the Nationals this season back in April where he allowed two runs from four hits and six walks over 4 2/3 innings. The Nationals have the following batting lines against him:

• Joey Meneses 2-3
• Luis García 0-3
• Keibert Ruiz 1-2, HR, BB
• Dominic Smith 1-2, BB
• CJ Abrams 0-2
• Victor Robles 0-2
• Alex Call 0-1, 2 BB
• Lane Thomas 0-1, BB

The Mets bats will get a look at Joan Adon tonight. Adon has pitched in seven games this season making five starts, tossing a total of 29 innings. He has a 5.90 ERA, 4.95 FIP, 1.138 WHIP and a 73 ERA+. In the month of August he was only used as a starter, posting a 6.00 ERA and 4.30 FIP. He’s had one great start where he held the Marlins scoreless for six innings. In his other four starts he has allowed 19 runs. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Francisco Lindor 0-2, 3 BB
• Brandon Nimmo 1-2, 3 BB
• Pete Alonso 1-5, HR, 2 K
• Jeff McNeil 0-3, BB
• Daniel Vogelbach 2-3, HR

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Francisco Álvarez. Last night was a huge night for Álvarez who went 2-for-3 at the plate with a homer, a double and scored three runs. Álvarez’s home run was his first since August 1st, a major drought. It would be tremendous if he could end the season on a hot streak similar to what he had earlier this season.
2. Pete Alonso. Speaking of ending home run droughts, Alonso confirmed Sunday was not a fluke. In his last two games Alonso has now hit three homers, bringing him up to 42 on the season. Reaching 50 for the season is ticking more and more towards probable, especially if he keeps this hot streak up.
3. Francisco Lindor. We are just looking for home runs and milestones across the board now. Francisco hit his 26th homer of the season last night, making 30 for the season more likely. His 26th homer last night tied his season high as a New York Met. He hasn’t hit the 30 homer mark since 2019 (he had a three year stretch of at least 30 homers from 2017-2019).

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets and Nationals start a two game series tonight, but without as much draft implications as you might think. Both teams are at the bottom of the NL East and both teams have complicated draft situations for different reasons. If the Mets don’t finish in the bottom six of the league, their draft pick us unprotected. Due to luxury tax rules, the Mets first pick would then fall 10 places back. Due to Washington DC market size, the Nationals cannot get lottery picks in back-to-back seasons. The earliest they can pick is 10th. Anyway, none of this matters anymore because the Mets have a winning record in the Ronny Mauricio era.

José Quintana makes his 9th start of the year for the Mets tonight. Over 47 innings he has a 3.26 ERA, 3.32 FIP, 1.340 WHIP and a 128 ERA+. He’s coming off of throwing six shutout innings against the Rangers where he allowed three hits, walked three batters and struck out five. This was Quintana’s sixth quality start this season. The Nationals have the following career numbers against Quintana:

• Lane Thomas 2-8, K
• Riley Adams 1-4, K
• CJ Abrams 0-2
• Michael Chavis 0-3, 2 K, BB
• Keibert Ruiz 0-2
• Ildemaro Vargas 1-3, K
• Dominic Smith 0-3, 2 K
• Joey Meneses 1-2, 2B

The Mets bats draw Patrick Corbin who has pitched 154 1/3 innings over 27 starts this season. He has a 4.90 ERA, 5.11 FIP, 1.497 WHIP and an 87 ERA+. He’s also leading the league in hits allowed at 183. It is the third time in the last four seasons he has lead the league in hits allowed. On the other hand he is not leading the league in earned runs (2021 and 2022) and home runs (2021). Over the first four starts in August Corbin looked like a different pitcher with a 2.70 ERA (6.56 FIP) allowing only eight runs, seven earned, from 16 hits and 11 walks over 23 1/3 innings. Things caught up to him in his last start where he allowed six runs from 10 hits. Corbin had a strong start against the Mets in mid-May where he allowed two runs from eight hits over six innings. In his last start against the Mets at the end of July he allowed four runs over 5 2/3. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 14-43, 2 2B, 5 HR, 12 K, 8 BB
• Brandon Nimmo 8-34, 11 K, 2 BB
• Jeff McNeil 10-35, 2B, 4 K, 2 BB
• Francisco Lindor 10-35, 2 2B, HR, 8 K
• Tim Locastro 1-9, 4 K
• Francisco Álvarez 0-3, BB
• Daniel Vogelbach 0-2, BB
• Mark Vientos 1-2, 2B

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Pete Alonso. Pete went 11 games without hitting a homer before hitting two on Sunday (3-for-4 at the plate). This brought him to 41 on the season. During his homerless drought, the chances of him reaching the 50 home run mark started to diminish. His two jack day puts him right back on course and tonight he gets to face a pitcher that he already has five homers against.
2. Ronny Mauricio. Ronny had quite a homestand in his major league debut. He had at least one hit in every game, and had multiple hits twice leading to a 5-for-11 line to start the season. He’s already stolen two bases and hit a double too. It’s the Ronny show for the rest of the season!
3. Jeff McHits. Since August 2nd Jeff has been hitting .328/.361/.488 racking up a total of 41 hits including six doubles, a triple and four homers. He has raised his season numbers from .251/.327/.327 to .270/.335/.367 over this stretch. That’s a nearly 50 point gain on his OPS. This is the Jeff McNeil we were missing for most of the season, and it’s good to see him again.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mariners and the Mets play the rubber game this afternoon in Queens. The Mariners are in a tight playoff race and need every win they can get. The Mets are just trying to see where players fit in their 2024 and 2025 plans.

Tylor Megill looks to build on one of his best starts of the season this afternoon. Over 20 starts and 97 innings, Tylor Megill has posted a 5.29 ERA, 5.02 FIP, 1.680 WHIP and a 79 ERA+. In his last start he h allowed only one run from five hits over six innings while striking out eight batters, a season high for Megill. Before that he had allowed 21 runs, 19 earned, over his previous 22 innings and five starts while striking out 18. The only Mariner that has faced Megill before is Teoscar Hernández (0-for-2, K).

The Mets bats will look to pick up where they left off last night against George Kirby. Kirby has pitched 156 1/3 innings over 25 starts this season with a 3.28 ERA, 3.20 FIP, 1.030 WHIP and a 125 ERA+. The Mets bats faced the league leader last night in H/9 (Castillo), tonight in Kirby they face the league leader in BB/9 (0.8) and K/BB (10.14). He’s looked a lot more human in his last two starts though allowing seven runs from 16 hits over 11 2/3 innings. During stretch (5.40 ERA) he has struck out 11 batters while walking zero. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Brandon Nimmo 0-2
• Pete Alonso 0-1, BB
• Jonathan Araúz 1-2
• Francisco Lindor 1-1
• Jeff McNeil 0-1

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Megill is nearing several career milestones. If Megill pitches three innings today he’ll cross 100 innings in a season for the first time in his career. He struck out eight batters in his last outing, which was unusually high for him this season. He now sits at 82 in 2023, and 100 is within striking distance if he has a good rest of the month. It would be a double milestone for Megill as reaching 100 in the season would also give him 250 in his career.
2. Mark Vientos and Brett Baty. Last night it was Mark’s turn to get the start and he took full advantage of it, going 2-for-3 at the plate with his fourth homer on the season. In his last three games he has gone 5-for-10 at the plate with two homers and three runs scored. He also had to leave the game early due to foot soreness. As hot as Mark has been lately, there’s no reason for him to push it during a day game after a night game when the Mets have Brett Baty who also needs at bats and reps in the field.
3. DJ Stewart does it again! Last night Stewart went 2-for-5 at the plate with a homer and three RBI’s. Since August 15th Stewart has hit nine homers and has gone 19-for-53 at the plate hitting .359/.414/.925. He has as many strikeouts as RBI’s during this stretch (18). Last night hit the double digit homer plateau for the season. Let’s keep the good times going DJ!

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets are undefeated in the Ronny Mauricio era! Ronny Mauricio collected his first hit in his major league debut last night. The ball came off of his bat at 117.3 MPH, which was the hardest hit ball by a New York Met this year. What a way to start his career! Now the Mets will try to win the series tonight against the Mariners!

David Peterson will look to build off of his last start this evening. On the season he has pitched in 22 games totaling 84 1/3 innings with a 5.23 ERA, 4.71 FIP, 1.601 WHIP and a 80 ERA+. His last time out he allowed only one run over seven innings from three hits and three walks while striking out eight batters, his best start in a while. He also threw over 100 pitches for the first time this season. The only current Mariner that has seen Peterson in a major league game is Josh Rojas (1-for-1).

The Mets bats will get a look at Luis Castillo tonight. The long-time Red was traded to the Mariners in the 2022 season. This year over 27 starts, 164 1/3 innings he has a 3.01 ERA, 3.64 FIP, 1.004 WHIP (league leading) and a 136 ERA+. It makes sense that in addition to leading the league in WHIP he is also leading the league in H/9 at 7.0. Over his last two starts Castillo has held opponents to only one run from six hits while striking out 15 batters over 14 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Omar Narváez 5-23, HR, 5 K, 2 BB
• Daniel Vogelbach 1-9, HR, 3 K, 5 BB
• Rafael Ortega 2-9, 3 K, 3 BB
• Brandon Nimmo 0-4, K, 2 BB
• Pete Alonso 0-5, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 3-6, 2 2B
• Jeff McNeil 3-6, HR

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The Mets collected hits last night. The Mets only scored two runs, but they did have nine hits on the night, which is a good sign for a team that has been struggling of late. Ronny Mauricio was the only player who collected two hits (what a debut!) and he was joined by seven other players collecting one hit. Can the Mets string hits together tonight to score more runs?
2. Vientos playing time. With all of the baby Mets up right now there’s going to be a squeeze on playing time for someone. For the Mets future development, it makes the most sense to have Vientos as a DH and sit Vogelbach. Vogelbach however is one of the hottest hitters on the team right now, emphasized by his go-ahead RBI last night. Baty, Vientos and Vogelbach will probably enter a weird time share of third base and DH duties. We’ll see how this continues throughout the weekend.
3. The bullpen is well rested! The Mets really needed to use their bullpen on Wednesday, with Brigham, Reid-Foley and Ottavino each throwing over 25 pitches. The only pitchers not used on Wednesday was Bickford and Smith, who both had solid outings for the Mets last night. Reid-Foley has yet to allow a run this season and came out unscathed on Wednesday after walking three batters.

Let’s Go Mets!

After the Mets sold at the trade deadline, the natural question became, “When does Ronny Mauricio come up?”. With rosters expanding today, the Mets will finally call-up Mauricio with Brett Baty. They join a roster that already has Francisco Álvarez and Mark Vientos. At long last the four most intriguing Mets are all playing in Queens.

Kodai Senga will kick-off the weekend series for the Mets. Over 24 starts and 136 1/3 innings this season, Senga has a 3.17 ERA, 3.52 FIP, 1.240 WHIP and a 131 ERA+. Since July 5th he has made nine starts totaling 54 2/3 innings with a 2.63 ERA, 2.82 FIP striking out 63 batters during that stretch. In his last start he struck out 10 batters, his first time with double digit strikeouts since July 5th. Senga has gone from a promising rookie, to an All-Star to now being in a position where he’ll probably get some Rookie-of-the-year votes.

Logan Gilbert has pitched 155 innings this season over 26 starts with a 3.66 ERA, 3.71 FIP, 1.045 WHIP and a 112 ERA+. Gilbert has allowed only three runs over his last 13 innings while striking out 10. Since June 17th he has pitched 81 innings over 13 starts with a 3.00 ERA, 4.00 FIP. The only Met who has seen him in a major league game is Tim Locastro (0-for-4, 2 K).

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The Baby Mets. Ronny Mauricio makes his debut, Baty returns as they both join Vientos and Álvarez. Mauricio started off his 2023 campaign hot, cooled off between June and July. Since August though he has been scorching hot. As the Mets look at their roster and their farm system, this is Mauricio’s chance to show how he fits into the 2024 and beyond plans. Since going to the minors, Baty has gone 17-for-69 at the plate with two doubles and five homers during that 17 game stretch. We are hoping to see all four Baby Mets get a lot of playing time for the remainder of the season.
2. Daniel Vogelbach and playing time. Since August 12th Vogelbach has gone 13-44 at the plate with six homers and nine walks, leading to a .296/.426/.705 batting line. This includes a homer he hit on Wednesday night, also known as the DJ Stewart game. Going forward the best way to get all four Baby Mets into the lineup is for Vientos to DH. The younger players really should be getting the bulk of the playing time for the rest of the season. We are curious to see how Buck Showalter manages this for the next few weeks.
3. Dominic Leone. Dominic Leone is now a Mariner after the Angels waiver wire sale yesterday. Leone has had a crazy 2023. He was signed by the Rangers during Spring Training and released at the end of March. A week later he resigned with the Rangers and was released at the start of May. He then signed with the Mets and was traded to the Angels for Jeremiah Jackson (who has been doing well in the Mets system). The Angels then fell apart after becoming buyers at the deadline and put players who would be free agents after the season on the waiver wire to save money. What a weird season for Leone.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Rangers look to complete the three game sweep of the Mets tonight at Citi Field. The Mets have been competitive in both games this series but their bats have just not come through. The Mets are sole holders of last place and now have lost seven of their last ten games, putting that little run from two weeks ago deep in the rear view mirror.

Denyi Reyes will get the spot start for the Mets tonight. The start comes as the Mets begin to ramp down Kodai Senga’s work load for the 2023 season. Reyes has pitched seven games for the Mets season, totaling 12 innings with a 7.50 ERA, 5.43 FIP, 1.917 WHIP and a 57 ERA+. His two starts this season have come on double header days for the Mets. Back on May 1st he allowed five runs from five hits and a walk in one inning of work against Atlanta. A couple of weeks ago on August 12th he allowed five runs from eight hits and four walk over 4 2/3 innings. The Mets have received solid starts this week from Peterson, Megil and Quintana on back-to-back-to-back days. That with the off-day tomorrow means the Mets an absorb a rough start if it happens this evening.

Dane Dunning has pitched 136 2/3 innings over 28 games (20 starts) this season with a 3.36 ERA, 4.11 FIP, 1.207 WHIP and a 130 ERA+. The bulk of his work this season (116 1/3 innings) has come as a starter where he has a 3.64 ERA. In his last two starts he’s allowed seven runs from 12 hits and seven walks over nine innings (7.00 ERA, 6.60 FIP). The Mets have only three players on the roster who have seen Dunning before in an official game:

• Francisco Lindor 1-3, K
• DJ Stewart 0-3
• Jonathan Araúz 1-3

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Mark Vientos. Mark Vientos returned from the injured list on August 27th. In his first two games he went 0-for-6 at the plate, but had a couple of hard hit outs. Last night he went 2-for-4 with his third homer of the season, his first since July 29th. The Mets offense is in desperate need for someone to get hot right now.
2. Strikeouts. We’ve talked about this for a few days in a row now. The Mets at-bats as a collective haven’t been great since the start of last weekend. In their last five games they’ve struck out 11, 10, 11, 13 and 11 times. Last night Alonso, Álvarez, Vientos and Araúz each had two. You can have two strikeouts in a game and still have a good game (for example, Mark Vientos), but when so many players are mired in a slump it is difficult to get momentum going.
3. Sean Reid-Foley. Sean last pitched on Monday night and he’s looked good since returning to the Mets. In 3 1/3 innings he has allowed a hit, a walk and nothing else while striking out five batters. You may have missed him on the mound because thanks to the pitchcom, he no longer has his signature, bird-of-prey style hunch over the mound before he pitches. He will be arbitration eligible for the first time next season.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to rebound from a disappointing loss to the Rangers last night. Yesterday the Mets got one of the best Megill starts this season, but the bats couldn’t create enough separation and the bullpen slowly fell apart over three innings. Now the Mets have José Quintana on the mound tonight. Can the team fire on all cylinders again?

José Quintana has pitched 41 innings over seven starts for the Mets with a 3.73 ERA, 3.37 FIP, 1.390 WHIP and a 112 ERA+. His last start against the Braves was his first rough start of the season where he allowed five runs from nine hits over 5 1/3 innings. Before that he had a 3.03 ERA over six starts. The Rangers have the following career numbers against him:

• Robbie Grossman 8-27, 3 2B, 6 K, 3 BB
• Marcus Semien 6-13, 3 2B, 3 K
• Corey Seager 2-7, 2B, 3 K, 2 BB
• Adolis García 1-5, 2 K
• Nathaniel Lowe 0-4, 2 K, BB
• Austin Hedges 4-6, BB
• Jonah Heim 0-2
• Travis Jankowski 1-2, K

The Mets bats will try to break out of their collective slump against Andrew Heaney tonight. Heaney has spent the vast majority of his career with the Angels after debuting with the Marlins in 2014. Since 2021 he has spent time with the Angels, Yankees, Dodgers and now Rangers. He’s starting to become an “Immaculate Grid” super player. Anyway over 122 1/3 innings this season Heaney has a 4.34 ERA, 4.93 FIP, 1.357 WHIP and a 100 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed six runs from 14 hits over eight innings (6.75 ERA, 6.90 FIP). The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Daniel Vogelbach 1-5, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 2-5, 2B
• Brandon Nimmo 2-3, K
• Pete Alonso 0-3, 3 K
• DJ Stewart 1-1
• Jeff McNeil 1-2

Three Things To Watch Out For:

1. Strikeouts, again. Over the weekend the Mets racked up 32 strikeouts, with 11 Friday night, 10 Saturday and 11 on Sunday afternoon. Yesterday they had 13 as a team including three each for Pete Alonso and Daniel Vogelbach. This has happened before where the offense has struggled to score more than three runs per game and it coincided with a streak of games with the Mets having double digit strikeout totals.
2. DJ Stewart. Stewart has continued to just crush baseballs and get better defensively every game he starts with the Mets. Since August 15th he has hit 15-for41 with three doubles and six homers, turning in a batting line of .366/.409/.878. He is absolutely making the most of his extended audition in the outfield and has become one of the more interesting stories for the end of the year. He has a chance to become just the seventh Met to hit double digit homers on the season, behind Tommy Pham at 10 (now a Diamondback) and Daniel Vogelbach at 12.
3. Brandon Nimmo looked more like himself last night. From August 22nd to the 27th Nimmo went 0-for-20 at the plate with one walk and eight strikeouts, very unlike him. Last night he went 1-for-3 with a home run, a walk and a strikeout. The strikeout was his first at bat and after that he started to look a lot more like the Brandon Nimmo that has powered the Mets offense. We are looking for him to continue that trend tonight.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets survived the weekend thanks to an amazing start yesterday by David Peterson and now welcome the Texas Rangers to the ballpark for a three game set. The Rangers traded for Max Scherzer at the deadline to bolster their rotation and prepare for a deep playoff run. They were in first place for over 100 days this season until the Mariners took over yesterday. The Rangers have only won one of their last ten games. This is just not where you expected the Rangers to be about a month ago. The good news for the Rangers is there are still a month left of games to play and they face the Mets this week.

Tylor Megill has pitched 91 1/3 innings over 19 starts this season with a 5.54 ERA, 5.29 FIP, 1.725 WHIP and a 75 ERA+. In his last two starts he’s allowed five runs from 13 hits and six walks over 9 2/3 innings, leading a 4.66 ERA and 7.10 FIP. Megill has struggled to go deep into games since returning to the rotation due to the sheer amount of hits he gives up. The Rangers hitters have the following career numbers against him:

• Corey Seager 1-3, 2B, K
• Marcus Semien 0-3, K
• Austin Hedges 1-2, 2B
• Travis Jankowski 0-2, BB

The Mets bats will try to get going again, this time facing Jon Gray. Over 131 2/3 innings this season, Gray has a 3.76 ERA, 4.13 FIP, 1.230 WHIP and a 116 ERA+. He is coming off of a terrible start against the Diamondbacks where he allowed five runs over four innings. Before that he allowed one run over 14 innings across two starts while striking out 11. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 0-5, 2 K, BB
• Tim Locastro 1-5, K
• Francisco Lindor 0-3, K
• Brandon Nimmo 0-3, K
• Rafael Ortega 1-3, K
• Jeff McNeil 2-5, 2B, K
• Danny Mendick 0-2, K
• Omar Narváez 1-2, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The return of Max Scherzer. Max pitched on the 26th and will most likely not start against the Mets during this series. Max contributed a ton to the 2022 Mets, and is a big part of why that team won 101 games. Since leaving the Mets he’s looked more like the Max Scherzer we saw last season (there were signs pointing this way before he was traded) but also talked to the media a lot about how the trade process went down. I’m curious to see if his comments have fired up the Mets to really put on their best showing over the next few days.
2. The Mets are striking out a lot right now. Strikeouts have been the sign for the when the Mets bats are collectively slumping. Friday night the team had 11 strikeouts. Saturday they improved to 10 strikeouts. Yesterday they were back to 11. We’ll know the Mets bats are really coming out of this funk when these numbers start to take a dive.
3. The bullpen got the rest they needed. Since the trade deadline, the stretch between Carrasco, Peterson and Megill has been pretty tough on the bullpen. Peterson had a brilliant start yesterday and tossed seven innings, so the Mets were able to go to Drew Smith and Ottavino, both who pitched on Saturday, to finish out the game. This now means that Gott and Coonrod have two days rest for tonight. Raley, Bickford and Reid-Foley are each one day’s rest. Plus they brought back Jeff Brigham yesterday. The pen is good to go!

Let’s Go Mets!