213 Miles From Shea

The Mets snapped their four game losing streak last night. Was it due to the giant Brandon Nimmo gnome that appeared in the dugout? Was it due to Joey Lucchesi’s churve? What about Brett Baty’s breakout game where he got on base four times including a homer? Whatever the reason, the Mets were able to hold off the Nationals who got back into the game multiple times with a 9-8 win. Now the Mets will take this new found momentum into an important early season meeting with the Braves.

The Mets need David Peterson to come back to the version we saw in spring training. In his first five starts this season Peterson has pitched 25 2/3 innings with a 7.36 ERA, 5.61 FIP, 1.636 WHIP and a 56 ERA+. He has already allowed seven homers this year, and his previous season high was 11 which he hit in each of the last two seasons. His last two starts in particular have been dreadful, allowing 13 runs from 14 hits and a walk over 11 innings. Five of those 14 hits were homers. On the positive side, he did strike out 14 batters in that stretch. Peterson was effective against the Braves last season facing them four times, three starts, totaling 16 1/3 innings with a 2.76 ERA and 22 strikeouts. The Braves have the following numbers against Peterson:

• Ronald Acuña Jr. 2-12, 2B, HR, 5 BB, 4 K
• Austin Riley 8-16, 3 2B, BB, 3 K
• Travis d’Arnaud 0-10, 2 BB, 5 K
• Marcell Ozuna 0-12, BB, 6 K
• Ozzie Albies 2-10
• Matt Olson 2-8, 2 HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• Orlando Arcia 0-3, BB, K

The Mets bats will have to contend with Max Fried tonight. In his first three starts of the year, Fried has allowed only one run from 11 hits and three walks over 15 innings of work. Fried has been working back from an injury that cut his first start of the season against the Nationals short to 3 1/3 innings. He returned to the rotation on April 17th and tossed 79 pitches. He was fully back against the Braves, throwing 107 pitches over 6 2/3 innings. Fried faced the Mets a lot last year and was quite good. Over five starts and 29 innings, Fried allowed 11 runs, 9 earned, from 23 hits and 6 walks (2.79 ERA) while striking out 25 batters. The Mets have the following numbers against Fried:

• Pete Alonso 9-32, 2B, 2 HR, 5 BB, 11 K
• Brandon Nimmo 3-23, 2 2B, 4 BB, 9 K
• Jeff McNeil 10-27, 3 2B, 5 K
• Francisco Lindor 3-23, HR, 5 K
• Starling Marte 4-16, 2 2B, BB, 3 K
• Eduardo Escobar 4-16, 4 K
• Mark Canha 4-12, 2B, 2 HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• Luis Guillorme 4-11, 2 2B, BB, 2 K
• Tomás Nido 3-12, 2 2B, K
• Tommy Pham 2-10, 2 BB, 2 K
• Daniel Vogelbach 0-3, K
• Francisco Álvarez 0-2
• Brett Baty 1-2

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Brett Baty is here! Brett Baty had a breakout game last night, going 3-for-3 at the plate with a homer and a walk. Over his last five games he has gone 7-for-15 and a batting line of .467/.529/.733. This is the reason why he was called up! Is this the spark the Mets need right now to have a great weekend against the Braves?
2. The rain and the bullpen: There’s a good chance that the Mets bullpen sees some rearranging this weekend (if it hasn’t already happened by the time you read this article). With the rain in the forecast tonight and tomorrow, there is the possibility that someone starts a game and leaves early due to weather. Drew Smith is the only person who has pitched in the last three days. Tommy Hunter has thrown 46 pitches in the last three. Jimmy Yacabonis tossed 45 pitches on Tuesday, he’s probably available tonight. Jeff Brigham had a long relief outing on Wednesday and has thrown 74 pitches in the last five days. The Mets already recalled Denyi Reyes with Adam Ottavino on the paternity list. Mother nature could become an X-factor this weekend.
3. Francisco Lindor’s big night: Francisco Lindor is the engine of the Mets offense. When Lindor is on, his energy is contagious and is picked up by other players on the field. He had a huge night last night collecting two doubles and three RBI’s. Lindor’s success tonight can be the push the Mets need to get multiple bats hot.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets need a win tonight in the worst way. Last night the Mets lost the series to the Nationals and their fourth game in a row, the first time since 2021 they’ve lost four games in a row. A win today prevents the sleep and can help the team get it’s swagger back. The last several games have felt lackluster.

Like everything in baseball, it all starts with one game. The Mets home opener this year came right after the Mets got swept in dramatic fashion by the Brewers. it was an ugly series in every way possible for the Mets. The Mets were able to regroup and go 4-2 at home. They then swept the Athletics and then went 2-1 against the Dodgers. It all starts with one game. Here’s hoping that’s today!

Joey Lucchesi played Mets hero in first start of the season. He allowed no runs from four hits and two walks while struck out nine batters over seven innings. It was the longest start by a starter this season for the Mets (which highlight’s the current rotation issues the team has). Lucchesi started to turn around his season in 2021 with a string of successful starts before a season ended injury. He required Tommy John surgery and missed all of last season. He now finds himself in an interesting situation. With Scherzer and Verlander due back next week, if Lucchesi has another strong start in the rotation he could end up pushing another starter out. A few players on the Nationals roster have seen Lucchesi before:

• Victor Robles 4-8, 2B, HR, 2 K
• Corey Dickerson 0-3
• Carter Kieboom 1-2

The Mets get to see an unsung hero from last year’s team – Trevor Williams. Williams pitched in 30 games, including nine starts for the 2022 Mets with a 3.21 ERA, 3.88 FIP, 1.227 WHIP and 120 ERA+. As a member of the Nationals this season he has made four starts pitching 21 1/3 innings with a 3.38 ERA, 4.65 FIP, 1.087 WHIP and a 124 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed only three runs over 11 innings (2.45 ERA, 4.52 FIP). Further, Williams is pretty stretched out now, tossing at least 93 pitches in three of his four starts this season. The Mets have the following career numbers against Trevor:

• Tommy Pham 3-13, 2 2B, HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• Jeff McNeil 2-7, 2B, 2 BB, 2 K
• Pete Alonso 2-7, 2B, HR, BB, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 1-8, 2 K
• Eduardo Escobar 2-5, 2B
• Brandon Nimmo 0-4, 3 K
• Luis Guillorme 0-3
• Daniel Vogelbach 0-0, BB

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Pete cannot carry the team by himself. The past four games have shown that the Mets offense needs another player to step up as a run producer besides Pete Alonso. Alonso cannot carry the team all by himself. In the four losses, Alonso is hitless in 16 trips to the plate with no walks and six strikeouts. In the 14 games before that, Alonso was hitting .339/.413/.714. Those are fantastic numbers for Alonso but also hot streak numbers. Cold streaks happen. As we saw last night the Mets can still get on base in a cold streak, but who is going to knock them in?
2. Jeff McHits: Over the last six games McNeil has gone 10-for-22 at the plate with a homer leading to a .455/.539/.591 batting line. There has not been a strong correlation yet between his hot streak and the Mets winning games. McNeil, who has been on base a total of 14 times over the last six games has only scored five times. The Mets bats need to take advantage of this streak McNeil is on right now.
3. Eduardo Escobar has been better recently then we all probably think. Brett Baty should be playing every day. That being said, the Mets need to find another way to get Escobar in the lineup because he is starting to heat up. In the last five games he’s played in, dating back to the Oakland series, Escobar is 5-for-18 with a double, triple and a homer and has scored four times (.278/.316/.611). He has also struck out only three times and grounded into one double play during this stretch. Before this stretch of five games, Escobar was hitting .103/.143/.205.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets will try to snap a three game losing streak tonight as they take on the Nationals for game two of the series. Last night the Mets looked flat and un-Mets-like. They were swinging at pitches way out of the zone, not working counts and made several defensive mistakes (like big mistakes) in the field. The whole night felt off.

Hopefully the Mets got a fully night of sleep and are fully adjusted so they can get back on the winning path today against MacKenzie Gore and Dominic Smith.

Kodai Senga makes his fifth start tonight. The hope is that the extra rest he got with the off-day brings back the Senga we saw earlier this season. Over his four starts and 21 innings he has a 4.29 ERA, 6.04 FIP, 1.524 WHIP and a 97 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed eight runs over 9 2/3 innings from 12 hits and eight walks while striking out 11 batters. Further, the home run ball has been hitting him a bit more recently as he has allowed five in his three starts, with two per game in his last two.

The Mets bats will go from one highly touted young player in Josiah Gray to another in MacKenzie Gore. In four starts and 21 innings this season, Gore has a 3.43 ERA, 4.18 FIP, 1.381 WHIP and a 121 ERA+. His last two starts were a bit rougher than his first two, allowing five runs from seven hits and five walks over 9 2/3 innings (4.66 ERA). Gore did not face the Mets last season and the only Met who has seen him in a major league game is Tommy Pham who is 2-for-5 with three strikeouts against him.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. How do the Mets look out of the gate? It was apparent in the bottom of the first inning that something looked off about the Mets yesterday. Brandon Nimmo, who usually works a long first at bat, struck out swinging. Marte and Lindor quickly followed. The Mets added two more strikeouts in the bottom of the second. By the end of the game they struck out a combined 13 times. I personally will feel a giant wave of relief in the bottom of the first today if the Mets are able to work counts and make Gore toss a few extra pitches.
2. Let the kids play! Brett Baty is 5-for-16 in his last four games with a double (.313/.313/.375). Francisco Álvarez is 4-for-15 in his last four games with a homer (.267/.267/.467). These aren’t batting lines that are going to blow anyone away however there have been signs over the last four games they each played that both players are starting to turn a corner.
3. The Mets are no longer HBP leaders! For the first time in what feels like forever, the Mets are no longer hit by pitch leaders. The Mets are tied with the Rays with 17 plunks. Both teams trail the Angels who have been hit 18 times. This is not a category the Mets want to lead in, although their roster is constructed to lead.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets finally return home! While the last two games were disappointing, the Mets went 7-3 on a ten game road trip and took two of three games from the Dodgers. After the Mets 3-4 start to the season they have won or split all five of their last five series. After spring training and a road trip to start the year, the Mets were only home for six games before they went out west for a California adventure. We are hoping the Mets look fresh and rested after the off-day as they welcome the Nationals to Citi Field for the first time season.

Today’s game should have involved the former National Max Scherzer getting the start against the player he was traded for Josiah Gray. As you know by now, Max’s hands were too sticky according to Umpire Phil Cuzzi, leading to Max’s ejection in his last start. The Mets asked Max not to appeal the suspension, because the Mets would have been at risk of losing a roster spot if the suspension was upheld. Instead we get José Butto!

You may be thinking “Hey! I thought José Butto wasn’t eligible yet because the Mets just sent him down after a spot start last week. You would be correct except the Mets moved Edwin Uceta to Injured List, which allows the team to recall Butto. Is this a phantom injury? I’m not really sure!

José Butto made a spot start for the Mets against the Athletics on April 16th. Butto did well, allowing only one run over five innings from five hits and four walks while striking out two. Butto has not pitched in a game since being sent down. Overall he’s allowed two runs from six hits and 9 2/3 innings for Syracuse this season.

Josiah Gray has pitched 21 2/3 innings with a 3.74 ERA, 5.77 FIP, 1.477 WHIP and a 111 ERA+. In his first start of the season against the Braves he allowed five runs from seven hits and two walks over over five innings, including three homers. Since then he has allowed only four runs over 16 2/3 innings (2.16 ERA, 4.28 FIP) and only one homer. That only one homer in his last three starts is huge. His major weak point in his game since his call-up was homers. He gave up a league leading 38 last year. Last year he allowed 2.3 HR/9, down to 1.7 HR/9 this season with most of that happening in the first game. Last season the Mets tagged Gray for 10 runs in nine innings over two starts from 14 hits and six walks. The Mets have the following career numbers against Gray:

• Pete Alonso 3-6, 2B, HR, BB, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 0-5, 2 BB, 2 K
• Jeff McNeil 4-6, 2B, HR
• Starling Marte 1-6
• Brandon Nimmo 3-6, 2B, K
• Mark Canha 1-3, BB, K
• Eduardo Escobar 2-3, 2B, HR
• Tomás Nido 1-3
• Tommy Pham 1-2, HR, BB, K
• Daniel Vogelbach 0-1, 2 BB

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Mets complete the deconstructed 2023 cookie club tour. The 2019 Mets had a cookie club that ordered late night cookies after games and was just the heartwarming story we all needed. Members included current Mets Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo and former Mets J.D. Davis, Michael Conforto and Dominic Smith. The Mets just finished a four game series against the Giants where we got to visit with Davis and Conforto. Tonight the Mets welcome the last, and certainly not least, member back to Citi Field. Dominic Smith played for the Mets for six seasons. At times he flashed the potential that he still has! Other times he looked lost at the plate. This year he’s slashing .233/.325/.233 – the power isn’t there yet, but he’s getting on base a clip better than his career numbers. This is as good a time as ever to remember Dominic’s best hit as a Met. He spent the last two months of the cookie club season on the injured list with a fracture in his left foot. In the last game of the season, Smith was given a chance to take an at bat with the Mets down two in the bottom of the 11th. The rest is pure Mets lore.
2. Gray and Walks: Gray led the league in walks last year with 66. So far this year he has walked nine batters. That’s good for a 3.7 BB/9 rate, just a slight drop from last year’s 4.0 BB/9 rate. The Mets are one of the best teams at working the count and getting the free pass. Watch for the “walk and blast” game plan tonight.
3. Francisco Lindor’s Good Start: Pete Alonso has been getting a ton of attention with his homers. Brandon Nimmo has been getting attention for his other-wordly start. Lindor is quietly putting together a strong campaign too. Boosted by 11 walks, Lindor has a .333 OBP and a .465 slugging (thanks to his four homers and nine doubles). All of this has led to a 121 OPS+ for the Mets superstar.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets finally end their long, west coast trip tonight as they take on the Giants one more time on ESPN. For the Mets, winning tonight determine whether they finish this road trip 8-2 or 7-3. It also determines if they will win their fifth consecutive series of the season. The only other time the Mets have won eight games on a road trip to the West Coast was in 1986 when the Mets went 8-1 out west. While the percentage is an impossible feat for the Mets to match right now, they could tie the win total!

Tylor Megill has made four starts and pitched 21 innings for the Mets this year with a 3.00 ERA, 5.79 FIP, 1.429 WHIP and a 138 ERA+. In his last start he allowed three runs from seven hits (two homers) over five innings against the Dodgers, pickin gup his first loss of the season. Between the seven hits and the four walks, Megill was just slightly off in that game. Megill faced the Giants once last ear and they were able to get four runs over six innings from seven hits and two walks. The Giants have the following career numbers against Megill:

• Brandon Crawford 1-8, 2 K
• Joc Pederson 1-7, HR, BB, K
• Mike Yastrzemski 2-6, HR, BB
• Wilmer Flores 2-5, 2B, BB, K
• LaMonte Wade Jr. 3-6, 2B, HR
• Joey Bart 0-3, 2 K
• Thairo Estrada 1-3, K
• Darin Ruf 1-1

Ross Stripling returns to the rotation for the Giants this evening! Ross signed with the Giants this year to fortify their rotation and struggled out of the gate. The Giants pivoted by putting him in the bullpen and now after a good outing he’s on his way back to the rotation.

On the season he has pitched in four games, one start, totaling 12 1/3 innings with a 7.30 ERA, 8.79 FIP, 1.459 WHIP and a 61 ERA+. Most of his negative stats coming his first two outings. He allowed four runs over five innings against the Yankees, including three homers, to start the season. He he allowed four runs, including two homers, in 1 2/3 innings of relief against the Royals. Since then he has allowed two runs over 5 2/3 innings while striking out nine batters. The Mets have the following career numbers against Ross:

• Eduardo Escobar 2-13, 2B, 2 BB, 2 K
• Tommy Pham 0-13, BB, 2 K
• Starling Marte 2-8, 2 BB, K
• Pete Alonso 1-3, 2B, K
• Luis Guillorme 1-2, K
• Brandon Nimmo 0-2, 2 K
• Daniel Vogelbach 0-2
• Mark Canha 0-1
• Francisco Lindor 0-1

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Brett Baty: I usually write the segment hours before the Mets release their lineup for the game. It’s always a risk including the Mets young stars here because of how the Mets have been playing them (really not playing them) since they’ve been called up. Baty had his first multi-hit game of the season yesterday going 2-for-4, scoring a run and knocking one in as well. In his last two games, on back to back days, he’s gone 3-for-9 with three strikeouts. Is the start of something?
2. The Bullpen Savior: After Peterson’s rough start yesterday Edwin Uceta made his Mets debut. He tossed 51 pitches over three scoreless and hitless innings to close out the game. First off, what a strong outing by a young player in their first game for the Mets organization. Second, he saved the rest of the bullpen giving everyone the day off. The Mets finally have a day off tomorrow as well so players are getting some much needed rest. Drew Smith and Jeff Brigham enter tonight’s game on two day’s rest. Adam Ottavino, David Robertson and Jimmy Yacabonis enter tonight’s game with three days of rest!
3. Brandon Nimmo’s Excellent Road Trip: Over nine games during this road trip Nimmo has hit four doubles and two homers among his 19 total hits! He’s hitting .487/.535/.744. He’s not just one of the best hitters on the Mets, he’s one of the best hitters in the league this season!

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets go for their fifth series win in a row tonight as they attempt to extend their winning streak to four games. Last night was just an excellent night all around for the Mets. Joey Lucchesi returned to major league baseball for the first time in nearly two years and had one of the best starts of his career (and arguably the best start by any Met this season) holding the Giants scoreless over seven innings while striking out nine batters. Pete Alonso continued his current tear with his major league leading 10th homer of the season.

Tonight David Peterson gets an important start. With Scherzer out on suspension and Justin Verlander still about two weeks away, the Mets need David Peterson to show that same brilliance he has at various points in his career.

On the season David Peterson has made four starts pitching 20 2/3 innings with a 6.10 ERA, 5.52 FIP, 1.645 WHIP and a 68 ERA+. This season Peterson has been alternating between good starts and not-so-good starts. His last time out he allowed six runs from three homers over six innings against the Dodgers. Before that he kept the Padres to only two runs over 5 2/3 innings. Peterson made a solid start in San Francisco last year holding the Giants to two runs from three hits (one homer) in six innings of work while striking out six. The Giants have the following career numbers against him:

• Thairo Estrada 1-4, 2 K
• Wilmer Flores 0-2
• Darin Ruf 0-2, BB
• Mike Yastrzemski 0-3, K
• Joey Bart 1-2, K
• Brandon Crawford 1-2, HR

Wins and losses as a stat are imperfect, and because they are imperfect they can tell you something about luck. Logan Webb has been fairly unlucky on top of not being his normal self this season. He’s 0-4 in four starts over 23 2/3 innings with a 4.94 ERA, 4.23 FIP, 1.225 WHIP and an 89 ERA+. In all four starts he has allowed four runs, and in three of those starts the four runs have been earned. Webb had two different starts against the Mets last season. In New York he allowed three runs from three walks and six hits over 3 2/3 innings. In San Francisco he lasted five innings, allowing two runs from from five hits and a walk. The Mets have the following numbers against Webb:

• Eduardo Escobar 4-13, 2B, 4 K
• Mark Canha 4-9, 2 HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• Brandon Nimmo 0-8, BB, 3 K
• Pete Alonso 1-8, HR, BB, 3 K
• Starling Marte 3-8, K
• Jeff McNeil 1-6, 2B, BB
• Francisco Lindor 2-4, 2B, K
• Tommy Pham 0-5, K
• Tomás Nido 1-4
• Daniel Vogelbach 1-3
• Luis Guillorme 1-1, BB

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Logan Webb and homers: Logan Webb’s major weakness this year has been homers. He’s allowed five of them through four starts this season. That’s an early season 1.9 HR/9 inning rate, compared to his career stat of 0.7 HR/9. The Mets on this away trip have been home run happy (mainly Pete Alonso). Can the Mets exploit this today?
2. David Peterson and homers: Peterson is going through something similar. He’s giving up homers at a rate of 2.2 HR/9 where he is normally at 1.2 HR/9. The difference is three of the five homers that Peterson gave up all happened in the same game where Webb has allowed two homers in the same start twice already. Peterson’s H/9 is also way up this season to 11.3, his previous career high was 8.6 H/9.
3. A rested back of the bullpen: Thanks to the Mets bats the Mets have been able to give David Robertson and Adam Ottavino the last two days off. Brooks Raley has been a big part of this pitching on back to back days, and only throwing 20 pitches in the process.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets took the series Openers against the San Francisco Mets Giants last night thanks to their bats! Pete Alonso hit a major league leading 9th homer of the year. It was Pete’s 155th of his career, passing Dave Kingman on the all-time list. Overall the Mets had 13 hits on the night with Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo collecting three hits each.

Carlos Carrasco was the originally scheduled pitcher for tonight. He landed on the IL earlier in the week due to bone spurs so tonight we’ll finally see the return of Joey Luccchesi and his majestic churve pitch!

Joey last pitched for the Mets in 2021 where he tossed 38 1/3 innings over 11 games with a 4.46 ERA, 3.40 FIP, 1.174 WHIP, and a 90 ERA+. In his last five starts for the Mets he tossed 22 2/3 innings with a 1.19 ERA and 2.99 FIP. The churve was in! Lucchesi was even pitching into the 6th inning at this point! But then Joey had a major UCL tear and needed Tommy John. In eight rehab games last year he tossed 12 2/3 innings with a 2.13 ERA. In three games in Syracuse this year he’s pitched 15 2/3 innings with a 2.30 ERA and 1.149 WHIP. As a former Padre, there are a few Giants who have seen Lucchesi before:

• Brandon Crawford 1-8, BB, 3 K
• Wilmer Flores 1-6, K
• Austin Slater 1-6, HR, 3 K
• Michael Conforto 2-2
• Joc Pederson 0-1

The Mets look to continue their hit parade tonight against Anthony DeSclafani. Anthony is off to a strong start this season allowing four runs, only three earned, over 19 innings and three starts. He has a 1.42 ERA, 2.34 FIP, 0.632 WHIP (league leading) and a 313 ERA+. This is because Anthony has not walked a single batter this year. He faced the Mets once last year and allowed five runs from nine hits and a walk over five innings. He injured his ankle after that game that kept him out until June, and eventually needed surgery which knocked him out for the rest of the season. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Starling Marte 3-23, 2 BB, 6 K
• Eduardo Escobar 2-13, 2B, HR, 3 BB, 4 K
• Francisco Lindor 8-15, 2B, 3 HR, K
• Tommy Pham 4-11, BB, 2 K
• Pete Alonso 3-10, 3 K
• Jeff McNeil 2-9, 2 2B, 3 K
• Brandon Nimmo 0-8, 2 K
• Tim Locastro 0-3
• Mark Canha 2-3

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The return of the churve! Joey Lucchesi throws a pitch that is not quite a changeup and not quite a curveball. The somewhere in-between pitch, the churve, is his specialty. When he’s mowing down a lineup, it’s probably because his churve is working. Here’s an interesting article about it, how he throws it differently to different batters how inconsistent the metrics of the pitch are. Specifically take a look at how the spin of the ball is dramatically different from 2019 to 2020.
2. Walks or No Walks? Anthony DeSclafani has not allowed any walks in the majors this year. The Mets are the number two teams in walks, taking 96 free passes this season (one behind the Dodgers, and nine ahead of the Orioles). One of these two trends will continue tonight.
3. Mets Stat Leaders: Pete Alonso is leading the league in homers and tied for fourth with 17 runs scored. Brandon Nimmo is tied for fourth in the league with 15 walks and second in the league with an absurd .488 OBP. Francisco Lindor is tied for fourth in doubles with eight. The Mets offense has started to come alive this road trip and is picking up the starting pitching struggles.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets head into San Francisco winners of their last four series including the Padres and the Dodgers. Yesterday was just a strange day for the Mets. Without getting too into it, Max Scherzer was ejected for rosin before the fourth inning, leaving the Mets with six innings to go and a tied game. The Mets bullpen did an excellent job limiting the Dodgers offense and the Mets bats behind Brandon Nimmo’s 5-for-5 day at the plate got the Mets the lead and the win.

The Mets turn their attention to the Giants tonight as they start a four game set to close out their ten game road trip. Let’s keep the late-night coffee going for a few more days!

Kodai Senga makes his fourth start of the season and second west coast start tonight. Over his first three games and 16 innings of work he has a 3.38 ERA, 5.00 FIP, 1.438 WHIP and a 124 ERA+. The only knock in his game so far has been his control, working 10 walks but on the other hand he has 21 strikeouts already, good for a 2.10 K/BB ratio. The Athletics were able to take him deep twice in his last start, and tag Senga for four runs in 4 2/3 innings. Luckily the Mets bats decided to score 17 runs in that game so it didn’t matter.

The Mets bats will get a look at Sean Manaea. Manea pitched for the Athletics from 2016 to 2021. He was traded to the Padres in April of 2022 and this past off-season signed with the Giants. In three games and two starts this season he has pitched 11 1/3 innings with a 4.76 ERA, 4.63 FIP, 1.147 WHIP and a 93 ERA+. Manaea kicked off the season with a rough relief outing where he allowed three runs over two innings. He then had a great start against the Royals followed by a 3 1/3 inning outing against the Tigers. This is all to say it’s anyone guess which version of Manaea will pitch against the Mets tonight. Last year he held the Mets to two runs, one earned, over seven innings from three hits and three walks in San Diego. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

• Francisco Lindor 4-12, 2 2B, HR, K
• Eduardo Escobar 4-9, HR, BB, 2 K
• Tommy Pham 5-8, 2B< 2 HR< K
• Mark Canha 0-3
• Luis Guillorme 0-2, BB
• Jeff McNeil 2-3
• Brandon Nimmo 0-2, BB, 2 K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. West New York Mets? San Francisco Mets? The Giants lineup is filled with familiar faces. Wilmer Flores has been with the Giants for years and has become a key hitter in their lineup. J.D. Davis has just flourished at San Francisco, hitting eight homers in 49 games last season and four already this season (he had four with the Mets last year in 66 games). Darin Ruf went back to the Giants after getting released by the Mets this year. Finally, there’s Michael Conforto. Conforto, the Mets All-Star had seven great years with the Mets and missed all of last season due to an injury while training. He’s coming off of a game where he had go-ahead homer in extra-innings, while injured, to snap the Giants losing streak.
2. The road team is the rested team. Last week the Mets had an off-day before the start of their series with the Athletics. The Athletics had to fly across the country and immediately play the Mets. The Giants are doing the same exact thing, flying from an extra-inning game in Miami to take on the Mets in San Francisco. If the Mets score 17 runs tonight, there’s something to this!
3. Brandon Nimmo! Yesterday was the Brandon Nimmo game! He’s now hitting .349/.481/.476 on the season and .516/.571/.742 in his last seven games. His OBP is second in the national league and his OPS is now sixteenth. One interesting note, this is the first time in his career that his ground out to fly out ratio is below 1.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Dodgers were able to snap the Mets winning streak yesterday as the Mets offense fell silent. Now the Mets and Dodgers have a matinee rubber game matchup this afternoon. If the Mets win, they would clinch their fourth series victory in a row.

Last night the Mets announced that Carlos Carrasco was heading to the 15-day IL and that Verlander’s rehab schedule sets him to return near the beginning of May. So the Mets still have two more weeks of surviving a rotation that is patched together. That means there is even more pressure tonight on Max Scherzer who has battled velocity issues and soreness so far this season. He skipped his last scheduled start (Sunday) to rest up and be 100% for tonight’s game. The Mets really need Max Scherzer to be Max Scherzer today.

Over three starts and 16 1/3 innings this season, Max has a 4.41 ERA, 6.07 FIP, 1.224 WHIP and a 95 ERA+. His last start was on April 10th against the Padres where he held their explosive lineup to one hit and no runs while walking three over five innings of work. He wasn’t classic Max in that start – he labored through the whole thing – but it was a great rebound from his previous start where he allowed back to back to back homers against the Brewers. His pitch count became an issue early on and he used his grit and expertise to make sure most of the full counts batters got into turned into outs and not walks. Tonight will be Max’s first start against the Dodgers since he was a Dodger back in 2021. The Dodgers have the following career numbers against him:

• Freddie Freeman 11-47, 4 2B, 3 HR, 7 BB, 12 K
• Miguel Rojas 9-35, 3 2B, HR, 3 BB, 5 K
• David Peralta 6-20, 2 2B, 2 HR, 2 BB, 5 K
• Jason Heyward 5-17, 2B, 2 BB, 2 K
• Max Muncy 4-13, HR, 3 BB, 4 K
• Chris Taylor 2-12, 2B, 3B, BB, 7 K
• Mookie Betts 1-5, 2B, BB

Noah Syndgergaard will finally face the New York Mets! Syndergaard signed with the Angels before the 2022 season. Last season when the Mets and Angels matched up in Anaheim, the Angels manager gave Syndergaard two extra days of rest, moving him out of the series against the Mets. He then got traded to the Phillies in the middle of the season and got an extra day of rest again when the Phillies and Mets matched up. In the background of all of this was a bit of messy separation of the former Mets star and the organization.

Syndergaard has made three starts and pitched 16 innings with a 5.63 ERA, 4.37 FIP, 1.250 WHIP and an 80 ERA+. The numbers are a bit deceptive though. Syndergaard had a great start against the Diamondbacks to start the season, then a terrible start against the Diamondbacks the second time around. Last time out he gave the exact definition of a quality start – six innings, three runs – against the Chicago Cubs. The Mets have the following career numbers against Syndergaard:

• Tommy Pham 4-10, 2B, 2 K
• Starling Marte 0-8, 2 K
• Francisco Lindor 1-3, K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Both of the Mets top prospects will start at the same time! Brett Baty and Francisco Álvarez should both get starts today. They both played in last night’s game, getting pinch hits. Álvarez has had a lot of time on the bench since he was called up. Despite Nido’s hot spring, he’s been cold since the season started so it’s been frustrating to see Álvarez not get reps out in the field. I know this isn’t the reason why the Mets did this, but at least the first game both Baty and Álvarez will play in happens during the afternoon and not in the middle of the night for the Mets fan base.
2. Mookie at shortstop? Dave Roberts told reporters before yesterday’s game that he was thinking about using Mookie at short tonight. Mookie has been taking reps for a few days now at short. The last time Betts has played shortstop was in 2012 for the Lowell Spinners.
3. Jeff McNeil: Jeff McNeil has quietly rebounding from his first week or so of the season. He’s hitting .254/.382/.349 overall which isn’t tremendous, but the .382 is good for the second highest on the team behind Brandon Nimmo and ahead of Pete Alonso. He is still quite a bit behind his career batting average (.305) and his current 104 OPS+ is low Jeff, but this could all be due to his slow start to the season. In his last 10 games his stat line improves to .281/.452/.438.

Let’s Go Mets!

Late last night while New York was sleeping, the Mets and Dodgers played an action-packed back and forth affair with the Mets coming out on top and securing their fifth win in a row. Baty made his 2023 debut and made an impact with a late RBI. Vogelbach had three RBI’s including a two run homer.

Now the Mets have a chance tonight to take the series and win their sixth game in a row with Tylor Megill taking on longstanding Dodgers’ ace – Clayton Kershaw.

Wins are imperfect stat in baseball, however Tylor Megill could make me a believer again. He is 3-0 over his first three starts of the year where he has allowed four runs from 12 hits in 16 innings leading to a 2.25 ERA, 4.64 FIP, 1.188 WHIP and a 188 ERA+. Megill has only pitched one quality start in those three starts (six shutout innings against the Marlins on April 7th). The next step for Megill will be to consistently make it through the sixth inning. The Dodgers have the following career numbers against Megill:

• Freddie Freeman 4-8, 3 K
• Max Muncy 2-3, 2B
• David Peralta 0-3, K
• Miguel Rojas 1-3, K
• Will Smith 0-2, K
• Chris Taylor 1-2, K

Clayton Kershaw stands between the Mets and a series victory tonight. Over his first three starts and 18 innings this season he has a 3.50 ERA, 4.44 FIP, 1.111 WHIP and a 129 ERA+. His first start this season was his best, allowing one run over six innings. Since then he has allowed seven runs, six earned, over 12 innings of work. In his one start against the Mets last season he allowed only one run from one hit and three walks over five innings while striking out six Mets. The Mets have the following career numbers against Kershaw:

• Eduardo Escobar 4-22, 2 HR, BB, 5 K
• Starling Marte 4-19, BB, 7 K
• Tommy Pham 1-14, BB, 5 K
• Mark Canha 3-10, BB, 3 K
• Pete Alonso 1-4, 2 BB
• Francisco Lindor 1-5, K
• Jeff McNeil 0-5
• Brandon Nimmo 0-5, 3 K
• Tomás Nido 1-3, K

Three Things To Watch:

1. Brandon Nimmo’s Glove! Brandon Nimmo has played hero the last two games for the Mets. On Sunday he made multiple, game saving catches to keep the Mets in the game. Yesterday he ran down a ball in the gap in the ninth inning. It feels like centuries ago that Mets fans were having debates about whether the Mets could really trust Nimmo in center.
2. The bats are heating up! Yesterday the Mets collected 14 hits, including three players getting three hits each. Nimmo, Alonso and McNeil each went 3-5 at the plate (McNeil even collected three doubles!). Similar to this past weekend with walks, the goal is to actually score runs. Yesterday the Mets were able to convert 14 hits and three walks into eight runs. This is the way!
3. It had to be Freddie Freeman. Freddie Freeman gave the Dodgers the early lead last night with a solo homer. In 195 games against the Mets, Freeman is .302/.386/.492 hitter with 28 homers. Surprisingly, this matches his career OBP exactly and is slightly less than his career slugging (.508). That being said, it always feels like Freeman is the greatest hitter on Earth when he plays the Mets.

Let’s Go Mets!