213 Miles From Shea

The Mets need a win tonight in the worse way. They just got swept by the Tigers and now have lost nine of their last eleven games. The starting pitching has been off, the offense has gone missing. The bullpen has kept them in games, but using the bullpen so much is a ticking time bomb for a breakdown at some point.

Getting out of a rut in baseball starts with a hit, then a good inning, then a good game. The Mets will attempt to do all three of those things tonight as they welcome the Rockies into town.

Kodai Senga returns to the mound after an extended period of rest. In five starts and 26 innings this year he has a 4.15 ERA, 5.48 FIP, 1.577 WHIP and a 103 ERA+. He has a solid strikeout rate, striking out 11.1 batters per nine innings. The problem has been both control and batters taking a lot of balls. It’s resulted in a 1.78 K/BB ratio. After giving up four earned runs in back to back starts he only allowed two runs over five innings against the Nationals his last time out. Further, his last start against the Nationals was the first time in three starts that he didn’t allow any homers.

The Rockies are sending out Antonio Senzatela tonight who is making his 2023 debut. He tore his ACL last August and has been on the injured list since. In 19 starts last season he pitched 92 1/3 innings with a 5.07 ERA, 4.05 FIP, 1.690 WHIP and a 92 ERA+. His two minor league rehab starts have been quite different. On April 25th he allowed only one run from five hits over 3 1/3 innings. Then his last time out on the 30th he allowed nine runs, six earned, from eight hits in three innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Eduardo Escobar 9-32, 3B, HR, 2 K
• Tommy Pham 6-13, 2 2B, 2 BB
• Starling Marte 7-11, 2B, HR
• Francisco Lindor 2-11, HR, 3 K
• Pete Alonso 4-9, 2B, K
• Jeff McNeil 2-9, HR
• Mark Canha 0-4, BB, 2 K
• Brandon Nimmo 1-6, HR, 2 K
• Daniel Vogelbach 0-6

Three Things To Watch For:

1. The vibes and the crowd. The Mets are coming off of a pretty terrible week. The vibes in the clubhouse are off right now because that’s what losing a bunch of games in a row does. Mets fans have been known to let the team hear it when they are disappointed with the level of play. It would be just great for everyone involved if the Mets can get some runs early and if Kodai Senga has a quality start. This is an opportunity for a vibes reset!
2. Finding Nimmo. The Mets need their lead-off hitter to come back to form. In his last ten games he his 7-for-40 and hitting .175/.209/.250. However the more unlike Nimmo part of this stretch is his 15 strikeouts (he only has 24 on the season!). He got a hit in the ninth yesterday which could have been the start of the rally, but then got caught stealing second.
3. Tommy Pham: From April 17th to May 1st, Tommy Pham had 0 hits in 19 trips to the plate (he did have three walks though!). In his last two games he is 4-for-7 with a double and a homer. If the Mets are looking to shake up the roster in the next couple of weeks, Pham’s spot is not guaranteed. The last two games are only the third time this season where Pham has recorded hits in back-to-back games. Let’s see if this is the start of something!

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets lost both games of yesterday’s doubleheader and now have lost eight of their last ten games. The mood around the team is absolutely brutal right now. The starting pitching didn’t give the Mets a chance in both games of their doubleheader yesterday. While the Mets were able to mount a comeback in the first game, which they eventually lost, the team just looked lost in the night cap.

But today is a big day for the Mets. Justin Verlander will finally make his 2023 Mets debut. One starting pitcher won’t magically make the Mets better right now, but they need something positive to start creating some momentum.

Justin Verlander is coming off of a Cy Young award winning season where he pitched 175 innings with a 1.75 ERA, 2.49 FIP, 0.829 WHIP and a 223 ERA+. He lead the league last season in wins, ERA, ERA+, WHIP and H/9. In his rehab start last week he allowed no runs from two hits and walk while striking out six over 4 2/3 innings. He tossed 69 pitches in the game. It’s unclear right now how deep into the game he can go, but right now I’ll take 70, effective Verlander pitches. The Tigers have the following career numbers against him:

• Jonathan Schoop 5-21, 2 2B, 3 HR, 5 K
• Andy Ibáñez 1-4
• Matt Vierling 0-2, K

The Mets bats will try to reset their season while going up against Eduardo Rodriguez who is currently having the best season of his career. Over six starts and 36 2/3 innings, Rodriguez has a 2.21 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 0.873 WHIP and a 194 ERA+. In his last four starts he has allowed only two runs from 16 hits and three walks over 26 2/3 innings (0.68 ERA). The Mets have the following career numbers against Eduardo:

• Tommy Pham 4-14, 2B, 3 K
• Francisco Lindor 3-13, 2B, BB
• Mark Canha 0-13, 5 K
• Starling Marte 0-2, BB, K
• Brandon Nimmo 1-3, 2 K
• Pete Alonso 0-1, BB, K
• Tomás Nido 1-2

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Bring Back West Coast Brandon Nimmo: When the Mets were on their West Coast road trip, Brandon Nimmo was hitting the cover off of the ball. On Monday Brandon Nimmo went 2-for-9 with a run scored and four strikeouts. Yesterday Nimmo went 1-for-9 with three strikeouts. The Mets need Nimmo to find that magic again!
2. Tommy Pham’s Big Day: Tommy went 3-for-4 in the first game yesterday including a double and a homer. This was the day at the plate that Pham desperately needed. Can Pham start to build off this and become an x-factor?
3. Bullpen Check: With early exits from both starting pitchers yesterday, there was heavy bullpen usage. Butto led the way with 42 pitches. Yacabonis was next with 36 pitches. Curtiss, Ottavino and Muckenhirn round out the group. That being said Nogosek, Robertson, Brigham and Smith have all not pitched since Monday and should be good to go today.

Let’s Go Mets!

We have been waiting all season for the next two games. The Mets will finally send out their dual aces – Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander – in back to back games.

Starting pitching has been the main weak point for the 2023 Mets. Between injuries to Verlander, Quintana, Carrasco to David Peterson’s surprising struggles, the Mets have been in a tough spot the last five or so weeks. Scherzer wasn’t Scherzer like at the start of the year and it looked like he was finally coming back in his last start against the Dodgers but then he got suspended for sweat and rosin (and for what happens to that mixture when you use alcohol to clean it off, which he was directed to do). Anyway, Mad Max finally returns to the mound tonight!

Max has made four starts this season tossing 19 1/3 innings with a 3.72 ERA, 5.70 FIP, 1.190 WHIP and a 113 ERA+. In his first two starts of the season he allowed eight runs over 11 1/3 innings from 12 hits including four homers. In his last two starts he allowed two hits, no runs, over eight innings wile striking out nine. The Tigers have the following career numbers against him:

• Jonathan Schoop 2-17, 2B, BB, 11 K
• Javier Báez 1-12, 2B, 8 K
• Miguel Cabrera 1-6, BB, 4 K
• Matt Vierling 1-5, K

The Mets bats look to stay hot against Michael Lorenzen tonight. Lorenzen had made three starts and pitched 14 innings with a 7.07 ERA, 5.31 FIP, 1.643 WHIP and a 62 ERA+. Two of his starts have been terrible (six runs over four innings, five runs over five innings). Sandwiched between those starts were five shutout innings against the Orioles where he scattered three hits. The Mets have the following numbers against Lorenzen:

• Starling Marte 6-17, 2 2B, HR, 3 BB, 3 K
• Francisco Lindor 2-9, K
• Brandon Nimmo 1-7, 2B
• Tommy Pham 2-7, 2 K
• Pete Alonso 1-5
• Jeff McNeil 0-3, 2 BB
• Eduardo Escobar 2-4, 2B
• Luis Guillorme 2-4
• Tomás NIdo 0-4, 2 K
• Mark Canha 0-2, BB, 2 K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Max’s Velocity: In the first two games Scherzer’s velocity was down and the Exit Velocity against him was fairly up (23rd percentile this season). His fastball is averaging at 93 mph this year compared to 94 last year, but if you look at his Baseball Savant page, you’ll see the overall distribution is skewed, with less higher velocity pitches. We know that Scherzer was working through an injury prior the Dodgers start and now has had a lot of time to rest up. This is going to be an over-analyzed starter for Max.
2. Bullpen Usage: The Mets had rely heavily on their bullpen on Monday, essentially starting the day with a bullpen game and then closing out the final three or so innings for Megill Monday night. The good news for the Mets is that prior to the afternoon game today, everyone in the bullpen was off Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then again yesterday. The deepest Scherzer has gone this year is six innings. In his last full start he tossed 97 pitches to get through fives, working himself into a high amount of 3-2 counts.
3. The Mets energy in general: The Mets are playing four games over three days, but in intense fashion. Monday they had two back-to-back games before traveling to Detroit. Then they geared themselves up to play last night, only for the game to be called about an hour or so into the delay. Now they have two games today, with an afternoon game tomorrow. In a sport that is more like a marathon and routine, the Mets are doing a lot of heavy sprinting with unusual periods of rest.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to build some momentum this week as they swing into Detroit for a three game set. On Monday the Mets finally got to play baseball, splitting a doubleheader with the Braves. The Mets battled back multiple times in the first game but still fell short 9-8. In the second game they went up early, lost the lead, but rallied back and beat the Braves 5-3. The momentum from their win in the second game was supposed to carry directly into yesterday’s game but the weather had other plans and now the Mets play two today!

Detroit is where the Mets are going to reset their starting rotation. Due to the rainouts this weekend, Max Scherzer is finally eligible to return, however the Mets are slotting him into tomorrow’s spot. Justin Verlander is good to go after a rehab start and will make his Mets debut on Thursday. Kodai Senga is getting extra rest and will start after Verlander which leaves Joey Lucchesi for tonight’s game!

In two games this season, Joey Lucchesi has pitched 12 1/3 innings allowing three runs from nine hits and four walks while striking out 12 batters. After allowing no runs in his first start of the season, Joey struggled a bit against the Washington Nationals last week, allowing three runs over 5 1/3 innings. There are only two batters in the Tigers lineup who have seen Lucchesi before. Former Met Javier Báez is 5-for-7 with two doubles and two homers. Austin Meadows is the other batter, but he just got transferred to the 60-day injured list.

The Tigers are using the doubleheader to change pitching matchups, and rather than sending Michael Lorenzen against Lucchesi, they’re sending out Joey Wentz. Maybe they just wanted a Joey vs Joey game. Anyway Wentz has pitched 22 1/3 innings this season over five games with a 6.45 ERA, 4.53 FIP, 1.343 WHIP and a 67 ERA+. He’s coming off of an average start against the Orioles where he allowed two runs from four hits over 5 2/3 innings. There are no current Mets who have faced Joey Wentz in a major league game before.

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Another day, another comment about Brett Baty. Brett Baty is fully in a groove now. He is now hitting .333/.381/.538 on the season and in his last seven games he’s hitting .409/.458/.773. He had three batted balls yesterday that were over 100 mph, bringing him to double digits for the season. We’ve been talking about how the Mets needed another player to step up in the offense. Yesterday that player was Brett Baty.
2. Four Homers in one day? The Mets have been desperate for the big hit and yesterday they got a handful. Pete Alonso, Brett Baty, Eduardo Escobar and Jeff McNeil all homered. Comerica Park is notoriously a pitcher’s ballpark but the Tigers made some changes before this season. The fence was moved in 10-feet in center. The wall from center to right was lowered. Can the Mets ride this power wave, even into a (slightly less) pitcher’s friendly park?
3. Can the Mets take advantage of the Tigers recent struggles? From April 13th to 18th the Tigers went on a five game winning streak. This brought them to only two games below .500. Since then the Tigers are 3-8. This is the time for the Mets to get on a bit of a run.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets look to build some momentum this week as they swing into Detroit for a three game set. Yesterday the Mets finally got to play baseball, splitting a doubleheader with the Braves. The Mets battled back multiple times in the first game but still fell short 9-8. In the second game they went up early, lost the lead, but rallied back and beat the Braves 5-3.

Detroit is where the Mets are going to reset their starting rotation. Due to the rainouts this weekend, Max Scherzer is finally eligible to return, however the Mets are slotting him into tomorrow’s spot. Justin Verlander is good to go after a rehab start and will make his Mets debut on Thursday. Kodai Senga is getting extra rest and will start after Verlander which leaves Joey Lucchesi for tonight’s game!

In two games this season, Joey Lucchesi has pitched 12 1/3 innings allowing three runs from nine hits and four walks while striking out 12 batters. After allowing no runs in his first start of the season, Joey struggled a bit against the Washington Nationals last week, allowing three runs over 5 1/3 innings. There are only two batters in the Tigers lineup who have seen Lucchesi before. Former Met Javier Báez is 5-for-7 with two doubles and two homers. Austin Meadows is the other batter, but he just got transferred to the 60-day injured list.

The Mets bats look to stay hot against Michael Lorenzen today. Lorenzen had made three starts and pitched 14 innings with a 7.07 ERA, 5.31 FIP, 1.643 WHIP and a 62 ERA+. Two of his starts have been terrible (six runs over four innings, five runs over five innings). Sandwiched between those starts were five shutout innings against the Orioles where he scattered three hits. The Mets have the following numbers against Lorenzen:

• Starling Marte 6-17, 2 2B, HR, 3 BB, 3 K
• Francisco Lindor 2-9, K
• Brandon Nimmo 1-7, 2B
• Tommy Pham 2-7, 2 K
• Pete Alonso 1-5
• Jeff McNeil 0-3, 2 BB
• Eduardo Escobar 2-4, 2B
• Luis Guillorme 2-4
• Tomás NIdo 0-4, 2 K
• Mark Canha 0-2, BB, 2 K

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Another day, another comment about Brett Baty. Brett Baty is fully in a groove now. He is now hitting .333/.381/.538 on the season and in his last seven games he’s hitting .409/.458/.773. He had three batted balls yesterday that were over 100 mph, bringing him to double digits for the season. We’ve been talking about how the Mets needed another player to step up in the offense. Yesterday that player was Brett Baty.
2. Four Homers in one day? The Mets have been desperate for the big hit and yesterday they got a handful. Pete Alonso, Brett Baty, Eduardo Escobar and Jeff McNeil all homered. Comerica Park is notoriously a pitcher’s ballpark but the Tigers made some changes before this season. The fence was moved in 10-feet in center. The wall from center to right was lowered. Can the Mets ride this power wave, even into a (slightly less) pitcher’s friendly park?
3. Can the Mets take advantage of the Tigers recent struggles? From April 13th to 18th the Tigers went on a five game winning streak. This brought them to only two games below .500. Since then the Tigers are 3-8. This is the time for the Mets to get on a bit of a run.

Let’s Go Mets!

One of my least favorite articles to write is a game preview for the second game of a doubleheader that happens right after the first game. If you’ve followed my website, you know I’m a teacher and I write game previews super early in the morning. I’m actually writing this game preview the night before! Because of that, I can’t give you any context for this game that was set up in the game that just concluded. I have no idea if the Mets pulled off the miracle against Spence Strider in a glorified bullpen game! This article is probably being published during the game!

Tylor Megill gets the start for the Mets. Over his first five starts and 25 innings this season he has a 3.96 ERA, 5.99 FIP, 1.480 WHIP and a 104 ERA+. He’s coming off of back to back rough starts, allowing seven runs over nine innings from 13 hits and five walks while striking out only six batters. Megill has also already allowed five homers this season. The Braves were able to get to Megill last season, tagging him for five runs from seven hits and two walks over six innings.

• Ozzie Albies 4-13, HR, 4 K
• Austin Riley 3-13, HR, 6 K
• Ronald Acuña Jr. 1-5, BB, 3 K
• Ehire Adrianza 0-3, BB, K
• Matt Olson 1-3, BB
• Orlando Arcia 1-3, 2B
• Travis d’Arnaud 1-3, 2B, K
• Eddie Rosario 0-2

The Mets bats will get a look at the ageless pitcher from New Jersey, Charlie Morton. He is 39-years old and over five starts (29 1/3 innings) this season he has a 2.76 ERA, 4.35 FIP, 1.398 WHIP and a 129 ERA+. In his last two starts he has allowed only two runs from eight hits and five walks over 13 innings while striking out 14 batters. In four starts (21 2/3 innings) against the Mets last year he allowed 13 runs, 12 earned (4.98 ERA) from 25 hits and eight walks while striking out 26 batters. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Francisco Lindor 5-35, 2 2B, HR, 9 K
• Pete Alonso 6-18, 2B, BB, 3 K
• Eduardo Escobar 5-17, HR, BB, 4 K
• Starling Marte 3-16, 2 BB, 6 K
• Jeff McNeil 4-15, 2 HR, 7 K
• Brandon Nimmo 3-15, BB, 5 K
• Luis Guillorme 1-11, 4 BB, 2 K
• Daniel Vogelbach 4-13, 2 HR, 2 BB, 6 K
• Mark Canha 3-11, HR, 4 K
• Tommy Pham 1-7, BB, 4 K
• Tomás Nido 2-6, BB, K

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets and Braves hope to get two games in today after an incredibly rainy weekend in the New York City area. After two days in a row of quite literally the same pitching matchup, the Mets made some roster changes last night and made the curious decision to not start Kodai Senga today. Instead, Denyi Reyes will get the start for the first game and Tylor Megill will start later this afternoon.

In case you need a reminder – the last time we saw the Mets was after the fifth inning on Friday night. The Mets and Braves were scoreless for the first four innings on Friday, with the rain steadily increasing throughout the game. The Braves were able to score four runs in the fifth inning, and the Mets couldn’t tie the game in the bottom of the fifth before the rain delay. At that point the game was official and a few hours later the rain delay turned into a rain shortened victory for the Braves.

Denyi Reyes will make his first start of the season for the Mets today. So far in five games and 6 1/3 innings, Reyes has allowed no runs from three hits and two walks while striking out seven. Each time the Mets used him he tossed more and more pitches, from three pitches in his first game to 33 in his last. He’s only pitched in one game for Syracuse since being sent down and that was a week ago where he pitched 1 2/3 innings allowing two runs from three hits. No one for Atlanta has seen Denyi in a major league game before.

The Mets bats have a tall order this afternoon against Spencer Strider. Strider is off to a tremendous start this season, pitching 30 innings over his first five games with a 1.80 ERA, 1.72 FIP (league leading), 0.833 WHIP and a 244 ERA+. He is also leading the league in hits per nine inning at a paltry 4.2 and strikeouts per nine inning at 14.7. Strider had two rough starts earlier in April where he allowed six runs over 10 innings. Since then he has allowed no runs and only three hits in two games and 14 innings. The Mets were able to get to Strider last year scoring six runs from 14 hits over 12 1/3 innings:

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

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Which Spencer Strider shows up this afternoon? Spencer Strider looked like the best pitcher in baseball after his eight inning, shutout performance the other night. He is also only two starts removed from two average starts. The Mets have both hit Strider well and completely fell apart against him last year. Which Strider do the Mets see this afternoon?
2. Another day, another reason to talk about Brett Baty. On Thursday night Brett Baty got on base four times and hit a homer. Last night he went 1-for-2, collecting one of the three hits the Mets had yesterday. His single, which bounced off the grass in the infield before going into the outfield was hit off the bat at 110.2 mph. He’s already in the 72nd percentile for max exit velocity according to Baseball Savant.
3. A well-rested bullpen heading into a bullpen game. In an ideal world the Mets get four to five innings out of Denyi Reyes this afternoon. Just looking at his previous games though, I think its more likely we see him on the three to four inning side. The Mets bullpen, which hasn’t been used since Thursday, is incredibly rested heading into the doubleheader with the Braves today. Further, the Mets still have to make two more roster moves this week to bring back Scherzer and Verlander. Someone, possibly two pitchers, are going to get used to their maximum potential today and then get sent down afterwards.

Let’s Go Mets!

Let’s try that again. The Braves and Mets will attempt to play a baseball game after a rain shortened game on Friday night and yesterday’s postponement. Has it stopped raining where you are since Friday night? It has has barely stopped here. 

The Mets and Braves were scoreless for four innings on Friday, with the rain steadily increasing throughout the game. The Braves were able to score four runs in the fifth inning, and the Mets couldn’t tie the game in the bottom of the fifth before the rain delay. At that point the game was official and a few hours later the rain delay turned into a rain shortened victory for the Braves.

The Mets rescheduled yesterday’s game to August 12th. Could the Mets be trying some gamesmanship since the team is struggling right now? Maybe! The move to August 12th means that the earliest Max Scherzer can pitch is now Tuesday. There’s probably a more practical reason why the Mets didn’t schedule the make up today – it’s still raining. According to the National Weather Service, at 11 AM today there’s an 80% of rain in Flushing. Flushing doesn’t get below an 80% chance until 8 PM tonight. I’m not feeling great about this game happening either. 

Tylor Megill gets the start for the Mets. Over his first five starts and 25 innings this season he has a 3.96 ERA, 5.99 FIP, 1.480 WHIP and a 104 ERA+. He’s coming off of back to back rough starts, allowing seven runs over nine innings from 13 hits and five walks while striking out only six batters. Megill has also already allowed five homers this season. The Braves were able to get to Megill last season, tagging him for five runs from seven hits and two walks over six innings.

• Ozzie Albies 4-13, HR, 4 K
• Austin Riley 3-13, HR, 6 K
• Ronald Acuña Jr. 1-5, BB, 3 K
• Ehire Adrianza 0-3, BB, K
• Matt Olson 1-3, BB
• Orlando Arcia 1-3, 2B
• Travis d’Arnaud 1-3, 2B, K
• Eddie Rosario 0-2

The Mets bats have a tall order this afternoon against Spencer Strider. Strider is off to a tremendous start this season, pitching 30 innings over his first five games with a 1.80 ERA, 1.72 FIP (league leading), 0.833 WHIP and a 244 ERA+. He is also leading the league in hits per nine inning at a paltry 4.2 and strikeouts per nine inning at 14.7. Strider had two rough starts earlier in April where he allowed six runs over 10 innings. Since then he has allowed no runs and only three hits in two games and 14 innings. The Mets were able to get to Strider last year scoring six runs from 14 hits over 12 1/3 innings:

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

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Which Spencer Strider shows up this afternoon? Spencer Strider looked like the best pitcher in baseball after his eight inning, shutout performance the other night. He is also only two starts removed from two average starts. The Mets have both hit Strider well and completely fell apart against him last year. Which Strider do the Mets see this afternoon?
2. Another day, another reason to talk about Brett Baty. On Thursday night Brett Baty got on base four times and hit a homer. Last night he went 1-for-2, collecting one of the three hits the Mets had yesterday. His single, which bounced off the grass in the infield before going into the outfield was hit off the bat at 110.2 mph. He’s already in the 72nd percentile for max exit velocity according to Baseball Savant.
3. This weather stinks, but at least it is setting up the bullpen. One of the concerns Friday night was if the Mets went into a rain delay early, then came back and immediately had to go to the pen. The bullpen got the night off on Friday and the whole day off yesterday. The Mets also did some shuffling to their pen, moving Raley to the injured list, sending Peterson down, calling up Curtiss and bringing back Ottavino. The Mets are going to need to make even more moves later this week when Scherzer and Verlander come back. If the Mets end up needing to play two games on Monday, they should be good to go.

Let’s Go Mets!

The Mets and Braves will attempt to get a game in today after last night’s rain shortened affair. The Mets and Braves were scoreless for four innings yesterday, with the rain steadily increasing throughout the game. The Braves were able to score four runs in the fifth inning, and the Mets couldn’t tie the game in the bottom of the fifth before the rain delay. At that point the game was official and a few hours later the rain delay turned into a rain shortened victory for the Braves.

There are still three games left in this series and tonight should have some rain difficulties as well. The rain chances for Flushing shift from 100% to 80% around 2:00 and step down to 60% at around 8:00. As of writing this in the morning, it feels unlikely that the Mets will get today’s game in.

Tylor Megill gets the start for the Mets. Over his first five starts and 25 innings this season he has a 3.96 ERA, 5.99 FIP, 1.480 WHIP and a 104 ERA+. He’s coming off of back to back rough starts, allowing seven runs over nine innings from 13 hits and five walks while striking out only six batters. Megill has also already allowed five homers this season. The Braves were able to get to Megill last season, tagging him for five runs from seven hits and two walks over six innings.

• Ozzie Albies 4-13, HR, 4 K
• Austin Riley 3-13, HR, 6 K
• Ronald Acuña Jr. 1-5, BB, 3 K
• Ehire Adrianza 0-3, BB, K
• Matt Olson 1-3, BB
• Orlando Arcia 1-3, 2B
• Travis d’Arnaud 1-3, 2B, K
• Eddie Rosario 0-2

The Mets bats have a tall order this afternoon against Spencer Strider. Strider is off to a tremendous start this season, pitching 30 innings over his first five games with a 1.80 ERA, 1.72 FIP (league leading), 0.833 WHIP and a 244 ERA+. He is also leading the league in hits per nine inning at a paltry 4.2 and strikeouts per nine inning at 14.7. Strider had two rough starts earlier in April where he allowed six runs over 10 innings. Since then he has allowed no runs and only three hits in two games and 14 innings. The Mets were able to get to Strider last year scoring six runs from 14 hits over 12 1/3 innings:

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

Three Things To Watch For:

1. Which Spencer Strider shows up tonight? Spencer Strider looked like the best pitcher in baseball after his eight inning, shutout performance the other night. He is also only two starts removed from two average starts. The Mets have both hit Strider well and completely fell apart against him last year. Which Strider do the Mets see this afternoon?
2. Another day, another reason to talk about Brett Baty. On Thursday night Brett Baty got on base four times and hit a homer. Last night he went 1-for-2, collecting one of the three hits the Mets had yesterday. His single, which bounced off the grass in the infield before going into the outfield was hit off the bat at 110.2 mph. He’s already in the 72nd percentile for max exit velocity according to Baseball Savant.
3. Last night stunk, but at least it was good for the bullpen. One of the concerns last night was if the Mets went into a rain delay early, then came back and immediately had to go to the pen. The bullpen got the night off yesterday. There’s also a good chance they get the day-off today. The Mets are going to need everyone rested if the Mets have to play two games on Sunday.

Let’s Go Mets!

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!