The Mets will attempt to take the opening game of the series tonight against the Texas Rangers. The Rangers have been described on TV as a team with the best hitting, but the worst pitching and the worst defense in the league. Thats great for them because the Mets have pretty poor pitching as of late, when it comes to the bullpen. So the overall key of this series is to get leads in the game early, and then add on runs throughout the whole game. That being said, lets look at the pitching matchup, Feldman vs Perez. Neither pitcher has recent experience pitching against the other team, so we are back to the unknowns once again.
Feldman for the Rangers is starting game this year for the first time in his career. This season he has a 1-2 record over 10 games, 8 of which he started, while pitching 56.1 innings and posting a 4.31 ERA. Over the last four games, he has pitched 25 innings, took a loss, has a 5.40 ERA, 7 walks and 12 strikeouts. More importantly, over the last 4 games, he has given up 7 homeruns, and on the season he has given up 8. Castillo is the only current Met that has a record with Feldman, and he is hitless in two AB's. Here are some splits:
Right Handed Batters, .250 BA, 4 HR
Left Handed Batters, .232 BA, 4 HR
The Mets need to jump on the long ball with this pitcher and really do some damage. This is not the guy to go silent against and make him look like Cy Young.
Perez did well in his last time out. He didn't stay out very long, only 5.1 innings, but he gave up only 4 hits, a run, 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. The last time he pitched against Texas was 2004, and he gave up 6 runs over 6 innings, but that was a very long time ago. Here are some Ranger stats against Perez:
Bradly 1-7
Young 1-1
As you can see, not many stats. If Perez can pitch like he did last time, but just longer, that would be very good and hopefully this Mets bullpen can get their heads on straight tonight.
We all know overall, the Mets have been a better team at home then on the Road, so Beltran and Reyes' batting statistics are very telling about this trend:
Beltran Home: .284 BA, .416 OBP, 5 HR, 28 RBI
Beltran Away: .246 BA, .322 OBP, 2 HR, 13 RBI
For the first time as a Met, he is doing a lot better at home than away. His OBP at home is very surprising, and his RBI production is so much better.
Reyes Home: .313 BA, 128 AB, 23 R, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 8 SB, .516 SLG
Reyes Away: .266 BA, 143 AB, 20 R, 4 HR, 21 RBI, 15 SB, .448 SLG
Reyes BA is so much better home than away, but its interesting how that has translated across his numbers. From the AB difference, he must walk more at home. Its really interesting to see that the run producer Reyes is more on the road than at home (especially considering the Slugging numbers when they are split), and if he is on base more at home, his SB numbers are really off. The BA difference I think is really felt with runs, because he is scoring more at home.
Lets beat them tonight! Lets Go Mets!
