Let the kids play! The Mets won in the 9th inning last night, largely behind their young hitters and tonight they’ll try to take the series from the Marlins. Yesterday the Mets went down 2-0 early, crawled back to make it 2-2 (thanks to a Juan Lagares homer, his first since September 2017) then fell 3-2 and were able to knot it up again. In the top of the 9th Amed singled in Dom Smith to take the lead and then Pete Alonso unloaded on a baseball for his first career home run that traveled 440-ft and left his bat at 113 miles per hour. Edwin Diaz would make things interesting in the 9th loading the bases before striking out the side.
My takeaway from last night was the dugout after Smith scored and then Alonso scored. The Mets looked liked they were having so much fun. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that much joy on their faces and I hope this continues. When they’re having fun, they’re way more fun to watch!
Jason Vargas makes his first start of 2019 today for the Mets. Last year was the tale of two seasons for him. Overall he went 7-9 over 20 starts and 92.0 innings with a 5.77 ERA, 5.02 FIP, 1.413 WHIP and 64 ERA+. From his first start until August 7th he made 12 starts and pitched 47.1 innings posting at 8.75 ERA. From his next start (August 14th) until the end of the season he made 8 starts, pitched 44.2 innings and posted a 2.62 ERA. Completely different. In two starts against the Marlins last year he allowed 2 runs off 5 hits in 11.0 innings while striking out 14 batters. The Marlins have the following numbers against Vargas:
- Curtis Granderson 7-14, 2 2B, BB
- Starlin Castro 3-10, 3 2B, 2 BB, K
- Brian Anderson 0-5, 4 K
- Lewis Brinson 1-4, BB
- Miguel Rojas 2-5, HR
- Peter O’Brien 0-2, BB
- Martin Prado 1-2
- Neil Walker 0-1, K
The Mets bats will get their first look at Jose Urena who will be making his second start of the season tonight. Last year Jose made 31 starts pitching 174.0 innings posting a 3.98 ERA, 4.17 FIP (career low), 1.184 WHIP (career low) and a 91 ERA+. For a second straight year he led the league in hitting batters with pitchers with 14 in 2017 and 12 in 2018 (but none so far this year!). In his first start this season he allowed 6 runs, 5 earned off 9 hits and a walk while striking out 2. So far, his 9 hits allowed is the highest by any individual pitcher in 2019. He faced the Mets a lot last year making 4 starts and totaling 22.2 innings posting a 3.57 ERA and allowing 9 runs from 22 hits and 9 walks while striking out 14. The Mets have the following numbers against Urena:
- Michael Conforto 7-19, 2 2B, HR, BB, K
- Brandon Nimmo 3-10, HR, 2 BB, 2 K
- Amed Rosario 4-11, 2B, 3 K
- Jeff McNeil 2-9
- Dominic Smith 2-9, K
- Wilson Ramos 1-6, 3 K
- Robinson Cano 0-1
Let’s Go Mets!
