For the second straight day the Mets will try to do something they failed to last season – win a series against the Padres. Last night the Mets were able to load the bases in the first inning but couldn’t score any runs. After that it became a tightly pitched game with the Padres eventually winning 4-2. Can the Mets string some hits together and score runs against lefty this afternoon? Can the Mets get through the San Diego albatross?
Tylor Megill has a 1.64 ERA, 3.86 FIP, 1.182 WHIP and a 273 ERA+ over his first two starts and 11 innings this season. Megill played stopper his time out, righting the Mets ship after being swept by the Marlins and providing the Mets with their first shutout outing by a starting pitcher this season. This will be the first time all season that Megill has faced a team not named the Miami Marlins and he didn’t face the Padres at all last season. The Padres have the following career numbers against Megill:
- Juan Soto 1-6, HR, 3 BB, 2 K
- Nelson Cruz 1-4, HR, K
- Rougned Odor 0-1, K
The Mets bats close out the series against Blake Snell this afternoon. Over two starts this season Snell has allowed seven runs from 12 hits and five walks (7.88 ERA). In his first start he was able to rack up 9 strikeouts against the Rockies, but only tossed 4 1/3 innings after allowing three runs from six hits. His last start against the Braves was a mess where he allowed four runs from six hits and four walks in 3 2/3 innings.
Snell’s two regular season starts against the Mets last year were opposite experiences for the Mets. In June he allowed five runs, four earned, from three walks and seven hits. In July he held the Mets scoreless over five innings. Snell was the only pitcher the Mets were able to get to in the Wild Card Series last year, scoring twice in 3 1/3 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against Snell:
- Francisco Lindor 3-25, 2B, 5 K
- Starling Marte 5-15, 2B, HR, 5 K
- Mark Canha 4-11, 2B, 3 BB, 2 K
- Pete Alonso 3-9, 2B, HR, 3 BB, K
- Eduardo Escobar 2-12, 2B, 3 K
- Brandon Nimmo 3-9, 2B, BB, K
- Tim Locastro, 0-4, BB, 2 K, HBP
- Jeff McNeil 2-5, K
- Tomás Nido 0-3
- Tommy Pham 0-2, BB
Three Things To Watch For:
- Multi-Inning Bullpen Heroes: Yesterday Denyi Reyes tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings. A few days ago Nogosek tossed 3 1/3 innings allowing one run and scattering three hits. While the Mets starters haven’t been able to go terribly deep into games, the Mets are getting multi-inning outings from some surprising sources.
- Please cash in on free passes: We’ve already discussed this a few times this season and it is still relevant today – the Mets aren’t capitalizing on walks and hit by pitches. The Mets have already been walked 52 times this year, the fourth highest amount in the majors. They’ve been hit by 10 pitches, the most in the majors. The Mets have scored only 46 runs, which ranks 23rd. It’s also not like the Mets are striking out a ton, they have 87 K’s on the season, good for 24th in the league. At some point putting the ball in play will work for the Mets. Today would be a great day for that to start.
- Power Up: Related to not cashing in on free passes, the Mets as a team have only hit 10 homers (23rd in the league). Pete Alonso is one four players in the majors with five homers this season. The remaining five homers on the Mets roster spread between Canha, Escobar, Lindor, Marte and Pham who have hit one each. The Mets could really use a player outside of Pete Alonso to get hot.
Let’s Go Mets!
