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:
- 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.
- 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?
- 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!
