The good news: the Mets scored double the amount of runs yesterday than Friday night. The bad news: that means they scored two runs and lost 5-2 against the Rockies.
Now the Mets have a rubber game Sunday matchup with the Rockies. If the Mets win, they’ll win their first series since they took two of three from the Dodgers in LA in April. If the Mets lose, they’ll fall below .500 for the first time since the Brewers swept them the second series of the year.
Joey Lucchesi looks to get the Mets back on track this afternoon. Over three games and 16 1/3 innings, Lucchesi has a 3.86 ERA, 4.89 FIP, 1.102 WHIP and a 110 ERA+. His season stats are still being buoyed by his first start of the season where he shutout the Giants over seven innings of work. Since then he has allowed seven runs from 10 hits and two walks over 9 1/3 innings. In his first start against the Giants he struck out nine batters. Since then he has stuck out only four batters. The Rockies have the following career numbers against him:
- Charlie Blackmon 6-20, BB, 3 K
- Elias Díaz 0-9, 2 K
- Ryan McMahon 2-8, BB, 3 K
- Mike Moustakas 1-4, 2 BB, K
- Kris Bryant 2-4, 2B, BB, 2 K
- C.J. Cron 2-4, 2B, 2K
- Jurickson Profar 0-4
- Randal Grichuk 0-2, BB, K
The Mets bats will try to break out of their rut against Ryan Feltner. Over six starts (30 1/3 innings), Feltner has a 4.45 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 1.451 WHIP and a 115 ERA+. In his first three starts of the season he allowed 13 runs from 15 hits and 11 walks over 13 1/3 innings (8.78 ERA). Since then he has allowed only three runs, two earned, from 14 hits and four walks while striking out 15 in 17 innings (1.06 ERA). He made one start against the Mets last year where the Mets scored three times off six hits and two walks over 4 2/3 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:
- Francisco Lindor 0-2, BB
- Starling Marte 0-3, K
- Brandon Nimmo 1-2, BB
- Pete Alonso 2-2, HR
- Brett Baty 0-2, K
- Jeff McNeil 1-2
- Tomás Nido 1-2
- Daniel Vogelbach 0-2
Three Things To Watch For:
- Work the counts! When the Mets were playing well in April, they were near the top of the league in walks. They are still ranked 6th in the league with 126 walks. However if you only look at the last seven days, the Mets are 20th in the league, working only 17 walks (minimum 11 by the Reds/Nationals, maximum 31 by the Dodgers). There is a direct connection between the Mets walking less, and the quick at bats we’ve seen recently.
- Mets Control Issues. Sticking with the walks theme, the Mets are third in baseball with 128 walks issued trailing the Oakland Athletics (179) and the Chicago White Sox (147). While ranked only 14th in this category over the last week, the Mets offense is hitting well enough to cover for Mets pitcher control issues.
- A Brandon Nimmo Update: A few days ago we wrote about how Nimmo had gone cold at the plate. Earlier this weekend we talked about how Nimmo was finally starting to show signs of heating up. He’s now had back-to-back multi-hit games for the first time since his amazing West Coast road trip. In the last four games he is 6-for-15 with two doubles and a homer slashing .400/.438/.733. Now he just needs someone else to heat up with him.
Let’s Go Mets!
