The Mets go for a series sweep this afternoon! So far the Mets have beat the Phillies 2-0 and 4-1 this week. In the first game the Mets got an excellent start from Kodai Senga. Last night the Mets got an amazing start from Carlos Carrasco (his second in a row) and outstanding performance from Mark Canha. Canha hit his fourth homer on the season and recorded all four RBI’s in the game.
Senga, Carrasco and Canha have all made their mark on this series. Who will be hero today?
Max Scherzer looks to lock down the Phillies offense this afternoon as he makes his ninth start of the season. Over 40 2/3 innings this season, Scherzer has a 3.54 ERA, 4.64 FIP, 1.131 WHIP and a 118 ERA+. Scherzer pitched 22 2/3 innings over his first five starts with a 5.56 ERA and a 6.28 FIP with opponents hitting .259 against him (.851 OPS). Since then, over three starts, he’s pitched 18 innings with a 1.00 ERA and 2.56 FIP. Opponents are hitting .172 with a .486 OPS against him. Last season he made four starts against the Phillies with a 3.38 ERA over 24 innings while recording 29 strikeouts. The Phillies have the following career numbers against him:
- J.T. Realmuto 7-61, 2B, 2 HR, 4 BB, 18 K
- Bryce Harper 6-20, 2 2B, 3 HR, 5 BB, 9 K
- Nick Castellanos 3-20, 2 2B, BB, 10 K
- Kyle Schwarber 4-11, 2 HR, 4 BB, 4 K
- Edmundo Sosa 2-8, 4 K
- Bryson Stott 6-7, 2B
- Brandon Marsh 0-3, 2 K
The Mets bats will face off against old friend today as Taijuan Walker makes his first start against the Mets as a member of the Phillies. Walker had two seasons as one of more reliable starters in the Mets rotation, making 58 starts and pitching over 150 innings in both seasons. Walker earned his first All-Star with the Mets and overall had a 3.98 ERA, 4.11 FIP and a 99 ERA+.
This season Walker has made 11 starts totaling 53 1/3 innings with a 5.57 ERA, 5.16 FIP, 1.463 WHIP and a 77 ERA+. When you look at his game logs, they look very Walker-like. In the month of May he had two very good starts, one where he allowed one run over six innings, another where he allowed no runs over 5 1/3 innings. He also has a start where he allowed eight runs over 3 1/3 and four runs over just 2/3 innings. Which Walker will show up against the Mets today? The Mets have the following career numbers against him:
- Tommy Pham 1-9, BB, K
- Mark Canha 3-5, HR, BB
- Francisco Lindor 1-6, K
- Starling Marte 0-2, BB
- Brandon Nimmo 1-3, 2B
- Eduardo Escobar 0-2
Things To Watch For:
- Mets feasting on Quality Starts. The Mets improved to 15-0 when their starting pitcher tosses a quality start. When Scherzer started this season, he was struggling to get to the sixth inning. More recently he has looked like himself. Can Scherzer give the Mets the chance today to further improve this record to 16-0?
- Mets bats could help out the back of the bullpen today. After having several days off in a row, Robertson and Ottavino had to go in back to back games to start this series. Robertson has tossed 38 pitches and started to look a bit gassed by the end of his outing yesterday. Ottavino only needed 6 pitches yesterday (17 in his last two games), so he’s probably good to go if needed today. Leone, Brigham, Drew, Hunter, Nogosek all haven’t pitched in the last three calendar days (four days for Drew). Hopefully the Mets bats can give enough of a cushion to use other bullpen arms today.
- The Mets are showing their defensive chops. Last night Francisco Lindor made an excellent play in the field. The night before Brandon Nimmo reached over the wall and brought back a homerun. Francisco Álvarez is in the 86th percentile for pitch framing this year and has been praised for his ability to steal strike three calls. These things make the Mets that much more fun to watch!
Let’s Go Mets!
