The Mets look to bounce back from a frustrating weekend in Boston against the Yankees in the Bronx. The Mets find themselves seven games out of the wild card right now and seven games below .500. Are they going to sell? Buy? Just keep the course? A lot of that could be determined in these next two days against the Yankees.
The Yankees are in an odd position in wild AL East. They are tied for last place, nine games behind the Orioles. They are also 2.5 games out of the Wild Card. Further, they are six games above .500. The Yankees also have the worst run differential in their division at +15 (the Mets are at -17).
Justin Verlander’s start this evening could be an audition for other teams if the Mets decide to sell by the deadline. Over 14 starts (83 innings) he has a 3.47 ERA, 3.98 FIP, 1.157 WHIP and a 119 ERA+. Verlander is coming off of a fantastic start against the White Sox where he held them to one run over eight innings. Over his last five starts he has tossed 31 innings with a 1.74 ERA, 3.38 FIP and allowed only one homer. The Yankees have the following career stats against him:
- Gleyber Torres 4-24, 2B, 6 K
- DJ LeMahieu 8-25, 2B, 2 HR, 2 K, BB
- Giancarlo Stanton 3-20, 2B, 2 HR, 10 K, BB
- Jake Bauers 2-10, 3 K, BB
- Isiah Kiner-Falefa 3-13, HR, 5 K
- Anthony Rizzo 0-5, K, 2 BB
- Billy McKinney 1-5, 2B, 2 K
- Kyle Higashioka 0-3, K
- Anthony Volpe 0-2
- Harrison Bader 1-2, HR, K
- Greg Allen 1-2
The Mets bats draw Domingo Germán for the Subway Series opener. Over 18 starts (97 2/3 innings) Germán has a 4.52 ERA, 4.62 FIP, 1.075 WHIP and a 94 ERA+. He’s been frustrating for Yankee fans this year having starts that range from wonderful to terrible, and not much in-between. For example, his last time out he allowed five runs over six innings, before that, one earned run over six innings. In late June he had back to back starts where he allowed 10 total runs over 3 1/3 innings and a complete game shutout. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:
- Francisco Lindor 2-12, 4 K, 3 BB
- Mark Canha 7-13, 2B, HR, 2 K, BB
- Tommy Pham 0-10, 4 K
- Brandon Nimmo 2-8, 3B, 2 K, BB
- DJ Stewart 0-5, 2 K, BB
- Jeff McNeil 1-7, HR
- Pete Alonso 2-8 2B, HR, K
- Daniel Vogelbach 2-4, 3B, BB
- Brett Baty 0-2
- Omar Narváez 1-1, 2B
Three Things To Watch For:
- More playing time for Pham. Tommy Pham injured his groin last week and rested most of the weekend. He took a pinch hit on Sunday night and looks to get more playing time tonight. He’s one of the more likely Mets to be traded this week and has already been linked to a few teams that are monitoring him (and possibly Mark Canha).
- Brandon Nimmo is coming around again. After starting cold after the All-Star break, Nimmo has had at least two hits in two of the last three games. In his last five games three of his six hits have been for extra bases (two doubles and homer). He’s also worked three walks in his last six games. He’s not quite at the normal Brandon Nimmo level we know and love, but he’s showing signs of returning soon.
- Mets Bullpen Hug Watch: David Robertson is the most likely to be moved reliever, even though he indicated this week that he likes being a member of the Mets and doesn’t want to be traded. There’s a chance Adam Ottavino is traded but he does have a 2024 player option. Ottavino just pitched a scoreless inning on Sunday (his third such outing in a row). Robertson had a clean inning in the first game on Saturday.
Let’s Go Mets!
