The Mets start off a gauntlet of a month tonight in Anaheim. In August the Mets will have two West Coast road trips. This one features a series in Anaheim, a game in St. Louis, a series in Denver and then ends with a series in Seattle. There are no days off until after the series in Seattle.
To start the series the Mets will send out Paul Blackburn to make his first Mets start against Tyler Anderson, who could have been traded at the deadline but the Angels held on to him.
Paul Blackburn has made nine starts for the Athletics this season totaling 51 innings with a 4.41 ERA, 4.59 FIP, 1.157 WHIP and a 91 ERA+. His last start was his first since returning from the injured list with a stress fracture in his foot, it was also against the Angels in Anaheim. He allowed four runs from five hits over five innings including two homers. Blackburn is known for his large pitch repertoire with a 4-seam fastball, cutter, slider, changeup, curveball and sinker. The Angels have the following career numbers against Blackburn:
- Jo Adell 1-3, HR, BB
- Willie Calhoun 1-1, 2B
- Brandon Drury 0-5, K
- Mickey Moniak 0-6, 2 K
- Zach Neto 0-2
- Logan O’Hoppe 1-4, 2 K
- Kevin Pillar 0-2
- Luis Rengifo 4-12, 2B, K
- Nolan Schanuel 1-4, HR, BB, K
- Taylor Ward 3-8, 2B, 2 HR
Tyler Anderson has pitched 130 2/3 innings over 21 starts with a 2.96, ERA, 4.36 FIP, 1.140 WHIP and a 145 ERA+. He’s coming off of a solid start against the Athletics where he allowed three runs over seven innings while striking out 10. It was the second time this month he struck out 10 batters. The Mets have the following career numbers against Anderson:
- Pete Alonso 1-7
- Harrison Bader 1-3, 2B, K
- Ben Gamel 1-2, 2B
- José Iglesias 2-9, HR
- Francisco Lindor 2-9
- J.D. Martinez 1-4, HR, BB, K
- Jeff McNeil 1-6
- Brandon Nimmo 5-12, HR, 3 K
- Tyrone Taylor 1-3
- Luis Torrens 0-4
Three Things To Watch For:
- The post-deadline Angels. The Angels could have gone full rebuild at the deadline. They instead traded two relievers who would be free agents at the end of the season (and the Mets will be thankful they won’t have to face this weekend). So Tyler Anderson remains to start against the Mets and Taylor Ward remains in the Angels lineup. They enter play today with a .431 win percentage, 13 games out of the wild card and without a direction. Do the play with a chip on their shoulders this weekend? Do they play like a team going through the motions?
- Mark Vientos. Vientos was a bright spot on the Mets on Wednesday, their last game before heading west, going 1-for-3 with a home run. That was his second straight game with that identical batting line. Since July 10th he has gone 17-for-60 over 17 games, with five homers and six doubles (.283/.353/.633).
- Surprisingly, we’ll see a lot of old friends. Former Mets Hunter Strickland, Brandon Drury, Luis Guillorme and Kevil Pillar all play for the Angels. Pillar has been in 53 games hitting .300/.345/.488 with a 129 OPS+, which is much better than he was with the White Sox this season where he slashed .160/.290/.360 with an 83 OPS+ over 17 games. Mets legend Luis Guillorme started the season hitting .150/.190/.250 (22 OPS+) over nine games with the Braves. Since coming over to the Angels he’s hitting .247/.315/.320 (78 OPS+). Drury has had a dreadful season over 56 games hitting .160/.234/.197 (23 OPS+). Strickland is having a solid year in the bullpen with a 3.35 ERA, 3.99 FIP over 51 innings.
Let’s Go Mets!
