It’s a brand new September! The Mets extended their winnings streak to seven games on Wednesday night and every team the Mets are chasing lost on Thursday. The Mets are tied with the Braves for the last wild card spot and only three games out of the first wild card spot. The Mets now have multiple paths to the post season. It’s going to be a wild rest of the month!
Sean Manaea has pitched 150 2/3 innings over 27 games with a 3.35 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 1.115 WHIP and a 118 ERA+. Manaea is coming off of a great start against the White Sox, shutting them out over seven innings. In his last seven games he has allowed 2.42 ERA, 2.72 FIP over 44 2/3 innings while striking out 53 batters. He has pitched seven innings in five of his last seven starts. Manaea’s second start of the season was against the Reds where he allowed one run over five innings. The Reds have the following career numbers against Manaea:
- Will Benson 0-1
- Elly De La Cruz 1-2, K
- Santiago Espinal 0-1, K
- Jake Fraley 0-2, 3 BB
- Ty France 2-10, 2 K
- TJ Friedl 1-2, K
- Jonathan India 0-3
- Luke Maile 0-3, BB, K
- Amed Rosario 4-8, 2B
- Spencer Steer 0-4, 2 K
- Tyler Stephenson 1-2, BB
Fernando Cruz makes only his third start of the season tonight. Over 63 games he has pitched 57 2/3 innings with a 4.99 ERA, 3.26 FIP, 1.353 WHIP and an 86 ERA+. His last two outings have been starts where he has pitched five innings, allowing one run and three hits while striking out 11 batters. In both outings he tossed 42 pitches, both season highs. He had one outing against the Mets earlier this season where he allowed an unearned run in one inning from no hits and three walks. The Mets have the following career numbers against Cruz:
- Pete Alonso 0-2
- Francisco Alvarez 0-2, K
- Harrison Bader 0-0, BB
- Francisco Lindor 0-1, BB
- J.D. Martinez 0-2
- Jeff McNeil 0-2, K
- Mark Vientos 0-1
- Jesse Winker 0-2, K
Three Things To Watch For:
- Reds Bullpen Usage. Four relievers in the Reds bullpen haven’t pitched since Monday (Justin Wilson, Sam Moll, Emilio Pagan, Carson Spiers). If Cruz throws around what he has done the last two outings, they can expect two to four innings from him. The Reds will then have to start burning their bullpen right away. One pitcher to watch is Carson Spiers, who threw 65 pitches on Monday over 2 1/3 innings.
- Francisco Lindor. It’s a game in 2024, so of course we are watching Francisco Lindor. In his last three games he has gone 6-for-12 with two doubles and a homer, scoring four runs. Over his 15 game hitting streak he has hit 23-for-63 with eight doubles and six homers. He’s slashing .365/.403/.778 and has season total 7.3 fWAR.
- Jesse Winker. On August 31st Winker went 3-for-3 at the plate with a homerun and two RBI’s in a game the Mets won 5-3. His next hit was on Wednesday where he lead off the game with a grand slam, which was the difference maker for the majority of the game (literally the only runs until the Red Sox melted down in the 8th inning). It’s stretch-run Winker season!
Let’s Go Mets!
