The first place Mets welcome the second place Phillies to Citi Field tonight for their first clash of the season! The two teams are doing it in different ways so far in 2025. The Mets starting pitching and relief pitching have kept them in every game. The Phillies bullpen has been one of the worst in the majors by ERA, but their offense has been red hot. It’s a classic pitching vs hitting matchup!
Tylor Megill has a 1.40 ERA, 2.21 FIP, 1.345 WHIP and a 275 across four starts and 19 1/3 innings this season. He is coming off of a start where he allowed four runs, two earned from eight hits and no walks over five innings against the Twins. Is Tylor on a hot streak or is he finally breaking out? To be more in “breakout” territory, Tylor needs to finish at least six innings. He’s gone into the sixth inning twice this season but has only recorded one out.
Tylor had one start in the regular season against the Phillies, holding them to one run and four hits over four innings of work. In the playoffs he pitched in relief, allowing one run from a hit and two walks over 1 1/3 innings. The Phillies have the following career numbers against Tylor:
- Alec Bohm 3-10, 2B, 2 K
- Nick Castellanos 4-10, 2B, K
- Bryce Harper 2-12, 2 BB, 5 K
- Max Kepler 0-3, K
- J.T. Realmuto 4-15, 2B, HR, 6 K
- Johan Rojas 0-4
- Kyle Schwarber 1-10, 2B, 3 BB, 2 K
- Edmundo Sosa 1-5, K
- Bryson Stott 0-9, BB, 4 K
- Trea Turner 2-6, 2 BB
The Mets bats will face a familiar opponent in Aaron Nola who is four starts into his 11th season in the majors. He has picked up the loss in all four starts this season with a 6.65 ERA, 4.51 FIP, 1.662 WHIP and a 61 ERA+ over 21 2/3 innings. His stats are skewed by two poor starts, his first one and his most recent one, where he allowed 12 runs, 11 earned over 10 2/3 innings. Between those starts he’s allowed a more normal five runs over 11 innings.
Nola faced the Mets twice in the regular season last year allowing six runs from 10 hits over 13 1/3 innings. His one start in the postseason last year came against the Mets where the Mets got him for four runs from five hits including two homeruns over five innings. The Mets own the following career stats against Nola:
- Pete Alonso 17-52, 3 2B, 6 HR, 5 BB, 15 K
- José Azócar 3-6, K
- Brett Baty 0-7, BB, 3 K
- Francisco Lindor 7-36, 2 2B, BB, 9 K
- Starling Marte 11-33, 2 2B, HR, 10 K
- Brandon Nimmo 13-54, 3B, 2 HR, 13 BB, 20 K
- Juan Soto 10-38, 3 2B, 3 HR, 15 BB, 9 K
- Tyrone Taylor 4-12, 2 2B, BB, 3 K
- Luis Torrens 2-3
- Mark Vientos 2-6, 2 K
- Jesse Winker 5-26, 2 BB, 2 K
Three Things To Watch For:
- Emotions. The last time the Phillies and Mets faced each other was during the NLDS last October. The Mets won the series in four games with Francisco Lindor hitting a grand slam (accounting for all of the Mets runs in that game). Both the Mets and Phillies are looking to take advantage right now of Atlanta’s slow start. The Mets have played loose and confidently for the majority of the season – hopefully that carries over to today despite the opponent.
- Francisco Lindor. Francisco Lindor set the tone for the Mets against St. Louis. He had two three hit games, hit a walk off home run on Friday night and a leadoff home run on Sunday afternoon. Since April 7th Lindor has gone 18-for-56 at the plate with two doubles and three home runs slashing .321/.361/.518.
- Juan Soto. Soto has quietly been moving the Mets offense over the last three games. During this stretch he has gone 5-for-10 at the plate with a double, two runs scored and has five RBI’s. He has recorded an RBI in three consecutive games and in five of his last seven games played. His 0.9 bWAR is second best on the Mets right now behind Pete Alonso (1.8) and ahead of Francisco Lindor (0.4).
Let’s Go Mets!
