The Mets took the series Openers against the San Francisco Mets Giants last night thanks to their bats! Pete Alonso hit a major league leading 9th homer of the year. It was Pete’s 155th of his career, passing Dave Kingman on the all-time list. Overall the Mets had 13 hits on the night with Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo collecting three hits each.
Carlos Carrasco was the originally scheduled pitcher for tonight. He landed on the IL earlier in the week due to bone spurs so tonight we’ll finally see the return of Joey Luccchesi and his majestic churve pitch!
Joey last pitched for the Mets in 2021 where he tossed 38 1/3 innings over 11 games with a 4.46 ERA, 3.40 FIP, 1.174 WHIP, and a 90 ERA+. In his last five starts for the Mets he tossed 22 2/3 innings with a 1.19 ERA and 2.99 FIP. The churve was in! Lucchesi was even pitching into the 6th inning at this point! But then Joey had a major UCL tear and needed Tommy John. In eight rehab games last year he tossed 12 2/3 innings with a 2.13 ERA. In three games in Syracuse this year he’s pitched 15 2/3 innings with a 2.30 ERA and 1.149 WHIP. As a former Padre, there are a few Giants who have seen Lucchesi before:
- Brandon Crawford 1-8, BB, 3 K
- Wilmer Flores 1-6, K
- Austin Slater 1-6, HR, 3 K
- Michael Conforto 2-2
- Joc Pederson 0-1
The Mets look to continue their hit parade tonight against Anthony DeSclafani. Anthony is off to a strong start this season allowing four runs, only three earned, over 19 innings and three starts. He has a 1.42 ERA, 2.34 FIP, 0.632 WHIP (league leading) and a 313 ERA+. This is because Anthony has not walked a single batter this year. He faced the Mets once last year and allowed five runs from nine hits and a walk over five innings. He injured his ankle after that game that kept him out until June, and eventually needed surgery which knocked him out for the rest of the season. The Mets have the following numbers against him:
- Starling Marte 3-23, 2 BB, 6 K
- Eduardo Escobar 2-13, 2B, HR, 3 BB, 4 K
- Francisco Lindor 8-15, 2B, 3 HR, K
- Tommy Pham 4-11, BB, 2 K
- Pete Alonso 3-10, 3 K
- Jeff McNeil 2-9, 2 2B, 3 K
- Brandon Nimmo 0-8, 2 K
- Tim Locastro 0-3
- Mark Canha 2-3
Three Things To Watch For:
- The return of the churve! Joey Lucchesi throws a pitch that is not quite a changeup and not quite a curveball. The somewhere in-between pitch, the churve, is his specialty. When he’s mowing down a lineup, it’s probably because his churve is working. Here’s an interesting article about it, how he throws it differently to different batters how inconsistent the metrics of the pitch are. Specifically take a look at how the spin of the ball is dramatically different from 2019 to 2020.
- Walks or No Walks? Anthony DeSclafani has not allowed any walks in the majors this year. The Mets are the number two teams in walks, taking 96 free passes this season (one behind the Dodgers, and nine ahead of the Orioles). One of these two trends will continue tonight.
- Mets Stat Leaders: Pete Alonso is leading the league in homers and tied for fourth with 17 runs scored. Brandon Nimmo is tied for fourth in the league with 15 walks and second in the league with an absurd .488 OBP. Francisco Lindor is tied for fourth in doubles with eight. The Mets offense has started to come alive this road trip and is picking up the starting pitching struggles.
Let’s Go Mets!
