The New York Mets look to put another frustrating weekend of baseball behind them as they head down to Houston to start a series with the Astros tonight.
On Friday night the Mets cruised to victory over the struggling Cardinals. They had chances on Saturday but couldn’t cash in as the Cardinals beat them 5-3. Yesterday Carlos Carrasco couldn’t get the job done on the mound and despite the Mets scoring seven runs they couldn’t overcome the Cardinals and lost 8-7. A disappointing weekend. Tommy Pham said after the game, all it takes is the Mets to go on a bit of run. Can they start that tonight?
Max Scherzer looks to take a step in the right direction for himself and the team tonight. Over 11 starts and 56 2/3 innings he has a 4.45 ERA, 4.35 FIP, 1.235 WHIP and a 94 ERA+. Scherzer has had only two seasons in his career, 2011 and 2023 where his ERA+ was below 100. In his last two starts he’s allowed 11 runs from 18 hits and no walks. Last time out he lasted only 3 1/3 innings. Before that pair of starts, Scherzer allowed only 4 runs, 3 earned, over 25 innings. Which Scherzer will the Mets get tonight? The Astros have the following career numbers against Scherzer:
- Michael Brantley 17-47, 8 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 3 BB, K
- José Abreu 6-20, 2B, 5 K
- Jose Altuve 2-14, 4 K
- Martín Maldonado 1-5, HR, BB, 4 K
- Kyle Tucker 1-2, BB, K
Hunter Brown gets the start for the Astros tonight. In 75 1/3 innings this season he has a 3.35 ERA, 3.30 FIP, 1.195 WHIP and a 126 ERA+. Hunter is coming off of a great start where he held the Nationals scoreless over seven innings, scattering four hits and three walks. Before that he was in a two start stretch where he allowed eight runs over 10 2/3 innings. This will be Hunter’s first time facing anyone on the Mets roster in an official major league game.
Three Things To Watch For:
- Can the Mets offense keep the momentum going? The result stunk yesterday but the Mets offense showed all the different ways they can get on base and score runs. Lindor and Pham both homered. Nimmo got a double. McNeil was on base three times because he got plunked twice and walked once. Canha walked twice. The Mets were able to combine all of this together and get seven runs. At times the offense disappears. Other times it becomes only supported by solo blasts. If the bats can put together games like they did yesterday more routinely, the wins will start to come.
- The Astros are struggling too. The Astros aren’t struggling like the Mets, but things aren’t great in Houston right now. They have lost four games in a row and were swept by the Reds this weekend. Similar to the Mets, they also scored seven runs yesterday and lost! Both the Mets and the Astros are battling right now to right the ship.
- There is hope in peripherals. We are looking everywhere for hope right now, and there is some hope in Max Scherzer’s Baseball Savant page. Teams are hitting Scherzer hard, we know this. His Barrel % is in the 25th percentile in the league. That being said, he’s in the 84th and 88th percentile for fastball and curveball spin. He’s in the 84th percentile for walk percentage. He’s in 67th percentile for xERA/xwOBA, and the way he’s been playing I thought that would be a lot worse. He’s still getting hitters to chase (76th percentile).
Let’s Go Mets!
