The Mets offense behind Pete Alonso wasn’t able to hold off the Reds last night as the Mets lost the series opener 5-3. The Reds and the Diamondbacks both won yesterday so they are tied for the third wild card spot right now. The Marlins are half a game out and the Giants are one game out. On the tanking front, the Angels stretched their losing streak to three games, keeping the Mets with the 8th worst record.
Tylor Megill continues his 2023 campaign today with his 23 start of the season. Over 107 1/3 innings he has a 5.03 ERA, 5.14 FIP, 1.640 WHIP and an 83 ERA+. In his last three starts he has allowed only four runs from 12 hits and seven walks over 16 1/3 innings (2.20 ERA, 4.36 FIP) while striking out 16 batters. This is his best three game stretch since his first three starts this season. Only two Reds players have seen Megill in a game before. Harrison Bader is 2-for-2 with a homer and Hunter Renfroe is 1-for2.
The Mets bats will face off against rookie Andrew Abbott. Abbott has pitched 99 innings tis season with a 3.64 ERA, 4.12 FIP, 1.222 WHIP and a 127 ERA+. Abbott is coming off of a rough start against the Cardinals where he allowed six runs over four innings. Before that Abbott had a five game stretch with a 4.07 ERA, so slightly worse than his season numbers. This will be Abbott’s first start against the Mets.
Three Things To Watch For:
- Pete Alonso. Alonso hit his 45th homer of the season, putting him in striking distance of a 50th homer of the season. Pete has been on fire recently going 6-for-18 in his last four games with two doubles and two homers (1.146 OPS).
- DJ Stewart is still racking up the hits. Stewart has been a massive surprise for the Mets the second half of this season. Last night he went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Since September 2nd he has gone 11-for-37 at the plate with three doubles and two homers while scoring six runs. Stewart has a .955 OPS (158 OPS+) over 46 games this season.
- The back of the bullpen is ready to go. Ottavino and Raley are both well rested if they are needed tonight. Raley hasn’t pitched since he tossed 15 pitches on Monday. Ottavino threw 17 on Tuesday. We’ve said this a few times this week, but the Mets starters all going five innings plus recently has significantly removed stress from the bullpen that was burning through pitchers a couple of weeks ago.
Let’s Go Mets!
