Break up the Mets! They’ve won two games in a row!
After starting the season 0-5 the Mets have won their last two games. On Thursday evening they won the second game of a doubleheader scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth. On Friday evening they squeaked by the Reds 3-2. There’s a trend starting to emerge – the pitching is carrying the team while the offense struggles. The last thing the Mets need is for the pitchers to feel the pressure to be perfect at all times. Playing in Cincinnati is a great way to wake up the bats, let’s hope today is the day!
Luis Severino makes his second start for the orange and blue this afternoon. In his first start he allowed six runs, three earned, off of 11 hits. The defense was shaky behind him and it lead to Severino having to throw a lot more over his five innings of work than he would have liked. On the positive side he didn’t walk anyone and struck out six batters. His first start of the season last year was against the Reds and he held them to one run over 4 2/3 innings giving up four hits and a walk while striking out five. The Reds have the following career numbers against him:
- Jeimer Candelario 1-10, 2B, 5 K
- Will Benson 0-2, K
- Santiago Espinal 1-6, 2B, 3 K
- Stuart Fairchild 2-3, HR
- Jake Fraley 0-2
- Jonathan India 0-2, 2 BB
- Luke Maile 3-10, BB, 2 K
- Nick Martini 1-3, K
- Spencer Steer 1-2, 2B
- Tyler Stephenson 0-0, BB
- Bubba Thompson 0-2
Nick Martinez gets the start today for the Reds. In his first game he allowed three runs from six hits over five innings. He’s coming off of a year where he was mostly used as a reliever with the Padres but made six nine starts over his 63 appearances. He logged a total of 110 1/3 innings with a 3.43 ERA, 3.92 FIP, 1.260 WHIP and a 119 ERA+ (career best). This includes pitching against the Mets on back-to-back days where he allowed a hit and two walks and nothing else over two innings of work. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:
- Pete Alonso 1-1, HR, BB
- Harrison Bader 1-4
- Francisco Lindor 2-3, 2B
- Starling Marte 0-4
- Jeff McNeil 0-1
- Omar Narváez 0-1, BB, K
- Brandon Nimmo 0-3, BB, K
- Tyrone Taylor 1-3, 2B
- Joey Wendle 0-4, K
Three Things To Watch For:
- The Mets and runners in scoring position. The Mets have struggled with two things this season – getting runners in scoring position, having runners score from scoring position. The first game on Thursday was an example of the latter problem, the Mets as a team went 2-for-17 with RISP. In the nightcap, the Mets went 1-for-3, failing to get runners to scoring position in the first place. Yesterday was a mix of both problems with the Mets going 0-for-5.
- Mets bullpen usage. Thank the baseball gods for Reed Garrett who pitched three innings for the Mets on Thursday night, after the Mets had to use practically their entire bullpen in the first game. Last night the Mets had four pitchers go out of the pen, all pitching on back to back days. Realistically, the three freshest arms for tonight’s game are Yohan Ramírez (hasn’t pitched since his suspension), Jake Diekman (11 pitches Thursday) and Jorge López (6 pitches Thursday).
- Brett Baty comeback season. Brett had two of the four Mets hits yesterday and made some critical plays on the field. He has now recorded a hit in five of seven games this season and has reached based in six consecutive games. Since striking out four times in the first three games he has struck out only two times in the last four games.
Let’s Go Mets!
