The Mets try to avoid a sweep by the Giants this afternoon as they wrap up their first west coast trip of the year. If you are like me, your relationship with the Mets this week has been something like this. “Woah, the pitching for both teams looks good after one inning, time for bed!” That sentiment ends today as the Mets play a game starting in the mid-afternoon!
Sean Manaea looks to salvage the series for the Mets as he takes on his former team. Over four starts (19 2/3 innings) Manaea has a 4.12 ERA, 3.51 FIP, 1.373 WHIP and a 96 ERA+. Back on April 13th Manaea had a terrible start where he allowed eight runs against the Royals. He has only allowed 11 runs total this season. His last start was more normal as he held the Dodgers to just two runs from four hits and three walks over five innings. Since his first start of the season, he has not finished six full innings. The Giants have the following career numbers against him:
- Nick Ahmed 2-7, HR
- Michael Conforto 2-4, 2B
- Thairo Estrada 3-10, K
- Wilmer Flores 7-21, 2 2B, 3 K
- Tom Murphy 3-8, HR, BB, 2 K
- Austin Slater 3-20, 2B, 2 BB, 5 K
- Jorge Soler 2-6, HR, K
- Mike Yastrzemski 2-8, 3B, BB, 3 K
Blake Snell signed a contract with the Giants late in spring training and has had a rough go of it coming back to the majors. Over his three starts, 11 2/3 innings, he has a 11.57 ERA, 4.62 FIP, 1.971 WHIP and a 35 ERA+. At some point his stats have to return to his career like numbers, the Mets are hoping that is not going to be tonight. Last season he lead the league with a 2.25 ERA, 185 ERA+ and 99 walks.
Snell had two very different starts against the Mets last season. In New York he allowed four runs, three earned, from six hits over five innings. Then in July he held the Mets to only one hit over six innings while striking out 11. The Mets have the following career numbers against Snell:
- Pete Alonso 5-16, 2B, 2 HR, 4 BB, 4 K
- Harrison Bader 0-2
- Brett Baty 0-1, K
- Francisco Lindor 5-32, 2B, 2 HR, BB, 8 K
- Starling Marte 5-21, 2B, HR, BB, 7 K
- Jeff McNeil 2-10, 2 BB, 2 K
- Omar Narváez 0-1, 3 BB
- Tomás Nido 0-6, BB, 2 K
- Brandon Nimmo 9-17, 2 2B, 2 BB, 2 K
- DJ Stewart 0-3, 2 K
- Tyrone Taylor 0-4, 2 K
Three Things To Watch For:
- Starling Marte is heating up! Marte went 3-for-4 at the plate on Tuesday night with a double. It was his second consecutive game with multiple hits and his fifth time in his last eight games with multiple hits. Since April 13th, where Marte went 3-for-5 at the plate with a homer, Marte has gone 16-for-43 with three doubles, three homers and three stolen bases. On the season now he is hitting .305/.347/.474 with a 134 OPS+.
- Hitting with runners in scoring position. During the Mets hot streak, they were raking with runners in scoring position. The Mets out-hit the Giants on Tuesday 9 to 8. They had three doubles compared to the Giants one double and one triple. The difference came to hitting with RISP. The Mets went 1-for-7 while the Giants went 4-for-9. The good news is the Mets are hitting, this should fall back together.
- Working walks. The Mets pitchers collectively didn’t walk a single Giants batter on Tuesday night, a great trend the Mets hope continues this afternoon. The Mets hitters though only worked one walk (Brandon Nimmo). This afternoon they are facing a pitcher who works around the zone, led the league in walks last year and has struggled this year. Make the Giants pitching staff work today!
Let’s Go Mets!
