Tonight’s game for the Mets could become an inflection point for the team this season. On Monday night Luis Severino had a stellar outing for the Mets, bringing a no-hitter into the 8th inning. Joey Wendle made a defensive mistake that led to the tying Cubs run. In the top of the ninth Edwin Díaz allowed the go-ahead homer. The Mets bats left six runners on base, barely got anyone in scoring position and when they did, they went 0-for-2 at the plate.
If the Mets can feed off of the energy of Monday night’s missed opportunity, that makes tonight an inflection game. A win tonight makes a series split or even a series win all the more probable. A loss makes points the Mets in a direction of a third consecutive series loss.
Sean Manaea looks to build on Quintana and Severino’s last two starts. The Mets just got back-to-back games with their starter going eight innings. Manaea is coming off of a frustrating outing where he held the Giants scoreless over 4 2/3 innings, but managed to walk eight batters in addition to allowing eight hits thus tossing 101 pitches, a season high, before finishing the fifth inning. Overall in 2024, Manaea has made five starts totaling 24 1/3 innings with a 3.33 ERA, 3.45 FIP, 1.438 WHIP and a 120 ERA+.
Manaea pitched against the Cubs twice in 2023. In his first start against them he allowed no runs, no hits and no walks over 4 1/3 innings while striking out five batters. In his second outing he allowed two runs from four hits over three innings in relief. The Cubs have the following career numbers against him:
- Miguel Amaya 0-3, 2 K
- Michael Busch 0-2, 2 K
- Yan Gomes 0-4, 2 K
- Ian Hap 1-4, K
- Nico Hoerner 1-4, 3B
- Nick Madrigal 0-3
- Matt Mervis 0-2, K
- Christopher Morel 1-3, BB, K
- Dansby Swanson 0-10, 3 K
- Mike Tauchman 1-4, 2B, K
- Patrick Wisdom 2-3, K
The Mets bats will get a look at Javier Assad tonight who is off to a phenomenal start in 2024. Over five starts and 27 innings Assad has a 2.00 ERA, 3.31 FIP, 1.000 WHIP and a 214 ERA+. In 2023 Assad was used both as a reliever and a starter (with exactly 1/3 of an inning of relief against the Mets). During his longest stretch of a starter from the start of August to mid-September, Assad had a 2.84 ERA, 4.52 FIP over 50 2/3 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:
- Pete Alonso 0-3
- Harrison Bader 0-1
- Brett Baty 0-1, K
- Francisco Lindor 1-2, BB
- J.D. Martinez 0-2, K
- Jeff McNeil 0-2, BB
- Brandon Nimmo 0-3, 2 K
- Tyrone Taylor 0-1
Three Things To Watch For:
- Evenly matched for power. The Mets as a team have hit 31 homers this season, good for a four-way tie for 11th in the league. The Cubs have hit 30 homers this season, tied with the Mariners for 15th in the league.
- Will the Cubs steal a base? It’s no secret that the Mets have been susceptible to stolen bases this season. The Cubs have stolen a league worst eight bags this year, two behind the Rockies. (For context, the Reds and Nationals have stolen the most at 52, with the Brewers behind them at 35). Will the Cubs feel empowered to run against the Mets?
- Dollar Dog Night at Citi Field. Hope you are going to the ballpark hungry tonight if you’re attending the game in person as the Mets are hosting dollar dog night. They even got America’s favorite veteran, Seymore Weiner, in on the advertisement. In other cities, dollar dog night has led to mild chaos with hot dogs being tossed from one section to another. Eat responsibly tonight!
