The Mets come into the first subway series of the year hot. The Mets have won eight of their last ten games and have been soaring since Grimace tossed out the first pitch. They are tied with the Diamondbacks and Nationals at 1.5 games out of the Wild Card and are only two games below .500.
The Yankees have hit a bit of a rough patch recently only winning three of their last 10 games but they still lead the American League with 52 wins this season. They are fourth in Major League baseball with a +109 run differential trailing only the Phillies, Dodgers and Orioles.
Both teams need these two games, lets go!
David Peterson has made four starts for the Mets totaling 22 2/3 innings with a 3.97 ERA, 4.56 FIP, 1.412 WHIP and a 98 ERA+. In three of his four starts this season he has allowed two earned runs. Peterson had a season high in strikeouts his last time out with six and season high pitch count at 100. The Yankees have the following career numbers against Peterson:
- Trent Grisham 1-4, K
- Juan Soto 1-11, 2B, 4 BB, 5 K
- Gleyber Torres 1-1, HR
- Alex Verdugo 0-1, K
The Mets bats draw Gerrit Cole for his second of the season. In his first start he allowed two runs off three hits and a walk over four innings while striking out five, tossing 62 pitches. Aaron Boone declined to directly state after Cole’s last start how much he would pitch today, only to indicate that he would pitch more than 65 pitches. In one start against the Mets last season he allowed only one run from four hits over six innings while striking out eight. The Mets have the following career numbers against Cole:
- Pete Alonso 0-2, K
- Francisco Alvarez 0-2, K
- Harrison Bader 0-1, K
- José Iglesias 3-24, 2 2B, 2 BB, 5 K
- Francisco Lindor 3-20, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 3 K
- J.D. Martinez 8-43, 3 2B, 2 HR, 7 BB, 18 K
- Jeff McNeil 2-5, 2 K
- Brandon Nimmo 2-6, 2 K
- DJ Stewart 1-11, HR, BB, 7 K
- Tyrone Taylor 2-4, 2B, HR, K
- Luis Torrens 0-4
- Mark Vientos 1-2
Three Things To Watch For:
- Closer by committee, again. Edwin Díaz received a 10-game suspension for sticky stuff on Sunday night, before throwing a pitch. We aren’t going to get into that suspension here. The Mets have two games against the Yankees, an off day, and then 17 straight games going to the All Star break. The Mets were already trying to figure out a way to work in a six-man rotation and now need to do it with a roster spot tied up in an suspension. We’ll be watching to see Mendoza handles the late innings tonight. Mendoza already did this for two weeks when Díaz was injured, but that also coincided with the Mets just falling apart at the seams.
- Can Brandon Nimmo set a season high for homers? Brandon Nimmo has hit four homers in his last six games (9-for-24, .375/.444/.917). Before this streak it looked like Nimmo was not going to hit his power numbers from his ridiculous 2023 campaign. Now he’s at 11 on the season and if he puts up similar numbers for the second half of the season, he’ll be right around the career high he set last season of 24 homers. For the Mets as a team, his four homers mixed in with his nine total hits has translated to 8 RBI’s.
- Francisco Lindor should be an All-Star. Lindor got snubbed for the 2023 All-Star game. He ended the year with 31 homers, 31 stolen bases and a 122 OPS+. This year he has a 115 OPS+ and on Sunday he stole his 13th base of the year and hit his 13th homer of the year. He’s heading towards at least as 25-25 season and if he continues his June, he could possibly get a second straight 30-30 season.
Let’s Go Mets!
