Friday, July 12, 2019 • 7:10 p.m.
Marlins Park • Miami, FL
LHP Jason Vargas (3-4, 3.77) vs. LHP Caleb Smith (4-4, 3.50)
SNY • WCBS 880 AM • ESPN 1050 AM
Mets baseball is back tonight! For the first time in a few years the Mets had an exciting All-Star break. On Monday night Pete Alonso brought home the Home Run Derby championship (also securing 80% off tickets for Mets fans) and the three Mets in the All-Star game represented the team well on Tuesday night. Then the trade rumors started to swirl. We already knew that teams would be in on Zack Wheeler as a rental, but Noah Syndergaard is also drawing interest. It could be a wild ride for the rest of the month. Or we could trade away prospects for relievers ourselves and then play .500 ball for the rest of the summer.
Mets Lineup
- Jeff McNeil – RF
- J.D. Davis – LF
- Pete Alonso – 1B
- Wilson Ramos – C
- Robinson Cano – 2B
- Todd Frazier – 3B
- Michael Conforto – CF
- Amed Rosario – SS
- Jason Vargas – LHP
Marlins Lineup
- Miguel Rojas – SS
- Curtis Granderson – LF
- Garrett Cooper – 1B
- Brian Anderson – 3B
- Starlin Castro – 2B
- Harold Ramirez – RF
- Jorge Alfaro – C
- JT Riddle – CF
- Caleb Smith – LHP
Anyway, Jason Vargas takes the mound tonight and he could also be looked at by other teams as a trade target (although his threatening to fight a reporter did not help his value at all). Vargas is 3-4 over 15 games and 14 starts with 71.2 innings of work posting a 3.77 ERA, 4.37 FIP, 1.312 WHIP and 108 ERA+. After his complete game shutout in June he has tossed 26.1 innings over 5 games with a 4.10 ERA with opponents getting on base at a .295 clip. He hasn’t faced the Marlins since his first start of the season where he allowed 2 runs off 8 hits and a walk in 5.0 innings. The Marlins have the following stats against him:
- Curtis Granderson 8-17, 3 2B, BB
- Starlin Castro 5-13, 3 2B, 2 BB, K
- Brian Anderson 1-8, 2B, 4 K
- Miguel Rojas 2-8, HR, 2 K
- Lewis Brinson 3-6, 2B, BB, K
- Martin Prado 3-4, 2B, BB
- Cesar Puello 0-3
- JT Riddle 0-3
The Mets bats will start the second half against Caleb Smith who is 4-4 over 13 games and 72.0 innings with a 3.50 ERA, 4.38 FIP, 1.041 WHIP and 117 ERA+. After missing a month of baseball, he returned last week and allowed 4 runs, 3 earned over 6.0 innings. He hasn’t faced the Mets since his first start of the season where he allowed 2 runs over 5.0 innings from 4 hits and a walk. The Mets have the following numbers against him:
- Michael Conforto 3-8, 4 K
- Amed Rosario 1-7, 2B, 3 K
- Robinson Cano 1-4, K
- Juan Lagares 0-4, 2 K
- Pete Alonso 0-3
- J.D. Davis 1-2, 2B
- Todd Frazier 0-1, BB
- Jeff McNeil 1-1, 2B, BB
Game Notes
Jason Vargas ranks 11th in the majors with a 2.76 ERA since April 19th.
Mets relievers have allowed a run in 23 of their last 26 games. They have a 6.94 ERA in that span.
The Mets have designated right-hander Wilmer Font for assignment and in the corresponding move recalled righty Chris Mazza from Triple-A.
Let’s Go Mets! Also, earlier this week we took a look at the Mets 2019 Non-Roster Invites to Spring Training that made it to Queens this year. It’s a surprising long list.
