Series Preview: Mets Return Home To Face Diamondbacks

The New York Mets (13-13 second place in the National League’s eastern division) return home to Citi Field for a five-game home stand, beginning with three games against manager Tory Luvullo’s Arizona Diamondbacks (15-16, fourth place in the National League’s western division). After series with Arizona, the Baltimore Orioles will visit Flushing for a brief two-game series.

The Mets are coming off a seven-game road trip to Philadelphia and St. Louis, that saw Luis Rojas‘s squad win four of the seven games. The Mets have now won four of their last six games. The Diamondbacks most recently completed a three-game series in Miami, in which they were swept by the Marlins.

The Mets will miss Madison Bumgarner in this series.

The weather in New York calls for fair but cool weather on Friday, light rain on Saturday, and sunshine on Sunday.

Let’s take a look at the projected pitching matchups for the series.

Friday , May 7, RHP Zac Gallen (1-1) ARI,  NYM vs LHP David Peterson (1-3) NYM, 7:10 pm

Gallen in 2021: GS: 4, ERA: 3.48, WHIP: 1.16,  IP: 20.2, H: 14, BB: 10, SO: 27,  ER: 8, HR: 1

Last 3 starts: April 13 vs. OAK (ND, 4.0IP, 1ER), April 20 vs. CIN (ND, 5.2IP, 3ER), April 26 vs. ATL (W, 7.0IP, 0ER)

Peterson in 2021: GS: 5, ERA: 4.81, WHIP: 1.23, IP: 24.1, H: 22, BB: 8, SO: 29, ER: 13, HR: 5

Last 3 starts: April 21 vs. CHC (L, 3.1IP, 3ER), April 27 vs. BOS (L, 6.0IP, 2ER), May 2 vs. PHI  (ND, 5.0IP, 1ER)

Gallen is in his third season. He has a career record of 7-9 with a career ERA of 2.87 and a career WHIP of 1.16. He was drafted by the Cardinals, and traded to Miami in the deal that sent Marcell Ozuna to to St. Louis. He was then traded by Miami to Arizona in a 2019 deadline deal that sent Jazz Chisholm to the Marlins.

Peterson has been up-and-down all season. In his last start at Philadelphia, he was on the ropes in the first inning, having given up a run early. He was bailed out of the inning by some fine defense, and went on to toss four more innings of shutout baseball. He’ll look to back that start up with another good effort on Friday night.

The game can be seen locally on SNY and heard locally on WCBS radio 880 a.m.

Saturday, May 8, Undecided ARI vs Undecided But Maybe LHP Joey Lucchesi (0-2) NYM, 7:10 pm

Lucchesi in 2021: GS: 3, ERA: 10.13, WHIP: 1.59,  IP: 10.2, H: 14, BB: 3, SO: 12,  ER: 12, HR: 2

Last 3 starts: April 17 vs. COL (L, 3.0IP, 3ER), April 22 vs. CHC (ND, 3.0IP, 3ER), May 3 vs. STL (L, 2.2IP, 6ER)

Lucchesi is tentatively set to pitch on Saturday night. He has struggled in 2021. In his last start against the Cardinals, he was unable to hold a 5-2 lead early in the game, and wound up taking the loss. He may have been victimized by a bad call on a foul tip, but regardless he was ineffective in the start, and has generally been unreliable in a starting role. His best outing was in relief at Philadelphia on April 7, when he tossed two innings of one-hit, no-run baseball.

The Diamondbacks have not announced a starter for the game.

The game can be seen locally on SNY and heard locally on WCBS radio 880 a.m.

Sunday, May 9, Undecided ARI vs Undecided But Maybe RHP Jacob deGrom (2-2) NYM, 1:10 pm

DeGrom in 2021: GS: 5, ERA: 0.51, WHIP: 0.57,  IP: 35, H: 16, BB: 4, SO: 59,  ER: 2, HR: 2

Last 3 starts: April 17 vs. COL (W, 6.0IP, 0ER), April 24 vs. WSH (W,  9.0IP, 0ER), April 28 vs. BOS (L, 6IP, 1ER)

DeGrom is tentative for Sunday, pending the outcome of his throwing session on Friday as he recovers from a strain his his right lateral muscle. The Mets’ ace has been nothing short of brilliant all season, and he will look to keep that going on Mothers’ Day.

The Diamondbacks have not announced a starter for the game.

The game can be seen locally on SNY and heard locally on WCBS radio 880 a.m.

Series Notes for Mets (stats through games of May 5)

Mets by the numbers, with MLB rankings:

BA .238 (11th)

OBP .323 (5th)

SLG .362 (26th)

OPS .685 (20th)

Team ERA 3.22 (4th)

Starters’ ERA 3.04 (5th)

Relievers’ ERA 3.54 (8th)

Mets OPS leaders are Pete Alonso (.886), Brandon Nimmo (.870), Michael Conforto (.756)

Francisco Lindor ended his hitless streak at 26 ABs in Thursday’s game, and is now slashing .157/.276/.202

Brandon Nimmo, Luis Guillorme,  and J.D. Davis are on the 10-day injured list

Series Notes for Diamondbacks (stats through games of May 6)

Diamondbacks by the numbers, with MLB rankings:

BA .238 (12th)

OBP .320 (8th)

SLG .415 (6th)

OPS .735 (6th)

Team ERA 5.13 (28th)

Starters’ ERA 5.03 (28th)

Relievers’ ERA 5.27 (27th)

Diamondbacks OPS leaders are Carson Kelly (1.142), David Peralta (.836), Josh Rojas (.826)

Kole Calhoun and Ketel Marte are on the 10-day injured list.

Arizona has a potent offense, but they do not pitch particularly well. The Mets pitch well, but still have not begun to click offensively (they set a franchise record for LOB in a nine-inning game on Thursday with 17).

From a Mets perspective, perhaps they can get their offense going against Arizona’s pitching in this series. The Mets’ pitching has kept the team afloat during the offense’s tribulations. If the team can put both elements of the game together, they may be able to go on a run to establish themselves within the division, which no team has done to date.