Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Mets (30-24, first place in the National League’s eastern division) return home to face the San Diego Padres (37-27, third place in the National League’s western division) in a three-game series at Citi Field. The Mets will then play four games at home against the Cubs.
The Mets are coming off a nine-game road trip during which they won five games, including a four-game split in SanDiego last weekend. Most recently, the Mets split two games in Baltimore to conclude their trip, hitting six home runs as part of their 14-1 win in the second game against the Orioles. The Padres lost two of three games to the Cubs in their last series.
The Mets will play 15 games in the 13 days from June 11-23, then take a day off before playing 18 games in the next 17 days leading up to the all-star break. The Mets, who lead their division by three and one-half games (seven in the loss column) coming into the series against the Padres, will be put to the test over the next month, particularly in the pitching department.
Luis Guillorme may return during this weekend’s series, and Albert Almora, Jr. may not be far behind. Jeff McNeil is set to begin a rehab stint this weekend, and if all goes well, he could be back within a week to ten days. Michael Conforto is still a couple of weeks from starting a rehab assignment. Reinforcements are on the way, and the Mets will need them. There is no timetable for the return of Brandon Nimmo or J.D. Davis.
The weather should cooperate and allow all three games to be played without incident, though there is a chance for showers Sunday afternoon that with luck will not begin before the end of the game.
Let’s take a look at the pitching matchups for the series.
Friday, June 11, LHP Blake Snell (2-2) SDP vs RHP Jacob deGrom (5-2) NYM, 7:10 pm
Snell in 2021: GS: 12, ERA: 4.83, IP: 54.0, H: 45, ER: 29, HR: 8, BB: 32, SO: 80, WHIP: 1.43
DeGrom in 2021: GS: 9, ERA: 0.62, IP: 58.0, H: 25, ER: 4, HR: 3, BB: 8, SO: 93, WHIP: 0.57
Snell faced the Mets on June 4 in San Diego, and was outstanding. He tossed seven innings of scoreless, one-hit ball, striking out 10 and walking just one. The 2018 American League Cy Young award winner is having a sub-par season statistically, with those stats largely driven by bad starts on May 30 ( 7 earned runs) and May 24 (5 earned runs). He is on pace to walk far more hitters than he has in any prior season, with his previous high being 64 in 2018.
Degrom’s numbers continue to look like a misprint, as his dominance becomes more profound as the season moves along. The Mets’ ace has now made three starts since returning from the injured list with left side tightness, increasing his pitch count with each start, and has felt no ill effects. He earned the win on June 5 in San Diego, throwing seven innings of shutout, three-hit baseball.
The matchup of 2018 Cy Young winners is the marquee one of the series. This should be a fun game to watch.
The game can be seen locally on SNY, and heard locally on WCBS radio 880 am.
Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Saturday, June 12, RHP Joe Musgrove (4-5) SDP vs RHP Marcus Stroman (5-4) NYM, 4:10 pm
Musgrove in 2021: GS: 11, ERA: 2.33, IP: 65.2, H: 42, ER: 17, HR: 8, BB: 13, SO: 89, WHIP: 0.84
Stroman in 2021: GS: 12, ERA: 2.41, IP: 71.0, H: 59, ER: 19, HR: 7, BB: 17, SO: 59, WHIP: 1.07
Musgrove faced the Mets on June 5, taking the loss after tossing five innings and allowing three earned runs. He threw the first no-hitter in Padres’ history in April. The El Cajon, CA native has pitched well this season, though his won/loss record indicates that he has pitched in hard luck. He is in his sixth major league season, having pitched for the Astros and Pirates before ending up in San Diego.
Stroman faced the Padres on June 6, getting the win after going six and one-third innings and allowing only one unearned run. The Long Island native also drove in a run with a double. Stroman has been a solid, reliable starter this season, and the Mets will need him to go deep into this game with the heavy schedule coming up.
The game can be seen locally on SNY, and heard locally on WCBS radio 880 am.
Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
Sunday, June 13, RHP Chris Paddack (2-5) SDP vs LHP Joey Lucchesi (1-4) NYM, 1:10 pm
Paddack in 2021: GS: 11, ERA: 3.85, IP: 52.2, H: 49, ER: 25, HR: 8, BB: 13, SO: 48, WHIP: 1.18
Lucchesi in 2021: GS: 12, ERA: 5.79, IP: 28.0, H: 26, ER: 18, HR: 3, BB: 8, SO: 30, WHIP: 1.21
Paddack (“The Sherriff”) faced the Mets on June 6 and took the loss, going six innings, allowing three earned runs. The Cedar Park, TX native is in his third season, all with the Padres. He has a career ERA of 3.85 to go with his career record of 15-17.
Lucchesi, the former Padre, has been pitching much better of late. He started against the Padres on June 4, taking the loss after tossing four and two-thirds innings, allowing one earned run. In his previous start on May 27 against Colorado, he threw three and two-thirds innings, allowing one earned run. The Newark, CA native will try to befuddle his former teammates with his signature “churve” pitch.
Series Notes for Mets
Mets by the numbers, with MLB rankings:
BA .236 (14th)
OBP .314 (15th)
SLG .380 (22nd)
OPS .694 (19th)
Team ERA 3.15 (2nd)
Starters’ ERA 2.88 (1st)
Relievers’ ERA 3.52 (6th)
Mets OPS leaders (among players who are active) are Pete Alonso (.849), Jonathan Villar (.740), Tomas Nido (.732), Kevin Pillar (.721)
Additional notable Mets on the injured list:
Tommy Hunter, Johneshwy Fargas
Jonathan Villar was able to play in the series against the Orioles, after leaving the game on June 2 with hamstring tightness. It will be interested to see how the Mets use Guillorme if he activated, especially since Jose Peraza has cooled at the plate.
Series Notes for Padres
Padres by the numbers, with MLB rankings:
BA .232 (20th)
OBP .318 (8th)
SLG .371 (27th)
OPS .689 (21st)
Team ERA 2.96 (1st)
Starters’ ERA 3.28 (6th)
Relievers’ ERA 2.59 (1st)
Active Padres’ OPS leaders (among players who are active) are Fernando Tatis Jr. (.996), Jake Cronenworth (.748), Manny Machado (.734), Will Myers (.708), Tommy Pham (.695)
Notable Padres on the injured list:
The Mets and Padres are both contenders for post season play, so this should be an interesting series, especially because the two teams met just one week ago. Both teams pitch very well, and have their sporadic difficulties scoring runs.
The Mets are slowly getting healthier, and as noted above, are entering a daunting stretch of games, both in terms of frequency and opposition. The key for the Mets will be to have their starters go deep into these games, to preserve as much of the bullpen as possible. With capacity at Citi Field expanding to 77%, it will be nice to see a large crowd energized by a good series.
It’s going to be a sprint to the all-star break. The Mets are in the starting block, waiting for the gun to sound.
