Series Preview: Mets Return Home For Three With San Francisco

The New York Mets (61-63, third place in the National League’s eastern division) return home to Citi Field to take on manager Gabe Kapler‘s San Francisco Giants (80-44, first place in the National League’s western division) in a three-game series at Citi Field.

The Mets are completing their much-discussed stretch of thirteen consecutive games against the Giants and Dodgers, two of the best teams in the game. So far for the Mets, it has not gone well. The Mets are currently 2-8 against Los Angeles and San Francisco, most recently dropping three of four games against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

Overall, the Mets have played reasonably well against the tough competition (with the exception of the August 15 game against the Dodgers). However, their inability to get key hits and win more of the games has placed them in a precarious situation with 38 games left to play. New York has dropped eleven games in the standings in the last twenty-two days and now trails the first-place Atlanta Braves by seven games.

The Mets’ schedule will soften after the series with Giants. To round out their ten-game homestead, the Mets will play three games against the struggling Washington Nationals and four games against the last-place Miami Marlins (who always seem to give the Mets a tough time).

If the Mets have any chance of making a run at the postseason, they will need to take care of business on this homestand, then continue to do so on their next road trip to Washington (five games) and Miami (three games). Over the next two weeks, the Braves will play the Yankees, Giants, Dodgers, and Nationals.

On the positive side for the Mets, Javier Baez returned to the lineup on Sunday, August 22 and made an immediate impact with two doubles and some creative base running. At some point this week, Francisco Lindor is expected the return from his oblique injury, giving the Mets a dynamic double-play combination that should add increased offense, improved defense, and an infusion of energy that the team has seemed to lack for the last several weeks.

The weather for the series against the Giants will bring late-summer heat and humidity. It should remain dry for the series, after the torrential rains that topical storm Henri brought over last weekend.

Lets’ take a look at the projected pitching matchups.

Tuesday, August 24: LHP Sammy Long (1-1) SFG vs. RHP  Tylor Megill (1-2) NYM 7:10 pm

Long has assumed the spot of Anthony DeSclafani in the Giants’ rotation with DeSclafani having landed on the injured list on August 22. Long was called up from the Triple-A Sacramento  River Cats on the same day. The 26-year-old from Fair Oaks, CA had been with the Giants earlier this season, his first in the major leagues.

He has appeared in eight games, starting four of them. He is pitching to a 5.72 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. He has tossed 28.1 innings and struck out 31 hitters, allowing 26 hits and walking 10 batters.

Megill has a 3.21 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP on the season, his rookie campaign. He faced the Giants on August 18 and pitched very well. In that game, the right-hander from Long Beach, CA went 6.0 innings, letting up just one run on five hits in a game the Mets won 6-2 in 12 innings, their only win in San Francisco.

So far this season, since being recalled from Syracuse on June 23, Megill has pitched 56.0 innings, allowing 50 hits, walking 15, and striking out 60 batters. Megill has been going deeper in games, and the Mets will look to him to keep that trend going on Tuesday night.

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

Wednesday, August 25: RHP Johnny Cueto (7-6) SFG vs. RHP Taijuan Walker (7-8) NYM 7:10 pm

Cueto will be coming off the injured list to make this start. The right-hander from the Dominican Republic has a 3.89 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP in 2021. Over his 14-year career with the Reds, Royals, and Giants, Cueto has a 135-96 record to go with a 3.44 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. His last start was on August 8 against the Milwaukee Brewers, in which he pitched 5.1 innings and allowed four runs (three earned), and took a no-decision. In two August starts, Cueto has a 4.35 ERA.

Walker seemed to have hit a pitching wall after the all-star break, and many assumed it was because of the workload, which he had not seen since the 2017 season. He rebounded to toss 6.0 innings of three-run ball against the Phillies on August 8, then pitched brilliantly against the Dodgers on August 14, lasting 6.2 innings and letting up just one run on two hits. The native of Shreveport, LA has a 3.86 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP on the 2021 season.

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

Thursday, August 26: LHP Alex Wood (10-4) SFG vs. RHP Carlos Carrasco (0-2) NYM 7:10 pm

Wood, who has a 4.11 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP on the season, is 30 years old and is in his ninth season. He began his career with the Braves, then pitched for the Dodgers, Reds, the Dodgers again, and is now in his first season with the Giants.

The native of Charlotte, NC has a career record of 63-48 with a 3.53 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. By month in 2021, Wood posted a 1.50 ERA in April, a 3.00 mark in May, a 6.94 ERA in June, a 3.62 ERA in July, and so far in August has an ERA of 5.40.

Carrasco, by his own words, feels like he is in an extended spring training. He is gradually increasing his workload after joining the Mets on July 30 after a long rehab of a hamstring injury. Carrasco most recently had his longest outing of 2021, throwing 5.0 innings against the Dodgers on August 20.

In that game, the native of Venezuela allowed three runs on five hits. This represented progress from his start before that on August 15, also against Los Angeles. On August 15, Carrasco allowed six runs in just two innings. That rough outing significantly contributed to his 8.82 ERA on the season, to go with his 1.65 WHIP.

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

Miscellaneous Series Notes:

The Giants are second in MLB in team ERA at 3.29. Their starters are third at 3.40 and their relievers are third at 3.14.

The Giants have a team batting average of .245, tenth in MLB. Their team OPS is.762 (5th). San Francisco has hit 187 home runs, good for first in baseball.

Buster Posey leads the Giants with a .928 OPS, Brandon Crawford is second at .899, Brandon Belt is third with a .869 mark.

In addition to DeSclafani, Evan Longoria is on the injured list.

The Mets are ninth in MLB in team ERA at 3.76, their starters are sixth at 3.61, their relievers are 19th at 3.97.

The Mets’ team batting average is .234, 25th in MLB. Their OPS  is .691 (26th). The Mets have hit 130 home runs, 26th in the baseball.

Pete Alonso leads the Mets with an OPS of .847, Brandon Nimmo is second at .811, Jonathan Villar is third at .734.

James McCann, Drew Smith, and Jake Reed are on the injured list.

The Mets have, by way of their August slump, given themselves a difficult task to qualify for October baseball. They have to win, and they will need some help from teams playing both the Braves and Phillies. In addition, New York will be going down the stretch without ace Jacob deGrom.

The Mets may get Noah Syndergaard back in September, but that would likely be in a relief role, where he might pitch an inning or two every couple of days. Essentially, the cavalry is not coming to save them. The same players who put the Mets in this predicament will have to get them out of it.

Luis Rojas‘s squad has talked a lot about “competing”, “sequencing at-bats”, and “the process.” All of those things will need to produce tangible results, and quickly, if there is any chance of postseason baseball in Flushing this season.

We have seen divisional leads erode quickly, both this year and in the past. This time, the Mets will have to be on other side of that, and it all starts with winning their own games. With just 38 games left, this week has to be the beginning of the turnaround.