Thursday, May 1, 2025 • 1:10 PM
Citi Field • Flushing, NY
RHP Zac Gallen (1-4, 5.57) vs. RHP Kodai Senga (3-1, 1.26)
SNY • MLBN

The Mets look to bounce back from a frustrating loss and take the series victory against the Diamondbacks this afternoon.

Last night’s game was always penciled in to be the tough game for the Mets in the series, but it ended up being difficult for a completely different reason. The Mets used Brandon Waddell as a bulk pitcher to give their starters an extra day of rest, and he was tremendous, keeping the Diamondbacks scoreless over 4 1/3 innings. The Mets’ bats had to deal with Corbin Burnes and were able to make him work, but just couldn’t get runs. Last weekend, we saw that every time the Mets fell, they picked themselves right back up, hopefully, today is more of the same.

Kodai Senga (34) – Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Mets Lineup

  1. Francisco Lindor – SS
  2. Juan Soto – RF
  3. Pete Alonso – 1B
  4. Jesse Winker – DH
  5. Mark Vientos – 3B
  6. Brandon Nimmo – LF
  7. Luis Torrens – C
  8. Jeff McNeil – 2B
  9. Tyrone Taylor – CF

Kodai Senga looks to continue his tremendous season with his sixth start. Over five starts, 28 2/3 innings, Senga has a 1.26 ERA, 2.83 FIP, 1.047 WHIP, and a 310 ERA+. He’s been so good that allowing two runs in his last start raised his seasonal ERA by almost half a run. Senga faced the Diamondbacks twice in 2023 and held them to only one run over 14 innings while striking out 22 batters. The Diamondbacks have the following career numbers against him:

Opposing Lineup

Which Zac Gallen will the Mets see today? The long-time ace of the Diamondbacks has made six starts totaling 32 1/3 innings with a 5.57 ERA, 4.41 FIP, 1.392 WHIP, and a 75 ERA+. He has made one tremendous start this season, his second start of the season in the Bronx, keeping the Yankees scoreless over 6 2/3 innings while striking out 13 batters. Since then, he has allowed 16 runs over 21 2/3 innings from 23 hits and 11 walks (6.65 ERA, 5.48 FIP). Last season, Gallen only tossed six pitches against the Mets before leaving the game with a hamstring strain. The Mets have the following career stats against Gallen:

  • Pete Alonso 4-14, 2B, 2 BB, 6 K
  • José Azócar 1-4, 2B, K
  • Francisco Lindor 3-10, 2B, BB, K
  • Starling Marte 0-2, 2 BB, K
  • Jeff McNeil 3-16, 2B, 4 K
  • Brandon Nimmo 1-7, 2B, BB, K
  • Juan Soto 4-22, 2B, HR, 2 BB, 5 K
  • Tyrone Taylor 1-5, 2B, BB, K
  • Luis Torrens 1-3, 2B
  • Mark Vientos 1-3, HR, K
  • Jesse Winker 1-2, BB

Game Notes

  • Carlos Mendoza said the Mets will likely add another starter or long reliever for their upcoming series against the Cardinals.
  • Mendoza added that Dedniel Núñez was in consideration to be called up earlier this week, but the team wanted to make sure he is ready to stay in the majors. Mendoza said he thinks Núñez will be with the big club soon.
  • Earlier today, the Mets called up Ty Adcock and Génesis Cabrera from Triple-A and optioned Brandon Waddell and Chris Devenski.

Three Things To Watch For

  1. An old foe returns. The Mets struggled with runners in scoring position earlier in the season. That returned in a frustrating way last night with the Mets going 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position, leaving 13 men on base. There was a bit of bad luck (hard hit outs, an unreviewable play). The Mets have shown before that if they collect the hits and the walks, eventually they’ll score.
  2. Tyrone Taylor. How important has Taylor been over the last couple of days for the Mets? On Monday, he made the catch of the year, and last night he opened the game with a tremendous catch. He went 3-for-4 at the plate last night, including a stolen base and a solo home run that started the rally in the 9th inning. In this series, he has gone 5-for-8!
  3. Juan Soto. There is one glaring difference on Juan Soto’s Baseball Savant page from last year to this year – Barrel%. Juan Soto is still at the top of the league in squaring up the ball, chasing, striking out, walking, and average exit velocity. Last season, he was in the 99th percentile for barrel rate and in the middle of the league for launch angle sweet-spot (which was new for him; he’s usually in the bottom third there). This season, he is in the 30th percentile for barrel%. This will change at some point.

Let’s go, Mets!