Wednesday, July 30, 2025 • 4:10 PM
Petco Park • San Diego, CA
RHP Clay Holmes (9-5, 3.40) vs. RHP Yu Darvish (0-3, 9.18)
SNY • MLBN

The Mets try to escape San Diego with a win this afternoon. The last two games have been terrible times. Monday night, the Mets had a bullpen collapse and allowed the Padres to take the lead after the Mets had taken the lead on a massive Mark Vientos grand slam. The Mets would later come back in the game and blow the game in the ninth inning. Tuesday, the Mets and Padres were close for most of the game until the bullpen had another meltdown, leading to a 7-1 Padres win. Soto left Tuesday’s game with a foot contusion and avoided a broken toe.

Let’s just get out of California with one more win!

Photo Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

Mets Lineup

  1. Brandon Nimmo – LF
  2. Mark Vientos – DH
  3. Francisco Lindor – SS
  4. Pete Alonso – 1B
  5. Jeff McNeil – 2B
  6. Francisco Alvarez – C
  7. Ronny Mauricio – 3B
  8. Brett Baty – 2B
  9. Tyrone Taylor – CF

Clay Holmes has tossed 113 2/3 innings over 21 starts with a 3.40 ERA, 4.15 FIP, 1.276 WHIP and a 112 ERA+. Holmes is coming off a strong start against the Giants, where he allowed one run from six hits and a walk over five innings. Holmes has been in a rut this month, alternating between solid starts and allowing five runs. Can he break the pattern this afternoon? The Padres have the following career numbers against him:

Opposing Lineup

  1. Fernando Tatis Jr. – RF
  2. Luis Arraez – 1B
  3. Manny Machado – 3B
  4. Jackson Merrill – CF
  5. Xander Bogaerts – DH
  6. Jake Cronenworth – 2B
  7. Jose Iglesias – SS
  8. Gavin Sheets – LF
  9. Martin Maldonado – C

The Mets’ bats will get a look at Yu Darvish this afternoon. Over four starts and 16 2/3 innings, Darvish has a 9.18 ERA, 5.32 FIP, 1.800 WHIP and a 47 ERA+. Darvish had an elbow injury that kept him off the field since the start of July, and things haven’t been great for him since returning. His best outing so far was on July 19th, when he allowed three runs over five innings. Last time out, he got tagged for eight runs over 3 1/3 innings, including two homers. The Mets have the following career stats against him:

Game Notes

Juan Soto is out of the lineup the day after fouling a ball off his foot. The X-rays came back negative, and he’s expected back in the lineup on Friday. There’s a chance he could pinch-hit today against the Padres.

Make sure to keep track of the recent rumors with our Trade Deadline roundup.

Two of the Mets’ top prospects already pitched on Wednesday. Jonah Tong struck out eight over three scoreless innings, but five walks limited him to the short outing. He now has a 1.66 ERA and 146 strikeouts in 92 innings this season for Double-A Binghamton. Nolan McLean tossed six innings of two-run ball for Triple-A Syracuse with six strikeouts.

Carson Benge has been great for Double-A Binghamton.

Three Things To Watch For

  1. Hugs. I’m currently writing this article at 11:27 EST. With the amount of rumors around the Mets swirling, it feels like the roster is going to go through some changes by the time this team plays again on Friday night. Will the Mets trade someone off the major league roster? Will someone have to get optioned to the minors to make room for a new trade acquisition? Will the Mets bring back some familiar faces who are currently on other teams? We’ll be watching for hugs in our dugout and around the league.
  2. Pete Alonso. Alonso is mired in a slump right now. Over his last 12 games, he has gone 4-for-42 at the plate with one home run and five walks (.095/.188/.167). Alonso currently sits at 248 career home runs, just four behind Darryl Strawberry’s franchise-leading 252. Francisco Lindor was stuck in a terrible slump about two weeks ago. He recorded a multi-hit game on Wednesday for a Thursday travel game and then went on a tear for a few days. Let’s hope Pete can start the same trajectory today.
  3. Jeff McNeil. McNeil has quietly been putting together a solid 2025 campaign. He’s already at 1.7 bWAR, surpassing 2024’s 1.6 bWAR in 50 fewer games. He’s also already at 33 walks on the season and is on pace to smash past his career best of 40 walks, which he set in 2022 (the season he hit .326 and led the league). He’s also only one home run away from his third consecutive season with double-digit homers. McNeil’s 133 OPS+ is the fourth-best OPS+ he’s ever put up, and it comes after two straight seasons of a sub-100 OPS+.

Let’s go Mets!