Wednesday, June 24, 2026 • 7:10 PM
Citi Field • Flushing, NY
LHP Shota Imanaga (4-6, 4.26) vs. LHP Sean Manaea (1-2, 4.64)
WPIX

The Mets look to bounce back from an ugly loss. The Mets took a 3-0 lead, but then everything fell apart in the fifth inning. After retiring the first two batters, Nolan McLean allowed three runs to score to tie the game. The Cubs then scored three more in the sixth before making it an unreachable 10-3 lead later in the game.

The vibes are putrid right now, but Francisco Lindor is back! Can Lindor save the Mets’ season?

Programming Note: The split-doubleheader today brings us an unusual SNY/WPIX. If you parked yourself in front of SNY this afternoon for the first game and post-game, make sure to adjust your dial to WPIX for the nightcap.

Photo Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Mets Lineup

  1. Carson Benge – RF
  2. Francisco Lindor – SS
  3. Bo Bichette – 3B
  4. Mark Vientos – 1B
  5. Marcus Semien – 2B
  6. Francisco Alvarez – C
  7. Eric Wagaman – DH
  8. A.J. Ewing – CF
  9. Brett Baty – RF

Starting Pitcher: Sean Manaea

Sean Manaea has pitched in 16 games this season, totaling 54 1/3 innings with a 4.64 ERA, 3.75 FIP, 1.344 WHIP, and an 89 ERA+. Since rejoining the Mets rotation, he has allowed five runs, four earned, over 11 1/3 innings while striking out 11 batters. He’s kept the Mets in games more reliably of late than most of the Mets’ rotation. Manaea had a poor relief outing against the Cubs in April, allowing five runs over four innings. The Cubs have the following career numbers against him:

Opposing Lineup

  1. Pete Crow-Armstrong – CF
  2. Matt Shaw – LF
  3. Seiya Suzuki – RF
  4. Alex Bregman – 3B
  5. Michael Busch – 1B
  6. Nico Hoerner – 2B
  7. Carson Kelly – C
  8. Pedro Ramírez – DH
  9. Dansby Swanson – SS

Shota Imanaga has seen his starts get bumped a couple of times over the last few days. He was originally supposed to pitch in a game that got rained out on Sunday. The same thing happened on Monday and that led the Cubs to knock him back all the way to today. Over 15 starts, 86 2/3 innings, Imanaga has a 4.26 ERA, 4.58 FIP, 1.062 WHIP, and a 93 ERA+. He’s had a good run recently, allowing only one run over 10 2/3 innings. In his three starts before that, he allowed 18 runs over 17 1/3. The Mets have the following career stats against him:

Game Notes

  • Overall, this season Manaea is 1-2 with a 4.78 ERA (26 ER/49.0 IP) and has 51 strikeouts over 15 appearances (one start). Over his last seven appearances dating back to May 10, he has pitched to a 3.04 ERA (9 ER/26.2 IP) with 27 strikeouts. He has held opponents to a .208 (20-96) average while posting a 9.11 K/P over that span.
  • As a relief pitcher, Huascar Brazobán has pitched to a 1.17 ERA (4 ER/30.2 IP) across 26 appearances. He ranks sixth in majors and fourth the NL in relief pitcher ERA (min. 20.0 IP).
  • The Mets bullpen has posted a 3.37 ERA as a group. That ranks fourth in the majors and fifth in the National League. They have struck out 340 this season, the second-most in The Show.

Three Things To Watch For

  1. Francisco Lindor. The soul of the Mets will finally be back in the lineup tonight after missing two months due to a calf injury. Lindor was hitting .226/.314/.355 with an 89 OPS+ when he went down. In his last nine games before he got injured, he was hitting .333/.353/.545. The Mets absolutely need that now.
  2. Don’t Chase Imanaga. Imanaga’s off-speed pitches are in the 90th percentile in run value this season. Hitters are chasing his pitches 37.2% of the time, which is good for the 96th percentile. The problem for Imanaga is that when hitters are making contact with his pitches, they’re squaring up on the ball. Hitters have a 10.4% Barrel% and a 38.3% Hard-Hit% (18th and 52nd percentile). The Mets hitters strike out a lot but have quite a lot of pop. Should be an interesting night in Queens!
  3. Manaea has really changed his pitch selection. Last season, Statcast only picked up three pitches from Manaea: a fastball, sweeper, and a changeup. This year, they are picking up a sinker and a cutter as well. Manaea tossed his fastball 60.5% of the time last year, but his fastball this year just hasn’t been the same (19% whiff this year compared to 23.2% last year). Here’s the odd thing, though, his sinker and cutter, which are thrown a combined 25% of the time, aren’t that good. Hitters have a .340 BA on his sinker and a .333 on his cutter. His cutter also has a 34.4% whiff rate, so there’s a chance things improve.

Let’s go Mets!