Thursday, September 25, 2025 • 7:40 PM
Wrigley Field • Chicago, IL
RHP Nolan McLean (4-1, 1.27) vs. LHP Shota Imanaga (9-7, 3.37)
SNY • MLBN

If the Mets make the playoffs, they’ll need to buy the Pirates a beer or something.

The Mets suffered a sloppy 10-3 loss on Wednesday, but they remain in control of their own destiny. The Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks. The Pirates beat the Reds in 11 innings, a game where the Reds came back multiple times. Wednesday night was a cycle of “we’re so back/it’s so over/we’re so back”, and that seems like the only constant this week.

Unfortunately, the Reds got back in the win column on Thursday afternoon with a 2-1 victory over the Pirates. The D-backs lost 8-0 to the Dodgers.

Nolan McLean (26) Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Mets Lineup

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

Nolan McLean has emerged as the most reliable starter on the Mets staff, even though he has only started seven games, pitching a total of 42 2/3 innings. He has a 1.27 ERA, 2.41 FIP, 1.008 WHIP and a 321 ERA+. He has allowed only two earned runs in his last three starts, totaling 16 1/3 innings (1.10 ERA, 2.41 FIP) while striking out 18 batters. This will be his first start against the Chicago Cubs.

Opposing Lineup

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

Shota Imanaga has made 24 starts in his second major league season, totaling 139 innings with a 3.37 ERA, 4.77 FIP, 0.957 WHIP, and a 115 ERA+. Imanaga has been incredibly consistent in his last five starts, allowing three earned runs in each start. Over his last 29 innings, he has a 4.66 ERA and a 6.38 FIP, allowing 10 home runs over that stretch. The Mets have the following career stats against Imanaga:

Game Notes

The Mets made a roster move to get a fresh arm before the game: bringing up right-hander Kevin Herget and designating lefty Richard Lovelady for assignment. Herget has a 3.27 ERA in 11 innings for the Mets this year. The Mets also announced recently DFA’d right-hander Chris Devenski cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A.

The Marlins have lined up their starting pitching for this weekend against the Mets: Friday, Sandy Alcantara; Saturday, Eury Pérez; Sunday, Edward Cabrera.

Juan Soto is the third player in MLB history with 20 home runs and 25 stolen bases in the second half of a season.

Three Things To Watch For

  1. Under-the-hood McLean. Nolan McLean is causing whiffs, racking up strikeouts, and generating groundballs. He has a 27.9 K% and 28.0 Whiff%. Hitters are barreling him only 5.8% of the time, and he has a sky-high 63.1% groundball rate. This has led to great results, as long as the Mets can field behind him, which has been a question of late.
  2. Mets Homers. Home runs have been an issue for Imanaga this year, allowing 29 of them this season, two more than his rookie season despite making five fewer starts. This explains the discrepancy between his FIP and his WHIP. As we discussed earlier, 10 homers have come in his last five starts. Heading into play today, the Mets are tied with the Angels for fourth in the league with 220 home runs, already far surpassing 2025’s 207 homers.
  3. Lindor & Soto. Francisco Lindor is one home run away from his second 30-30 season. When the Mets needed Lindor most on Tuesday, he led the game off with his 29th homer. Juan Soto is one walk away from matching John Olerud’s 1999 Mets franchise record of 125 walks. He’s also currently leading the league with a .399 OBP. The Mets are going to need their two best hitters to carry the team in these last few games of the season.

Let’s go Mets!