Wednesday, April 29, 2026 • 7:10 PM
Citi Field • Flushing, NY
RHP Cade Cavalli (0-1, 4.01) vs. LHP David Peterson (0-3, 5.06)
SNY

The Mets are 1-0 against the NL East this year!

The Mets opened up their series with the Nationals last night with an 8-0 win, thanks to a massive fourth inning where the Mets put up seven on the Nationals. The Mets got home runs from their top two stars in the lineup (Juan Soto and Bo Bichette), the pitching looked good and the Mets find themselves back in the win column. Now they need to do it again tonight!

Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Mets Lineup

  1. Bo Bichette – 3B
  2. Juan Soto – DH
  3. MJ Melendez – LF
  4. Francisco Alvarez – C
  5. Brett Baty – 1B
  6. Tyrone Taylor – CF
  7. Carson Benge – RF
  8. Marcus Semien – 2B
  9. Ronny Mauricio – SS

Starting Pitcher: David Peterson

David Peterson has a 5.06 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 1.650 WHIP, and a 79 ERA+. Since getting bumped from the rotation, Peterson has found his stuff again, allowing only one run from a solo homer over seven innings in two outings. Peterson was fantastic against the Nationals last season pitching 17 innings over two starts allowing only one run, including a complete game shutout. The Nationals have the following career numbers against Peterson:

Opposing Lineup

  1. James Wood – DH
  2. Curtis Mead – 1B
  3. Brady House – 3B
  4. CJ Abrams – SS
  5. Jacob Young – CF
  6. Daylen Lile – LF
  7. Joey Wiemer – RF
  8. Nasim Nuñez – 2B
  9. Keibert Ruiz – C

Cade Cavalli has pitched 24 2/3 innings over six starts with a 4.01 ERA, 2.80 FIP, 1.662 WHIP and a 102 ERA+. Cavalli is coming off of a double-digit strikeout start where he got 10 Braves hitters to strikeout out over five innings (two runs). Cavalli had a great start against the Mets last season, holding them scoreless over five innings last September in a game the Nationals eventually won in extra innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

Game Notes

Luis Robert Jr. is still out of the lineup with lower back tightness. He’s receiving an MRI on Thursday, and the IL is in play.

A.J. Ewing was on base four times and had two extra-base hits in his Triple-A debut on Tuesday.

Tommy Pham cleared waivers and elected free agency.

Three Things To Watch For

  1. The Carson Benge hot streak is here. Benge has gone 7-for-16 in his last five games with a double, home run, three runs scored and only one strikeout (.438/.438/.688). He’s been approaching this point for a while, making hard contact but right at people. Since this hot streak started, he has raised his batting average from .136 to .195 and his SLG from .197 to .293. If we take a step back, in his last 16 games (51 PA) he is slashing .265/.294/.367.
  2. Cavalli’s knuckle curve. Cavalli has a 4.01 ERA but a 2.80 FIP. His WHIP (1.662) is a bit high, and tends to lend itself to a higher ERA. Cavalli is getting out of trouble this year because of contact. He’s not really getting hitters to chase (35th percentile) or whiff (39th percentile). Hitters just aren’t making solid contact against him. He’s in the 83rd percentile in Barrel% and 82nd percentile for Hard-hit%. It’s been his knuckle curve which he throws about a quarter of a time which has a .170 xBA and .222 SLG. For comparison his fastball has a .303 xBA and .541 SLG.
  3. Bo Bichette. Bichette has been turning it around since the Mets ended their 12-game losing streak. In the six game since then, Bichette has gone 7-for-22 with two doubles, a home run and five runs scored. He’s slashing .318/.360/.545 over the stretch and three games where he was on base at least twice. Bichette was not going to be a sub-.600 OPS hitter all season!

Let’s go Mets!