Mets by the Numbers: Taijuan Walker’s Splitter One of Best Pitches in Baseball

In this weekly feature for MMO, I’m going to look back at the previous week’s games and share some interesting data and information that I’ve collected through various websites such as Baseball-Reference, FanGraphs, and Baseball Savant. It’ll be a mixture of facts, stats, and analytics.

Let’s get into the seven days between June 26 and July 2.

Sunday, June 26, 2022

Mets vs. Marlins

David Peterson recorded 16 swings and misses over his seven innings of work in the Mets’ 3-2 loss to the Miami Marlins on the road. That’s the 4th-most whiffs Peterson has recorded in a game for his major league career.

David Peterson did not allow a walk in his seven innings of work against the Marlins on the road. He became the first left-handed Mets pitcher to toss at least seven innings without issuing a walk on the road since Jon Niese on August 18, 2012.

Tommy Hunter made his seventh appearance with the Mets and tossed a scoreless inning in the eighth. Hunter is just the third Mets pitcher to not allow an earned run while striking out double-digit batters in his first seven games with the club, joining Armando Benítez and Duaner Sánchez.

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Astros vs. Mets

Starling Marte went 3-for-4 with two doubles in the Mets’ 9-1 loss to the Houston Astros at home. This was the 112th time in Marte’s career that he collected at least three hits in a game. Marte tied Luis Polonia for the 27th-most three-hit games among Dominican-born players.

Wednesday, June 29, 2022

Astros vs. Mets

Luis Guillorme had 12 defensive chances at third base in the Mets’ 2-0 loss to the Astros. That was the most chances by a third baseman this season, and was three shy of shy of Art Devlin’s 114-year-old Major League record, according to Anthony DiComo.

Taijuan Walker tossed 7.1 scoreless innings in his no-decision. Walker became just the second starting pitcher this season to toss more than seven scoreless innings against the Astros, joining Martín Pérez.

This was Taijuan Walker’s 13th start of the 2022 season and he lowered his season ERA to 2.72 after his 7.1 scoreless innings. In 2021, Walker posted a 2.35 ERA through his first 13 games in 2021. He became just the third Mets pitcher since 2010 with multiple seasons of a sub-2.75 ERA through their first 13 games, joining R.A. Dickey (2010, 2012) and Jacob deGrom (2015-2016, 2018, 2021).

Pete Alonso finished the month of June with 69 RBIs. That’s the most RBI by a Met before July in club history. Mike Piazza owned the record prior with 68 RBIs (2000).

Taijuan Walker’s splitter has been one of the best pitches in baseball this season (-10 Run Value). As of July 1, Walker is one of 19 pitchers in Major League Baseball with a pitch that has a Run Value of at least -10 (negative numbers are better). Tony Gonsolin is the only other pitcher with a Run Value of at least -10 on his splitter.

Taijuan Walker has increased the vertical movement on his splitter by over five inches this season (32.8 inches) compared to 2021 (27.7 inches).

Pete Alonso finished the month of June with nine home runs, the second-most in the National League (only Kyle Schwarber had more with 12). Alonso also hit nine homers in the month of May, making him the first Met in club history to have nine or more homers in back-to-back months. He also did this the first three months of his career from April to June 2019.

Friday, July 1, 2022

Rangers vs. Mets

David Peterson tossed six innings of three-run ball with a season-high 10 strikeouts in the Mets’ 4-3 win over the Texas Rangers at home. Over his last three starts, Peterson has struck out 25 batters and walked only two. He became just the third left-handed pitcher in franchise history to have a 3-game span of 25 or more strikeouts with no more than 2 walks allowed, joining Jon Matlack (August 23-September 3, 1974) and Johan Santana (April 12-April 24, 2009).

Buck Showalter earned his 1,599th managerial win Friday night, tying Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda for the 22nd-most wins by a manager in Major League history.

Over his first nine appearances of the 2022 season, David Peterson’s whiff% was 25.6 percent. Over his last three outings dating back to June 20, Peterson’s whiff% has increased to 32.7 percent.

Saturday, July 2, 2022

Rangers vs. Mets

Eduardo Escobar hit a solo home run in the fourth inning in the Mets’ 7-3 loss to the Texas Rangers. Escobar’s homer was the 146th of his major league career, which tied Edgardo Alfonzo fo the 18th-most home runs by a Venezuelan-born player.