José Quintana. Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Sunday, September 17, 2023 • 1:40 PM
Citi Field • Flushing, New York
LHP Brandon Williamson (4-4, WPIX) vs. LHP José Quintana (2-5, 3.05)
WPIX

The Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks both won against last night, so both teams are clinging to their tie for the third Wild Card spot. Meanwhile the Miami Marlins are only half a game behind them. The San Francisco Giants have now lost three games in a row, fall to 2.5 games out of the last spot. But, there’s even more drama! The Chicago Cubs have lost four games in a row and now only have a half game lead on the second wild card spot.

The New York Mets can continue being agents of chaos as they finish up their series with the Reds this afternoon before taking on the Marlins next.

Mets’ Lineup

  1. Brandon Nimmo, DH
  2. Ronny Mauricio, 2B
  3. Pete Alonso, 1B
  4. Francisco Lindor, SS
  5. Francisco Álvarez, C
  6. Jeff McNeil, CF
  7. Mark Vientos, 3B
  8. DJ Stewart, RF
  9. Tim Locastro, LF

José Quintana makes his 11th start of the season this afternoon. Over 59 innings, he has a 3.05 ERA, 3.19 FIP, 1.271 WHIP, and a 137 ERA+. In his last three starts, he has pitched 18 innings allowing only three runs via 12 hits and six walks while striking out 13 (1.50 ERA, 2.82 FIP).

Seven of his 10 starts this year have been quality starts. Out of three starts that weren’t quality, only one of them was a poor start.

The Reds have the following career numbers against Quintana:

Reds’ Lineup

  1. Spencer Steer, 2B
  2. Nick Senzel, LF
  3. Hunter Renfroe, RF
  4. Tyler Stephenson, C
  5. Noelvi Marte, 3B
  6. Christian Encarnacion-Strand, 1B
  7. Joey Votto, DH
  8. Harrison Bader, CF
  9. Elly De La Cruz, SS

The Mets’ bats look to bounce back this afternoon against Brandon Williamson. Williamson has made 20 starts so far in his rookie season, tossing 102 2/3 innings with a 4.47 ERA, 4.57 FIP, 1.276 WHIP, and a 103 ERA+. He’s hit a rough patch of late, allowing 14 runs (12 earned) over his last four starts (21 2/3 innings) via 28 hits. This stretch includes an amazing game where he allowed no runs over six innings.

This will be Brandon’s first start against the Mets in his career.

Game Notes

Today, Bartolo Colón, a member of the 2015 National League championship team, will officially retire as a member of the Mets in a press conference prior to the game. Former Mets’ manager Terry Collins, whom Colón played for all three years in Queens, will also attend the press conference.

Over his last 24 games, DJ Stewart is batting .315 (28-for-89) with 15 runs, six doubles, 10 home runs, 23 RBI and an 1.084 OPS.

In 43 games since the start of August, Jeff McNeil is batting .292 (50-for-171) with 26 runs, seven doubles, one triple, six home runs, 18 RBIs, seven walks, four steals. Over that time, he has posted a .333 OBP and a .450 SLG.

The Mets have socked 196 home runs this season. That is the fifth-most in the National League.

Three Things To Watch For

  1. Quintana’s ERA. There’s a chance that Quintana can finish today’s start with an ERA below 3.00. Kodai Senga just reached this mark earlier this week. Going into this season, the Mets were imagining a rotation anchored with Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander with sub-3.00 ERAs. While that didn’t materialize, and Quintana’s return to the Mets was a little too late to help them out this year, both his success and Senga’s paint a promising picture for next season.
  2. Mets’ bats to convert baserunners into runs. Last night, the Mets collected eight hits and had four walks, but only two runs. Hopefully, today, the Mets can rack up just as many hits as yesterday, maybe even more, but this time hopefully they are more timely and actually push runners across the plate. Several big names in the Mets’ lineup (Nimmo, Alonso, and McNeil) combined to go 0-for-12 with two walks yesterday.
  3. Milestone check. There are lots of milestones still on the horizon for the Mets. Lindor is still sitting at 26 homers and 26 stolen bases as time ticks down to reach 30-30. Pete Alonso has five more home runs to go until 50. Meanwhile, Nimmo and Álvarez each have two more home runs to go for 25 on the season.