José Butto. Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Sunday, April 16, 2023 • 4:07 PM
Oakland Coliseum • Oakland, California
RHP José Butto (0-0, -.–) vs. LHP JP Sears (0-1, 5.59)
WPIX

For a second Sunday in a row, the New York Mets go for a series sweep. New York had 17 walks and 17 runs on Friday night in beating the Athletics by 11 runs. Yesterday afternoon, the Mets had a comeback win and just squeaked out a 3-2 victory.

Today was supposed to be Max Scherzer‘s day. However, he was scratched from Sunday’s start with “lingering soreness.” Scherzer had imaging done and it doesn’t appear that he is dealing with anything too serious. He said he didn’t want to be selfish and pitch today if he’s not 100% healthy.

As of right now, Scherzer will now slot into Wednesday’s start, giving the Mets that extra day of rest for starters in the middle of the road trip that they were looking.

Mets Lineup:

José Butto will make his 2023 debut today in Scherzer’s absence. In two starts for Syracuse this season, Butto has allowed two runs via six hits and five walks over 9 2/3 innings (1.86 ERA). He made his major league debut last year pitching only one game and it was a doozy. In four innings, he allowed seven runs from nine hits and two walks against the Phillies in Philadelphia.

Overall, Butto has pitched in the Mets’ minor league system for six seasons now with a 3.40 ERA over 104 games and 460 innings. The Mets do not have too many starting pitching prospects in Syracuse, so today is a great opportunity for Butto to shine and make some noise.

Athletics Lineup:

The Mets’ bats will try to find their Friday version of themselves tonight against JP Sears. In his first two starts of the season, Sears has allowed six runs via 11 hits and two walks over 9 2/3 innings (5.59 ERA). Both starts this season he has allowed exactly three runs, but he allowed eight hits in his first start and only three in his second (but two of those three hits were homers).

The Mets saw Sears at the end of last season and were able score six runs via eight hits and two walks against him over 3 2/3 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against Sears:

Game Notes

The New York Mets are reportedly finally calling up third baseman Brett Baty, per Andy Martino of SNY. Read about it here. He is not in the Mets’ starting lineup.

José Butto was selected as the Minor League Pitcher of the Week for the International League during the first week of the season.

The Mets are looking for their first sweep of the season. New York is seeking their second sweep of Oakland in franchise history. New York took three straight from the Athletics from June 22-24, 2007.

The Mets have committed only two errors in 15 games this season. The team’s .996 fielding percentage is the best in the majors.

New York has stolen 17 bases this season, which is tied for fifth in the majors and tied for third in the National League.

Three Things To Watch For

  1. Pete continues his hot start! Pete Alonso hit his seventh home run of the season yesterday. He is now tied with Rafael Devers for the league leading. The Mets as a team have only 15 homers, good for 19th in the league. If Alonso hits a home run before another member of the Mets, Pete will once again hold 50% of the team’s homers.
  2. Brandon Nimmo is walking and hitting now! Before this road trip, Nimmo was walking all over opponents, but he wasn’t collecting a ton of hits. Nimmo went 2-for-4 at the plate yesterday, collecting his fourth double of the year and his eighth run batted in. Over his last three games, he is now 7-for-13 with two walks (.539/.625/.769). He’s second in league for walks with 14. He’s now eighth in the league with a .468 OPS. Nimmo’s been one of the most consistent and important parts of this Mets’ offense this season.
  3. Is this the last game the Mets will play at the Oakland Coliseum? This year marks the first season that every major league team plays every team. I am assuming right now if the Athletics and Mets play their series in Oakland this year, that means next year preference will be given for the Mets to host the series. The Athletics lease on the Coliseum is ending at the end of next season. Right now the organization is being operated as a real life version of “Major League”. They want out of Oakland. This could mean they move to another part of the Bay Area or another city entirely. They could also stay in Oakland and build a new stadium. There’s a non-zero chance that the Mets are playing their last game at the Oakland Coliseum this afternoon.