Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Thursday, May 6, 2021 • 1:15 P.M. EST
Busch Stadium • St. Louis, MO
RHP Taijuan Walker (1-1, 3.00) vs. RHP John Gant (2-2, 2.16)
SNY • WCBS 880 AM • WQBU 92.7 FM

The Mets are going to get out of St. Louis today! But first they need to play a baseball game. Yesterday the Mets split the double header and today they go for the series split. The games yesterday went exactly as you would think they would for the 2021 Mets. The pitching was good (not great) in the first game and great in the second game, but the Mets lost the first game and won second game because of the bats. The Mets just couldn’t push anyone across the plate in the first game but then got 7 runs in the second.

And credit is due to Kevin Pillar and Jonathan Villar. Two players I was personally ready to never see in a Mets game again a week ago. Pillar’s had 16 AB’s in St. Louis and he has 8 hits. Villar has had 2 multi-hit games in his last four games. Some of this is a reaction to the floor being so low for them, and the Mets need hits wherever they can get them.

Mets Lineup

  1. Jeff McNeil – 2B
  2. Francisco Lindor – SS
  3. Michael Conforto – RF
  4. Pete Alonso – 1B
  5. Dominic Smith – LF
  6. Kevin Pillar – CF
  7. Jonathan Villar – 3B
  8. James McCann – C
  9. Taijuan Walker – SP

Cardinals Lineup

  1. Tommy Edman – 2B
  2. Dylan Carlson – RF
  3. Paul Goldschmidt – 1B
  4. Nolan Arenado – 3B
  5. Paul DeJong – SS
  6. Justin Williams – LF
  7. Harrison Bader – CF
  8. Andrew Knizner – C
  9. John Gant – SP

Taijuan Walker will make his 6th start of the year today. He has pitched 27.0 innings with a 3.00 ERA, 3.37 FIP, 1.259 WHIP and a 131 ERA+. His last start was his first rough one of the year, allowing 4 runs over 6.0 innings but it was a game that the Mets showed fight and came back to win. The Cardinals have the following numbers against Walker:

The Mets get to face a literal old friend tonight, John Gant! The Mets drafted Gant in 2011 and traded him to the Braves at the deadline in 2015 for Kelly Johnson and fan favorite Juan Uribe. He made his major league debut with the Braves in 2016 and after the season was traded with Luke Dykstra (one of Lenny’s children) to the Cardinals for Jaime Garcia. Gant had a breakout year in the bullpen last year, posting a 2.40 ERA over 15.0 innings and 17 games. This year he’s back as a starter. He’s pitched 25.0 innings with a 2.16 ERA, 4.31 FIP, 1.560 WHIP and a 179 ERA+. His ERA is great but his WHIP is much higher than his career mark (1.356) which is a concern. The Mets have the following numbers against him:

Game Notes

The Mets have not committed to starting Joey Lucchesi on Saturday and Jacob deGrom could go on Sunday pending another evaluation by the doctors and playing catch.

Luis Rojas notes that the Mets have looked at adding an outfielder, specifically mentioning Johneshwy Fargas (taxi squad) and Khalil Lee (Triple-A).

Let’s Go Mets!

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