Thursday, September 3, 2020 • 4:10 p.m.
Citi Field • Flushing, NY
LHP J.A. Happ (1-1, 4.05) vs. RHP Robert Gsellman (0-0, 5.19)
SNY • WCBS 880 AM • WQBU 92.7 FM

Last night the Mets lost a legend in Tom Seaver. The Franchise was such a presence on the mound that his Hall of Fame vote percentage is the third highest at 98.8%. He defined the 1969 Mets, the transformation from the lovable losers to the team that shocked the world. The Mets will (hopefully) do something today in remembrance.

The news is so jarring that its easy to forget that the Mets played a baseball game yesterday. The Mets finally stopped their 5 game slide behind a strong outing by David Peterson, who took over for Michael Wacha. Michael Conforto had himself a day at the plate going 4-5 with 5 RBI’s (two doubles and a homer).

Mets Lineup

  1. Jeff McNeil – 2B
  2. J.D. Davis – DH
  3. Michael Conforto – RF
  4. Todd Frazier -3B
  5. Dominic Smith – LF
  6. Pete Alonso – 1B
  7. Jake Marisnick – CF
  8. Amed Rosario – SS
  9. Robinson Chirinos – C

Yankees Lineup

  1. DJ LeMahieu – 2B
  2. Luke Voit – DH
  3. Aaron Hicks – CF
  4. Clint Frazier – RF
  5. Mike Ford – 1B
  6. Gio Urshela – 3B
  7. Brett Gardner – LF
  8. Kyle Higashioka – C
  9. Tyler Wade – SS

We’ll see if the Mets bullpen strategy yesterday pays off today. Between both games in Baltimore, the usual bullpen guys only threw 3.0 innings (Wilson, Hughes and newcomer – Miguel Castro). With Robert Gsellman (and later Seth Lugo) still being stretched out, the Mets are going to need more use of their pen in the upcoming days. In 4 games and 8.2 innings this year, Gsellman has a 5.19 ERA, 5.34 FIP, 1.615 WHIP and 86 ERA+. In his four outings he has been steadily increasing his pitches thrown from 13 to 33 to 47 to 57. His last outing, against the Yankees, was his best yet, going 4.0 innings allowing 1 run off a solo shot in a game the Mets ultimately lost. The Yankees have the following numbers against Gsellman:

  • Luke Voit 1-2, HR
  • DJ LeMahieu 1-4, 3B
  • Mike Tauchman 1-2
  • Brett Gardner 1-7 2B, BB
  • Gio Urshela 0-1, BB
  • Gary Sanchez 0-4, BB, 2 K
  • Aaron Hicks 0-7, BB, 3 K

The Mets will get another look at J.A. Happ who is probably very happy to face the Mets again. In 4 starts and 20.0 innings this season he has a 4.05 ERA, 6.15 FIP, 1.150 WHIP and 105 ERA+. After two terrible starts to the season, he has been great in his last two, pitching 13.0 innings of 1 run ball with 6 hits, 2 walks and 8 K’s. His last start was a 7.1 innings shutout performance against the Mets, in a game the Mets eventually won. The Mets have the following numbers against Happ:

Game Notes

Left-handed pitcher Steven Matz is the Mets’ nominee for the 2020 Roberto Clemente Award, Major League Baseball’s top philanthropic honor.

Let’s Go Mets!