Series Preview: Mariners Make First Ever Trip to Citi Field

The last time the Seattle Mariners ventured to Queens, NY, the iPhone 3G had just been released earlier that month by Apple and Carlos Beltran was playing center field for the Mets.

Fast forward 14 years later, and the M’s return to Flushing for a rare matchup against the Mets. In fact, this weekend marks Seattle’s first ever trip to Citi Field, as the Mets last hosted them in Shea Stadium’s final season.

The Pacific Northwest’s only major league team flies east the same week that Apple officially discontinued the iPod.

Quite a full circle moment for a return to The Big Apple.

It also represents the first time the two teams have played since the big trade in 2018 that netted the Mets Edwin Diaz and recently released Robinson Cano for Jarred Kelenic, Justin Dunn, Gerson Bautista, Anthony Swarzak, and Jay Bruce.

Nostalgia aside, this weekend’s three-game interleague set brings together two teams trending in opposite directions

The Mariners sit in third place in the competitive AL West, yet have lost 12 of their past 15 games. Coming off a 2021 season in which the Mariners remained in the postseason race until game #162, there are some things to like about this team. J.P. Crawford has emerged as one of the better shortstops in baseball, hitting .333 this year with 12 extra base hits, good for a 189 OPS+. On the mound, Logan Gilbert has thrown three starts of at least five innings and no earned runs, part of his hot start to the season and a very impressive 2.13 ERA.

But otherwise, Seattle has been mostly underperforming. Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez, the two power bats Seattle acquired this season from Cincinnati, are batting .204 and .202 respectively, although they do lead the team in walks drawn. Jarred Kelenic, the prized prospect acquired several years ago from the Mets, is slashing a mere ..140/.219/.291 and is making fans wonder if the Mets won that 2018 trade between these two clubs. Paul Sewald and Chris Flexen, two former Mets relievers, have been more or less average for a Seattle pitching staff that has allowed the most home runs in the American League this season.

Meanwhile, the Mets continue to dominate, entering Friday with a 6.5 game lead over the second-place Braves in the NL East. The Amazins are coming off yet another series win, this time over the Nationals, improving their series record thus far in 2022 to an unbelievable 9-0-1. Their latest win was on the shoulders of Taijuan Walker, a former Mariner, who threw seven shutout innings in a much-needed bounceback start. Earlier in the week, the Mets took two of three games in Philadelphia, headlined by their historic comeback win after trailing 7-1 entering the ninth inning.

The recent history of the Mets-Mariners overlap is well known. In addition to some of the players mentioned earlier, Edwin Díaz (if he makes an appearance this weekend) will pitch for the first time against his former team.

Friday May 13, 2022: RHP Max Scherzer (4-1, 2.92 ERA) vs. LHP Marco Gonzales (1-4, 3.91 ERA)

Max Scherzer is coming off arguably his worst start as a Met, but in typical Max fashion, his “worst” was still rather impressive. Despite allowing 10 hits over six innings, Scherzer limited the Phillies to just three runs, while walking no batters either.  Since joining the Mets this spring, Scherzer has started six games, five of which have been quality starts. He ranks third in the National League with 49 strikeouts, having thrown no fewer than six strikeouts in any of his starts this year.

Marco Gonzales has been rather inconsistent this year. While he’s at times looked like an unhittable pitcher, throwing a stellar seven innings of four-hit, one-run baseball against the Astros back on April 15, he’s also failed to make it out of the fifth inning in three separate starts. In fact, he lasted just two innings in his first start of the year, while his April 27 start against the Rays saw him throw just 11 pitches before leaving the game after 1/3 of an inning after being hit in the wrist by a batted ball. In his most recent start, Gonzales faced the Rays again and allowed two earned runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Saturday, May 14, 2022: RHP Chris Bassitt (4-2, 2.45 ERA) vs. RHP George Kirby (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Chris Bassitt had a fantastic last week, earning Metsmerized Player of the Week honors with two quality starts. On May 2 against the Braves, Bassitt tied a season-high with eight strikeouts, followed up by 5 2/3 innings of five-hit, one-run baseball in a win over the Phillies. Over the course of his career, Bassitt has thrown 63 1/3 innings against the Mariners, his most against any one team. He’s posted a 3.98 ERA against the M’s, allowing five home runs as well while playing a season with the White Sox and six years with the Athletics.

George Kirby will be making just his second career appearance in the major leagues when he takes the mound at Citi Field. On May 8, Kirby made his big league debut in impressive fashion. He threw six shutout innings against the Rays, allowing just four hits, no walks, and striking out seven batters. The 20th overall selection of the 2019 draft, Kirby was actually originally a 32nd round draft selection by the Mets in 2016, before he committed to play baseball at Elon University.

Sunday, May 15, 2022: RHP Carlos Carrasco (3-1, 3.19 ERA) vs. LHP Robbie Ray (3-3, 4.22 ERA)

After ending April by allowing eight earned runs in just 3 2/3 innings against the Cardinals, Carlos Carrasco has bounced back wonderfully in May. On May 3, Carrasco tossed eight shutout innings against the Braves, and followed that up by allowing just two runs in 6 2/3 innings against the Nationals, en route to his third victory of the season. While we’re still early in the season, Cookie could not have asked for a better turnaround after 2021’s disappointing 6.04 ERA campaign. Carrasco has faced the Mariners more than any other AL West team in his career, with 56 1/3 innings and a 3.67 ERA against the M’s.

Robbie Ray, the 2021 American League Cy Young winner, has had a mostly average season numbers-wise, but considering the expectations Ray had in his first year in Seattle, he’s mostly been a disappointment in the “ace” role of this rotation. While Ray has thrown five quality starts, including striking out a season-high ten batters in his most recent start of 5 2/3 innings against the Phillies, his numbers took a hit – no pun intended – when he allowed 10 hits and six runs, including three home runs, on April 13 against the White Sox. While he’s mostly been efficient since that letdown in Chicago, he’s also looked far from the pitcher that starred in Toronto last season.

Prediction

Max Scherzer throws a gem in a Friday Mets win, George Kirby follows up the next day with another impressive start to begin his career to lead the Mariners to victory, and Carlos Carrasco gives the Mets yet another series win with a quality start on Sunday afternoon.

Mets win their tenth series of the season, and win this weekend series 2-1.