Series Preview: Marlins, Mets Meet for First Time in 2022

Go fish. The Mets will be doing that a lot over the next month.

On Friday evening, the Mets and Marlins will begin a four-game set at Citi Field, the first of 11 games the division rivals will play against each other over the next month. Amazingly, despite the season already being past its two-month mark, these two teams have set to match up against each other all season. But that will quickly change, with the Fish coming to Queens in early July for another four-game series and the Mets traveling to Miami in late June for a three-game set.

The Marlins have been near the bottom of the division standings for most of this season, as they currently sit at 28-33 and in fourth place in the NL East. A recent five-game win streak over the Nationals and Astros brought them closer to .500, but they most recently dropped three of four games to the Phillies.

Miami’s offense hasn’t been great this season, but they’re led by emerging star Jazz Chisholm Jr., who has hit 13 home runs and has a 131 OPS+ this season. Their rotation is led by NL Cy Young candidate Sandy Alcantara, with his 1.68 ERA and 0.964 WHIP through 13 starts.

The Mets are coming off another series win, this time against a good Brewers team. The Mets picked up victories on Tuesday and Thursday, with their most recent victory coming in comeback style. After trailing 4-1, the Mets tied the game up with a Mark Canha two-run home run. Starling Marte would go on to score the game-winning run in the eighth inning and Edwin Diaz had another lockdown inning, earning his 13th save of the season. The Mets are now 42-23 and although the division race is getting tighter, they still lead the Braves by 4 1/2 games.

Friday, June 17, 2022: RHP Carlos Carrasco (7-2, 3.93 ERA) vs. TBD 

After a stretch of two dominant starts to begin June, Carlos Carrasco hit a wall in his most recent outing. In 4 2/3 innings in Anaheim, Carrasco allowed five runs on nine hits, allowing two home runs as well. However, he began June with a 1.50 ERA in 12 innings, picking in 15 strikeouts as well. After not striking out many batters over his first handful of starts to begin the year, Carrasco has punched out at least seven batters in three of his past four starts.

The Marlins have yet to announce a starter for Friday’s game. 

Saturday, June 18, 2022: RHP Taijuan Walker (4-2, 3.08 ERA) vs. LHP Braxton Garrett (1-1, 4.00 ERA) 

Taijuan Walker continues his bounce back from a tough second-half in 2021, and his latest start may have been his best all year. In six innings at the Halos, Walker allowed just one run and struck out a season-high – by far – 10 batters. Since getting lit up against the Phillies on May 5, Walker has a 2.59 ERA in 41 2/3 innings pitched. He has allowed just one home run since that May 5 outing as well. Of note, Walker pitched in each of the three series on last week’s west coast trip. Despite the difficult circumstances of a lengthy road trip, Walker excelled, with a 3.57 ERA across his three starts in California.

Braxton Garrett has pitched just two games at the major league level this season. In his last start on June 11 in Houston, Garrett allowed one run (none earned) over 5 2/3 frames, earning the win against the defending-AL champions. For the second consecutive game, he struck out five batters as well. This was a significant improvement from his first start of the series, when he allowed four runs, including a home run, in just 3 1/3 innings.

Sunday, June 19, 2022: RHP Chris Bassitt (5-4, 4.01 ERA) vs. RHP Sandy Alcantara (6-2, 1.68 ERA) 

Between May 19 and June 8, Chris Bassitt struggled on the mound. Over those five starts, he posted a 7.96 ERA, allowing seven or more earned runs in a game on two occasions (at San Francisco, at San Diego). However, this week, Bassitt put together by far his best start of 2022. In eight shutout frames, Bassitt allowed just three hits, one walk, and he struck out seven Brewer batters. It was his first start allowing no runs since his first start of the year on April 9. This was a super encouraging sign for Bassitt, who will look to continue his success this weekend against a subpar Marlins lineup.

Sandy Alcantara has been dominant the entire season, but his numbers specifically since May 11 have been otherworldly. In this span of seven starts, Alcantara has a minuscule 0.81 ERA, allowing just one home run, and only 11 walks, while striking out an unreal 51 batters. In this time period, his achievements have included: throwing a complete game, allowing three runs (none earned) on May 22; striking out 14 Braves batters across eight innings on May 28; throwing a complete game shutout allowing only six hits against the Nationals on June 8.

Monday, June 20, 2022: LHP David Peterson (3-1, 3.60 ERA) vs. LHP Trevor Rogers (3-5, 5.87 ERA) 

In a mixed role of both starter and reliever this season, David Peterson hasn’t been spectacular but has at least given the Mets an extra arm in the rotation while Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer continue to be sidelined. In 10 1/3 innings this month (two starts, one relief appearance), Peterson has a 5.23 ERA. He struggled against the Brewers this week, allowing six hits and four runs, walking two batters as well, in four innings. But there’s hope: in his first two outings of the year, lasting a combined 8 1/3 innings, Peterson allowed no runs at all.

Trevor Rogers is another pitcher in this series who has had trouble finding success this year. Specifically, he’s had difficulty locating the plate. In June, Rogers has an 8.03 ERA with 12 walks in 12 1/3 innings. This is compared to just nine strikeouts over that span. Over five starts in May, Rogers had only walked a combined seven batters, so his command has certainly regressed by a large amount this month.