Series Preview: Mets Continue Road Trip With Four Against Padres

The New York Mets (27-21, first place in the National League’s eastern division) continue their journey west, heading to San Diego for four games against manager Jayce Tingler‘s San Diego Padres (34-23, second place in the National League’s western division).

The Mets are coming from a series in Arizona, where they took two-of-three games against the Diamondbacks, and came within one out and one ball called fair (that was probably foul) of sweeping the series. The Padres return home to Petco Park from Wrigley Field, where they were swept in a three-game series against the Cubs, and have now lost four in a row.

The big story around the Mets all season has been their plethora of injuries. Pete Alonso, Seth Lugo, and Kevin Pillar returned to the team in Arizona, joining Taijuan Walker and Jacob deGrom, who returned within the last ten days. However, the injury news is not all good, as J.D. Davis and Brandon Nimmo appear to have longer-than-expected roads to recovery ahead of them, and Jonathan Villar left Wednesday’s game with right hamstring tightness. He will be further evaluated on Thursday. Padres’ star Fernando Tatis Jr. left Tuesday’s game with an oblique injury. He may miss this series, and possibly more time.

Weather is almost never an issue in San Diego, and it will not be for this series, with dry weather and temperatures in the low 70s expected.

Let’s take a look at the expected pitching matchups for the series.

Thursday, June 3, RHP Taijuan Walker (4-1) NYM vs RHP Yu Darvish (5-1) SDP, 10:10 pm

Walker in 2021: GS: 9, ERA: 1.84, WHIP: 0.94,  IP: 49.0, H: 27, BB: 19, SO: 49,  ER: 10, HR: 1

Darvish in 2021: GS: 11, ERA: 2.16, WHIP: 0.93, IP: 66.2, H: 46, BB: 16, SO: 79, ER: 16, HR: 6

Walker has been outstanding for the Mets. He did a stint on the injured list after his start in Atlanta on May 17, and returned on May 29 against the Braves at Citi Field. In that game, he was brilliant, tossing five innings allowing no runs on two hits. The Mets will hope to get a longer outing from Walker in this game, as he continues to work his way back from the left side tightness that shelved him last month.

Darvish, the former Ranger and Cub, is in his ninth MLB season. He has a career record of 76-57 with an ERA of 3.39. He is a fastball (25%), slider (23&), cutter (37%)  pitcher, who averages 94.6 mph on his fastball. The Habikino, Japan native is 34 years old.

The game can be seen locally on SNY, and heard locally on WCBS radio 880 am.

Friday, June 4, Undecided NYM vs LHP Blake Snell (1-2) SDP, 10:10 pm

Snell in 2021: GS: 11, ERA: 5.55, WHIP: 1.60,  IP:47.0, H: 44 , BB: 31, SO: 70,  ER: 29, HR: 8

The Mets could use Joey Lucchesi to start this game, or go with a bullpen game (they could also bring up a starter, such as Thomas Szapucki). Lucchesi has been pitching better of late, and with the heavy bullpen usage in Wednesday’s game, it seems likely that he could get the start. In his last start on May 27 against the Rockies, Lucchesi pitched 3.2 innings, allowing just one run on 2 hits.

Snell is having an uncharacteristic season, as his career numbers show a record of 43-32 with an ERA of 3.42. He is pitching in his sixth season, having spent the previous five with the Rays. Snell averages 95.4 mph on his fastball, and throws it 45% of the time. He also throws a slider (22%), a curve (14%), and a changeup 19%).

The game can be seen locally on SNY, and heard locally on WCBS radio 880 am.

Saturday , June 5, RHP Jacob deGrom (4-2) NYM vs RHP Joe Musgrove (4-4) SDP, 10:10 pm

DeGrom in 2021: GS: 8, ERA: 0.80, WHIP: 0.57,  IP: 51.0, H: 22 , BB: 7, SO: 82,  ER: 4, HR: 3

Musgrove in 2021: GS: 10, ERA: 2.08, WHIP: 0.76,  IP: 60.2, H: 34, BB: 12, SO: 79,  ER: 14, HR: 6

DeGrom got the win in his last outing on May 31 in San Diego, going six innings, allowing no runs on two hits and striking out eight. Most importantly, he went longer than he did in his first start back off the injured list on May 25, and remains healthy with no lingering discomfort in his side. There isn’t much more to add about deGrom, who has established himself as the best pitcher in the game and continues to put up numbers that seem like they come from a video game.

Musgrove threw the first no-hitter in Padres’ history on April 9. The former Astro and Pirate is in his sixth season, with a career record of 33-42 and a 4.09 ERA. He features a variety of pitches. His fastball averages 93.4 mph and he throws it just 22% of the time. The El Cajon, CA native also has a slider (31%), cutter (21%), curve (18%), and changeup (8%).

The game can be seen locally on SNY, and heard locally on WCBS radio 880 am.

Sunday , June 6, RHP Marcus Stroman (4-4) NYM vs Undecided SDP, 4:10 pm

Stroman in 2021: GS: 11, ERA: 2.66, WHIP: 1.06,  IP: 64.1, H: 55 , BB: 13, SO: 52,  ER: 19, HR: 7

In Stroman’s last start on June 1, he was cruising against the Diamondbacks, when he ran into trouble in the sixth inning, resulting in a no-decision. He ended his night with six innings pitched, three runs allowed on seven hits with six strikeouts and no walks. He also got into a tussle with Josh Rojas of the Diamondbacks that cleared the benches and bullpens. Over all in 2021, Stroman has been very reliable and generally given the Mets quality starts.

The game can be seen locally on WPIX, and heard locally on WCBS radio 880 am..

Series Notes for Mets

Mets by the numbers, with MLB rankings:

BA .234 (16th)

OBP .313 (16th)

SLG .364 (27th)

OPS .678 (23rd)

Team ERA 3.17 (2nd)

Starters’ ERA 2.94 (1st)

Relievers’ ERA 3.47 (7th)

Mets OPS leaders (among players who are active through games of 6/1) are Pete Alonso (.794), Jonathan Villar (.722), Dominic Smith (.665), James McCann .606), Francisco Lindor (.601)

Notable Mets on the injured list:

Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto, Tommy Hunter, Luis Guillorme, J.D. Davis, Johneshwy Fargas

Series Notes for Padres

Padres by the numbers, with MLB rankings:

BA .237 (12th)

OBP .322 (7th)

SLG .380 (21st)

OPS .702 (15th)

Team ERA 2.85 (1st)

Starters’ ERA 3.20 (6th)

Relievers’ ERA 2.46 (1st)

Active Padres’ OPS leaders (among players who are active through games of 6/1) are Tatis Jr. (1.069), Jake Cronenworth (.73), Will Myers (.753) Eric Hosmer (.745), Manny Machado (.737)

Notable Padres on the injured list:

Trent Grisham

Drew Pomeranz

The Padres will be a significant test for the Mets. San Diego pitches well (particularly in the bullpen), and has dynamic offensive players in Tatis, Machado, Hosmer, and Myers, as well as a rising star in Cronenworth.

After this series, the Mets will take Monday off, play two with the Orioles in Baltimore on Tuesday and Wednesday, take Thursday off, then entertain the Padres at Citi Field for three games. From there, the Mets will play three doubleheaders before the end of June.

June will pose the toughest schedule thus far for the Mets. They have games to make up and formidable opposition. Luis Rojas‘s club is slowly getting healthier. It will be interesting to see if they can maintain their hold on first place, which current stands at four and one-half games, after this rough stretch of games.