Series Preview: Mets Host Phillies For Four Games In Three Days

The New York Mets (38-31, first place in the National League’s eastern division) continue their eight-game home stand with four games against manager Joe Girardi‘s Philadelphia Phillies (34-37, tied for third place in the National League’s eastern division).

The Mets split four games with the Atlanta Braves in their most recent series, while the Phillies were swept in a two-game set by the surging Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

For the Mets, the story remains the same. They are trying to weather a storm of injuries and hold onto their 3.5-game divisional lead. The situation with the position players is improving, with the recent returns of Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil, and Albert Almora Jr. While the lineup heals, the pitching staff has been bitten by the injury bug.

This week, the Mets learned that Joey Lucchesi, who had been pitching very well, will require Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow and will be lost for not only this season, but also well into next season. Marcus Stroman left his start on June 22 with hip soreness, though his injury is not considered serious and he is day-to-day. The bullpen took a hit when Robert Gsellman injured his lat muscle, and is now on the 60-day injury list.

When the lineup was short, the replacements were Johneshwy Fargas, Jake Hager, Mason Williams, and Billy McKinney. Now, the Mets turn to the likes of Corey Oswalt and Tylor Megill to fill holes on the pitching staff. Complicating the matter is the schedule before the All-Star break, which will see the Mets play 18 games in 17 days beginning on Friday.

The weather looks good (and hot) for the four games this weekend at Citi Field, that begin with a Friday doubleheader.

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

Friday, June 25 Game 1, RHP Aaron Nola (5-4) vs RHP Taijuan Walker (6-3) NYM, 4:10 pm

Walker in 2021: GS: 13, ERA: 2.42, IP: 74.1, H: 54, ER: 20, HR: 5, BB: 24, SO: 77, WHIP: 1.05

Nola in 2021: GS: 15, ERA: 4.22, IP: 85.1, H: 83, ER: 40, HR: 12, BB: 21, SO: 95, WHIP: 1.22

Walker is coming off his toughest start of the season, which took place on June 20 in Washington when he pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing 10 hits and four earned runs, including two home runs. He took the loss as the Nationals completed a weekend in which they took three of four against the Mets. Overall, Walker has been brilliant for the Mets after signing very late last off-season. He’s faced the Phillies twice this season, taking two no-decisions, tossing a total of 10 1/3 innings and yielding five earned runs.

Nola, on the other hand, has had an inconsistent season, and by looking at his monthly ERA, it’s been going in the wrong direction. He posted a 3.11 ERA in April, followed by a 4.55 mark in May, and is currently boasting a 5.85 mark so far in June. He’s also struggled quite a bit as a visiting player, as his home ERA (2.49) is head-and-shoulders above his road ERA (6.00) in about the same number of innings pitched. After putting together one of his best starts of the year on June 13 against the New York Yankees (7 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 9 SO), he got lit up in his most recent start against the San Francisco Giants (2 1/3 IP, 6 ER, 1 SO).

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

Friday, June 25 Game 2, LHP Matt Moore (0-1) vs LHP David Peterson (2-5) NYM, start time to be determined

Peterson in 2021: GS: 13, ERA: 5.31, IP: 57.2, H: 53, ER: 34, HR: 9, BB: 26, SO: 62, WHIP: 1.37

Moore in 2021: GS: 3, ERA: 7.36, IP: 18.1, H: 24, ER: 15, HR: 5, BB: 11, SO: 17, WHIP: 1.91

Peterson has performed below the expectations of him after his fine rookie season, during which he went 6-2 with a 3.44 ERA. However, the lefty from Colorado has been much better in his last two starts, getting the win on June 14 against the Cubs (6.0 IP, 0 ER), and pitching very effectively against the Nationals although ending up with a no-decision (4.2 IP, 1 ER).

Lower back spasms led to Moore spending about a month on the injured list, and his start in Game 2 will be his first action in the big leagues since May 20. As we can see from the above numbers, his comeback attempt after only pitching 10 innings since the start of 2019 hasn’t exactly gone smooth when healthy. While he’s made three starts, he’s also made six appearances out of the bullpen, where his overall results have been much better (3.68 ERA as a reliever, 9.82 as a starter in 2021). Moore’s first start of this season actually came against the Mets back in April, where he tossed 3 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits, four walks, and two strikeouts.

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

Saturday, June 26, RHP Zach Eflin (2-6)  vs RHP Jacob deGrom (7-2) NYM, 4:10 pm

Eflin in 2021: GS: 14, ERA: 4.39, IP: 84.0, H: 97, ER: 41, HR: 13, BB: 10, SO: 83, WHIP: 1.27

DeGrom in 2021: GS: 12, ERA: 0.50, IP: 72.0, H: 27, ER: 4, HR: 3, BB: 10, SO: 117, WHIP: 0.51

Eflin faced the Mets on May 2, tossing six innings allowing 10 hits and two earned runs. He is in his sixth season, all with the Phillies, and holds a career record of 31-39 and a 4.60 ERA.

The Mets and the entire fan base held their collective breath last Monday when deGrom took the mound after leaving his previous start with shoulder soreness. He had left the start before with flexor tendonitis in his pitching elbow, all of this after being on the injured list with left side soreness.

However, through it all, deGrom continues to be a generational talent, pitching at the top of his game. The Mets have been careful with his innings, and understandably so. The next phase for deGrom will be to go a bit deeper into games (maybe 90-100 pitches) and continue to be the best in the game, along with serving as the rock of New York’s rotation.

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

Sunday, June 27, RHP Zack Wheeler (5-4) PHI vs RHP Jerad Eickhoff (0-0) NYM, 1:10 pm

Wheeler in 2021: GS: 15, ERA: 2.36, IP: 99.1, H: 74, ER: 26, HR: 7, BB: 23, SO: 122 WHIP: 0.98

Eickhoff in 2021: GS: 1, ERA: 0.00, IP: 4.0, H: 3, ER: 0, HR: 0, BB: 3, SO: 3, WHIP: 1.50

This game will feature an ex-Met facing the Mets with an ex-Phillie facing the Phillies.

Wheeler has been very good this year, his second with the Phillies, after going 4-2 in Philadelphia last year with a 2.92 ERA. He has faced the Mets twice this year, tossing 13.1 innings and allowing seven earned runs, so the Mets have handled their former teammate well.

After not pitching in 2020, Eickhoff signed as a non-roster player with the Mets last off-season and began the year at Syracuse. When the pitching situation became dire because of injuries and a heavy schedule, the Mets gave Evansville, IN native a shot, and he answered the call admirably. On June 21 against the Braves (game two of a doubleheader), Eickhoff went four innings, allowing no runs on three hits. The next night, he was used as a pinch hitter and got a hit.

While Saturday seems like a mismatch in the Mets’ favor, this game seems like a mismatch in the Phillies’ favor. But as they say, that’s why they play the games.

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

Series Notes for Mets

Mets by the numbers, with MLB rankings:

BA .229 (22nd)

HR 68 (28th)

SLG .372 (26th)

OPS .681 (23rd)

Team ERA 3.11 (2nd)

Starters’ ERA 2.64 (1st)

Relievers’ ERA 3.78 (10th)

Mets OPS leaders (among players who are active) are Pete Alonso (.772), Jonathan Villar (.743), James McCann (.687), Dominic Smith (.685), Francisco Lindor (.674)

Notable Mets on the injured list:

Tommy Hunter (60-day), Johneshwy Fargas, J.D. Davis, Brandon Nimmo, Tomas Nido, Jeurys Familia

Villar is active, but nursing a sore calf muscle that may affect his availability.

Series Notes for Phillies

Phillies by the numbers, with MLB rankings:

BA .242 (11th)

HR 78 (21st)

SLG .395 (14h)

OPS .709 (15th)

Team ERA 4.31 (18th)

Starters’ ERA 4.19 (17th)

Relievers’ ERA 4.50(21st)

Phillies OPS leaders are Bryce Harper (.881), J.T. Realmuto (.853), Andrew McCutchen (.792), Rhys Hoskins (.783), Brad Miller (.748)

Notable Phillies on the injured list:

Jean Segura, Brandon Kintzler, Chase Anderson

The Mets clearly have the pitching advantage in this series, and will look to right their ship (they have lost six of their last 10) against a divisional opponent. After this series, the Mets go to Washington for one makeup game, then three with the Braves in Atlanta. After that, they’ll play the Yankees in the Bronx before ending their first-half schedule at Citi Field with three games against the Brewers and four against the Pirates.