The New York Mets finally come home after a nine-game road trip to enjoy the comforts of Citi Field for a six-game home stand. They start the stand with three against the San Diego Padres. This will be the only time the Padres visit New York in 2019.

The Mets still lead the Majors in number of games played on the road having played just over 57% of their games away from Flushing. The Amazins’ are currently 22-35 away from Citi Field this year. They are 7-7 so far in July.

The Mets (45-54) went 5-4 in their recent three city jaunt which isn’t awful but the trip will be remembered for three extra-inning losses to the suddenly red-hot San Francisco Giants to conclude the trip. The Mets scored only 4 runs in 38 innings in the three losses. The lack of scoring proved frustrating for the Mets, culminating in the usual mild mannered Pete Alonso breaking his bat across his leg after a strikeout in Sunday’s game.

The San Diego Padres are currently 47-52 tied for fourth in the National League West with the Colorado Rockies. They are 18.5 games behind division leading Los Angeles. The Padres are finishing a three city trip with this visit to New York that began with stops in Miami and Chicago. They are currently 2-4 on their road trip and 2-7 since the All-Star break.

The Padres took two out of three from the Mets at Petco Park on May 6-8. The Mets and Padres have a history of playing close series against one another as their all-time record of 249-243 in favor of San Diego would suggest.

San Diego is currently 12th in the National League in run differential at -45. They have scored 439 runs in 99 games which averages to almost 4.4 runs per game. The Padres rank 13th in the NL in team offense with those 439 runs and have a team batting average of .243. Only the Miami Marlins and the Cincinnati Reds have scored fewer runs than the Padres.

First baseman Eric Hosmer leads the Padres in hitting with a .285 batting average. Manny Machado, the Padres shortstop, leads the team in both RBIs with 66 and runs scored with 57. Padres’ left fielder Hunter Renfroe leads the way in home runs with 28. The Padres have had their struggles offensively at times this year.

As far as team pitching, San Diego ranks tenth in the NL. They have a .252 BAA and a 4.57 team ERA. Joey Lucchesi leads the team in most all of the team’s pitching stats. He leads the Padres in wins with seven, strikeouts with 99 and has a 4.27 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. He is not scheduled to pitch in the Mets series. Closer Kirby Yates has 31 saves which leads the National League by a wide margin.

Mark Feinsand noted in a statement released Monday that according to a source, the Padres “are trying to be aggressive” in the starting pitching market as they were last winter.

The Padres are 14th in the NL in team defense. They have committed 72 errors so far this year. Only the Dodgers have more errors with 73. The Padres have a .980 fielding percentage.

The San Diego Padres are managed by 42 year-old Andy Green. He is the second youngest manager in the majors behind only Twins’ skipper Rocco Baldelli who is 37. As a player, Green played for the Mets for a very short time in 2009. He started his major league coaching career as a third base coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2015. After the season was over, he was named as manager of the Padres. On August 13, 2017, Green signed an extension with San Diego to manage through the 2021 season. He hopes to build a winning team around Machado and a young, aggressive pitching staff.

Tuesday, July 23: LHP  Jason Vargas vs RHP Chris Paddack  7:10 PM

2019 Stats: Vargas 4-5 record, 4,25 ERA (4.82 FIP), 1.282 WHIP, 7.4 Ks/9, 3.5 BB/9; Paddack 6-4 record, 2.70 ERA (3.75 FIP), 0.867 WHIP, 9.5 Ks/9, 1.9 BB/9

A small, but brewing feud cropped up on May 6 at Petco Park as rookie Chris Paddack got the better of April’s Rookie-of-the-Month Pete Alonso and the Mets, 4-0. Paddack went 7.2 innings allowing no runs and only four hits. Alonso struck out three times.

Paddack is coming off a near no-hitter against the Miami Marlins. He tossed seven hitless innings before giving up a lead off HR to Starlin Castro in the eighth. Paddack eventually went 7.2 innings allowing only the one hit to get the win while striking out eight.

Jason Vargas will be making his 18th start of the season against the Padres on Tuesday. He earned his fourth victory of the season last out when the Mets crushed the Minnesota Twins, 14-4. In that game he allowed three runs on five hits in six innings. Vargas has allowed three or fewer runs in 14 of his previous 17 starts. He is 0-1 lifetime against the Padres.

Ian Kinsler is 13 for 23 (.565) against Vargas in his career. Manny Machado has three hits in eight plate appearances versus the Mets’ southpaw.

Wednesday, July 24: RHP Noah Syndergaard vs RHP Dinelson Lamet

2019 Stats: Syndergaard 7-4 record, 4.36 ERA (3.67 FIP), 1.228 WHIP, 8.9 Ks/9, 2.3 BB/9; Lamet 0-2 record, 5.14 ERA (5.72 FIP), 1.429 WHIP, 12.2 Ks/9, 3.9 BB/9

If the Padres are “aggressively” on the market for pitchers, they’ll get an up close and personal look at a potential candidate in this game in Noah Syndergaard. Syndergaard, inconsistent in the early part of the season, has pitched very well of late. He has won four of his last six starts. He probably had his best recent start last out in a no-decision against the San Francisco Giants where he pitched seven innings allowing only one run on six hits with eight strikeouts. His 4.36 ERA is the lowest it’s been this year.

On May 7 in San Diego, Syndergaard allowed four earned runs on five hits in six innings in a game the Mets eventually won, 7-6. Lifetime, Noah is 1-2 against San Diego with a 4.88 ERA. Machado is 3-for-6 against the Met right-hander while Kinsler is 4-for-9.

Dinelson Lamet is starting for the fourth time this year and is still looking for his first win. His last start was his best as he allowed only one earned run against the Marlins in four innings of work. He throws the ball hard and has an impressive 12.2 strikeouts per nine innings. He can be a bit wild though as his near 4 four walks per nine innings indicates.

Lamet is 1-0 lifetime versus the Mets with a 1.80 ERA. No Met on the current roster has a hit against him.

Thursday, July 25: RHP Jacob deGrom vs LHP Eric Lauer

2019 Stats: deGrom 5-7 record, 3.02 ERA (3.05 FIP), 1.107 WHIP, 11.4 Ks/9, 2.3 BB/9; Lauer 5-7 record, 4.31 ERA (4.04 FIP), 1.333 WHIP, 7.4 Ks/9, 2.6 BB/9

Jacob deGrom is looking to get his ERA below three for the first time since April. In his last 11 starts, Jake has produced a stellar 2.31 ERA, but the Mets have only two wins during that span. He faced the Padres in San Diego on May 6 and lost to Chris Paddack and team mates, 4-0. He allowed only two runs on four hits but as is often the case with Jacob, he received little run support. Jake’s last start was against the Giants and he pitched a gem going seven innings allowing no runs and only three hits while striking out 10. He received another no decision for his efforts.

DeGrom is 3-3 lifetime against the Padres with a 1.79 ERA. Manny Machado is 4-for-12 against deGrom, while Hunter Renfroe is 3-for-6 with two of those hits, home runs.

Eric Lauer is making his second start since coming off the bereavement list after his July 5th start against the Dodgers. In his first start back against the Cubs, he took the loss in a 6-5 Chicago win. Lauer allowed five runs on six hits in 4.2 innings. He has faced the Mets once in his career, in 2018, and took the loss in a game where he allowed six runs on six hits.

Michael Conforto is 2-for-2 against Lauer including a home run.

Prediction: The Mets are facing a team in the Padres that is loaded with future potential, but as of now, doesn’t rank well in the NL in offense, defense or pitching. In fact they are near the bottom of the league in most categories, but the problem is so are the Mets.

That said, the Mets are still a pretty good team at home (23-19) and have the pitching advantage in at least two of the three games. So the pick here is that the Mets will take two out of three from San Diego and await the arrival of another below .500 team in the Pittsburgh Pirates this weekend.