Series Preview: Mets Take a Brief Road Trip to Detroit

After a rainy weekend and a doubleheader split against the Atlanta Braves, the New York Mets (16-13) are heading to Comerica Park for three games against the Detroit Tigers (10-17). The Tigers are coming off a series in which they lost three out of their four games against the Baltimore Orioles. Similarly, the Mets have only won two out of their last eight games. As a result, both teams are looking to make up ground in their respective divisional races this week.

Despite their recent losing pattern, the Mets have seen encouraging performances from their young prospects Brett Baty and Francisco Álvarez. For Baty, he is batting an impressive .409/.458/.773 in his last seven games with two home runs. As a result, he should be seeing the majority of the playing time at the third base position going forward. In Álvarez’s case, he is batting .353/.389/.588 in his last seven games with a home run. In addition, he is in the 92nd percentile for pitch framing, according to Baseball Savant. As catcher Omar Narváez continues to recover from his calf injury, Álvarez should be receiving the bulk of the time at the catcher position. This will lead to a difficult decision for the Mets to make when Narváez returns, as the Mets may not wish to carry three catchers.

Tuesday, May 2, 2023: LHP Joey Lucchesi (1-0, 2.19 ERA) vs RHP Michael Lorenzen (0-1, 7.07 ERA)

Joey Lucchesi has been the stable force that the Mets have desperately needed in the wake of many injuries within the starting rotation. In his first start against the San Francisco Giants, he pitched seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts in a display of dominance. He built upon this success in his subsequent start against the Washington Nationals, in which he pitched 5.1 innings while allowing three earned runs. Lucchesi has yet to record an appearance against the Tigers. However, former Mets’ infielder Javier Báez is 5-for-7 in his career against the lefty with four extra-base hits including two home runs.

On the other side, Michael Lorenzen has achieved mixed results to begin his 2023 season. In his first start, he allowed six runs in four innings pitched against the Giants. Consequently, he saw great success when he pitched five shutout innings against the Baltimore Orioles in his second start of the season. In his most recent start, he was unable to sustain the success as he allowed five runs in five innings pitched against the Milwaukee Brewers. Despite his rocky start to the season, Loreznen has a solid track record against the Mets. In 26.1 innings pitched, he has an ERA of 2.73 along with 20 strikeouts. While most of these appearances were from his days as a reliever with the Reds, he did have one start against the Mets last season as a member of the Angels. He pitched 6.1 innings while allowing one run and striking out four batters.

Wednesday, May 3, 2023: RHP Max Scherzer (2-1, 3.72 ERA) vs LHP Joey Wentz (0-3, 6.45 ERA)

Former Tigers’ pitcher Max Scherzer will finally be making his return from his 10-game suspension due to foreign substance usage. In his limited sample this season, Scherzer has been solid aside from one poor start against the Brewers when he allowed five runs in 5.1 innings pitched. In his last eight innings pitched over two starts, he has not allowed any runs. Against his former team, Scherzer has excelled in three starts as he has an ERA of 1.23 in 22 innings pitched with 39 strikeouts.

For the Tigers, Joey Wentz has also seen mixed results in five starts this season. Most recently, he pitched 5.2 innings against the Orioles while allowing only two runs with six strikeouts. Consequently, his high ERA can be attributed to his atrocious performance against the Boston Red Sox in his second start of the season as he allowed five runs in only 1.2 innings. Wentz has not recorded an appearance against the Mets in his career.

Thursday, May 4, 2023: RHP Justin Verlander (2022 Stats: 18-4, 1.75 ERA) vs LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (2-2, 2.21 ERA)

Justin Verlander will be making his anticipated debut against his former team on Thursday. He is in the first year of his two-year agreement with the Mets. In his recent rehab start in Binghamton, he was excellent in 4.2 innings with six strikeouts. Last season, he was the unanimous winner of the American League Cy Young Award, as he posted another excellent season to add to his stacked resume. In his four career appearances against his former club, Verlander has a 3.10 ERA along with 42 strikeouts in 29 innings pitched.

Eduardo Rodriguez has been one of the lone bright spots for the struggling Tigers. In his most recent start, he pitched five and two-thirds innings against the Orioles while allowing only one run with five strikeouts. Consequently, he has only allowed two runs in his last four starts, which total out to 26.2 innings. Since runs are hard to come by against the southpaw, the Mets will need to rely on their disciplined hitters to increase Rodriguez’s pitch count and cause the Tigers to pivot to their bullpen arms.