After being swept by the Phillies in Philadelphia, the Mets (9-14) head to South Beach to take on the first-place Marlins (9-6) in a four-game series. The Marlins have played significantly fewer games than most other teams due to a team-wide outbreak of COVID-19 immediately after opening weekend.

In the opener Monday at 7:10 pm, the Mets will send right-hander Robert Gsellman to the mound against fellow right-hander Jordan Yamamoto of the Marlins. Gsellman returned from the injured list on August 7, and pitched in relief the next night. He was pressed into starting duty on August 12 due to Michael Wacha‘s injury and Marcus Stroman‘s opt-out.

Gsellman struggled in his start against Washington, allowing three runs on four hits over two innings of work. All of Washington’s runs came on a titanic home run by Juan Soto in the first inning. Gsellman settled down to toss a scoreless second inning, before leaving the game after 33 pitches. Luis Rojas has indicated that Gsellman will stay in the rotation, and be stretched out in order to be prepared for longer outings.

Yamamoto (0-0) has started twice this season for the Marlins, and is pitching to a 9.82 ERA and a FIP of 8.59. He’s allowed 13 hits over 7.1 IP. He has also surrendered four home runs, for a HR/9 of 4.91.

On Tuesday at 7:10 pm, rookie left-hander David Peterson will start for New York. The Marlins have not yet named a starter for the game. Peterson (3-1) has an ERA of 2.91 and a FIP of 4.01. on Thursday at Citi Field against Washington, Peterson went five innings, allowing one run on one hit. He was the beneficiary of an outstanding catch ny Jeff McNeil that saved the Mets two runs in the top of the first inning.

Jacob deGrom is tentatively set to pitch in game three of the series Wednesday night at 7:10 pm. DeGrom was scratched Friday night in Philadelphia due to a stiff neck. He threw on the side Sunday, though Luis Rojas  stopped short of saying deGrom will definitely make the start. If deGrom cannot go, the Mets may try Franklyn Kilome, Walter Lockett, or a bullpen game. The Marlins have not announced a starter for Wednesday.

The series wraps up Thursday night at 6:10 pm. It would be Steven Matz‘s turn in the rotation for the Mets, however, Luis Rojas, as reported here on MMO,  has not ruled out skipping Matz, which would leave the Mets with either a bullpen game, or a start by either Kilome or Lockett, depending on Wednesday’s game. Miami has not yet announced  a starter for Thursday night.

Matz has been generally ineffective so far this season, posting an ERA of 9.00 and a FIP of 7.01. Matz has allowed 30 hits over 23 IP, and has yielded seven home runs. Saturday night in Philadelphia, Matz pitched 4.1 innings, allowing six runs on five hits. He had been pitching well until the fifth inning, when his completely unraveled. Matz once again was victimized by the long ball, this time to Jean Segura.

Things to watch

The Mets looked bad in their series in Philadelphia. Their fundamentals were poor (the Wilson Ramos late tag as poignant example) to go along with overall shoddy defense and ill-advised base running (Billy Hamilton on Friday, Ramos on Sunday).

The Mets timely hitting once again lapsed into a malaise, and they were unable to take advantage of the Phillies’ bullpen, that had an ERA over 9 going into the series.

After Sunday’s game, Gary Cohen said on SNY that the Mets need a better overall effort going forward. Anthony Recker echoed that sentiment during the post-game show. Most Mets fans would probably do so as well.

Brandon Nimmo‘s on-base streak stopped at 36 games on Sunday. He’s have to start a new one in Miami.

Dominic Smith leads the Mets with six home runs, and is slashing .296/.375/.741.

Robinson Cano had two hits on Sunday, and has a slash line of .383/.423/.574.

J.D. Davis has a lifetime OPS of 1.029 against the Marlins.

Dellin Betances has not allowed a run in his last five appearances. That span covers 5 IP, in which he’s allowed just two hits.

Miami’s Jon Berti has a lifetime OPS of .920 against the Mets.

Jesus Aguilar is off to a good start for the Marlins, with a slash line of .286/.317/.536 along with four home runs.