Series Preview: Say Hey Giants

The New York Mets (7-3) will face the San Francisco Giants (7-2) in a four-game series, the second series at Citi Field this season. The Mets are coming off three series wins to start the season and are in first place in the National League East. The Mets bats have been hot, scoring 17 runs against the Diamondbacks and setting a franchise record for home runs in a home opener. The starting pitching has been exceptional, with a franchise-best ERA of 1.07 through 10 games.

Starling Marte and Francisco Lindor had a great series against Arizona, with Marte homering in the first and second game, and Lindor homering twice in the first game. Jeff McNeil also continued his solid start and has a .344/.447/.438 slash line to start the season. Pete Alonso is leading the NL in RBIs with 14, and he’s hit three home runs. Eduardo Escobar isn’t lighting the world on fire right now, but he has shown excellent discipline at the plate and is still getting on base at a decent clip.

While the Mets starting pitchers have been excellent, the bullpen in contrast has struggled a bit. Sean Reid-Foley and Joely Rodriguez have each given up four runs in relief. Seth Lugo came on in a tied game in the seventh inning on Saturday against the Diamondbacks and allowed three runs to score. Trevor May ran into trouble on Monday against the Phillies and experienced some arm soreness. He was out for five days before returning on Saturday and pitching a scoreless inning. Despite the early issues, there have been some bright spots in the bullpen. Edwin Diaz and Drew Smith are pitching well, and Chasen Shreve has also impressed.

The Giants, like the Mets, have had a great start to the season, and they are coming into Citi Field on a five-game winning streak. They took two of three games against the Padres before sweeping the Cleveland Guardians, including a crushing defeat of the Guardians 8-1 in game three. Last season, the Giants won 107 games and beat out the Dodgers for first in the NL West, before losing to the Dodgers in the Division Series.

The Giants pitching staff is leading the NL in ERA (2.34). First baseman Brandon Belt is off to a good start at the plate, with a .345/.441/.690 slash line. Joc Pederson is also doing well, batting .364/.417/.636 so far. Still, the Mets offense has been a little more proficient than the Giant’s offense to start the season, as the Mets have 11 home runs and 46 runs scored compared to the Giant’s nine home runs and 35 runs scored for the Giants.

Monday, April 18, 2022: RHP Tylor Megill (2-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Alex Cobb (1-0, 3.60 ERA)

Tylor Megill will look to continue his excellent start to the season on Monday. He has thrown 10 and 1/3 innings so far without giving up a run. He also has 11 strikeouts to start the season. It will be interesting to see if ‘Big Drip’ can keep up his good start against the Giants’ lineup.

Alex Cobb struck out 10 Padres in five innings of work during his first start as a Giant. Only five Mets batters have faced Cobb before, as he’s been an American League pitcher up until this year. Robinson Cano is batting .357 with four home runs in 28 at bats against Cobb, so look for him to likely be in the lineup against Cobb.

Tuesday, April 19, 2022: RHP Max Scherzer (2-0, 3.27 ERA) vs. RHP Logan Webb (1-0, 1.29 ERA)

Max Scherzer didn’t have his best stuff, but battled in his first two starts against the Nationals and the Phillies. It would be nice to see Scherzer return to his usual dominant self on Tuesday night against the Giants, but if not, as long as he continues to grind out his innings, the Mets will have a chance to win. Scherzer has faced the Giants 11 times in his career, and has generally pitched well, with a 3.84 ERA and 1.125 WHIP. He faced the Giants as a Dodger in game 3 of the Division Series in 2021 and went seven innings, giving up one run and striking out 10.

Logan Webb came into his own as a starter for the Giants last year, posting a 3.03 ERA in 26 starts and 148 and 1/3 innings pitched. Webb started two games for the Giants in the Division series against the Dodgers last year. He went at least seven innings in each game and only gave up one run. Webb pitched once against the Mets in 2021, and gave up two runs on seven hits in seven and a third innings. Hopefully the new and improved Mets offense will do more against Webb this year.

Wednesday, April 20, 2022: RHP Chris Bassitt (2-0, 0.75 ERA) vs. LHP Carlos Rodon (1-0, 1.50 ERA)

The Mets trade for Chris Bassitt this spring has been excellent for the Mets so far. Bassitt has pitched well and has been a real competitor on the mound. Bassitt has also been seen in the dugout often consulting with his fellow pitchers about their outings, which is a huge asset to the team. Bassitt last faced the Giants in 2020, when he went six and two-thirds innings without giving up a run. He gave up three hits and struck out seven in that outing. Hopefully his outing on Wednesday is similar to his 2020 outing.

Carlos Rodon will be making his second start for the Giants after signing a two-year, 44 million dollar contact with opt outs. Rodon has never faced the Mets in his career, but six current Mets have faced him in other uniforms. Lindor has done well against him, with a .313 average, two home runs, and six RBIs against Rodon in 32 at bats.

Thursday, April 21, 2022: RHP Carlos Carrasco (0-0, 0.84 ERA) vs. RHP Anthony DeSclafani (0-0, 4.32 ERA)

Carlos Carrasco has pitched well, but has not gotten any run support. He has two no decisions in his first two starts and the Mets lost both of those games. Outside of a solo home run surrendered to Nationals DH Nelson Cruz in Carrasco’s first start, so far Carrasco’s first inning woes from last year seem to be behind him. Hopefully that continues against the Giants.

Anthony DeSclafani has faced the Mets the most out of any starter in this four-game series for the Giants. Lindor has the best numbers against DeSclafani of the current Mets, with a .412 average and 2 home runs in 12 at bats. DeSclafani had his career best ERA as a Giant last year (3.17) and he worked in spring training on improving his curve ball to add another weapon to go with his fastball and slider.

Prediction:

The Giants are a higher class of competition than the Mets have faced so far to start the season. I would love to predict the Mets taking the series 3-1 or even 4-0, but it seems more likely that these two teams will split the series 2-2. I’m planning on being at Citi Field for Thursday’s game, so selfishly, I hope Thursday’s game is one of the games the Mets win.