Tagged: Nick Swisher

9/23/15 Game Preview: Perez vs. Colon

The Mets (85-66) complete their 3-game series with the Atlanta Braves (61-91) at 7:10 tonight at Citi FIeld. Rookie right-hander Williams Perez (5.16 ERA, 4.94 FIP, 1.57 WHIP, 104 2/3 IP over 18 starts and 3 relief appearances) faces Bartolo Colon (4.15, 3.86, 1.24, 182 1/3 IP over 29 starts and 1 relief appearance).

Lineups:

[NY Post]

Braves:

  1. Nick Markakis, RF (L)
  2. Hector Olivera, 3B (R)
  3. Nick Swisher, 1B (S)
  4. A.J. Pierzynski, C (L)
  5. Andrelton Simmons, SS (R)
  6. Jace Peterson, 2B (L)
  7. Cameron Maybin, CF (R)
  8. Michael Bourn, LF (L)
  9. Williams Perez, P (R)

Mets:

  1. Curtis Granderson, RF (L)
  2. David Wright, 3B (R)
  3. Daniel Murphy, 2B (L)
  4. Yoenis Cespedes, CF (R)
  5. Lucas Duda, 1B (L)
  6. Travis d’Arnaud, C (R)
  7. Michael Conforto, LF (L)
  8. Ruben Tejada, SS (R)
  9. Bartolo Colon, P (R)

In four starts this season against Atlanta, Bartolo Colon has allowed 10 earned runs in 26 2/3 IP, good for a 3.51 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. Since his debacle in Colorado, across 5 starts and a relief appearance, Colon has an ERA of 1.21, a FIP of 2.98, and a WHIP of 1.02 over 37 1/3 IP (the first 31 of which were scoreless).

In two starts and a relief appearance against the Mets, Williams Perez has allowed 7 earned runs in 13 innings, good for a 4.85 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. After 3 straight starts allowing 4 ER or more, Perez has settled down over his last 3, with a 2.89 ERA, 3.62 FIP, and 1.29 WHIP in that span.

As always, LET’S GO METS!

Game Recap: Braves 6, Mets 2, bats struggle again

The Atlanta Braves (61-91) defeated the Mets (85-66) by a score of 6-2. Matt Wisler was very good for Atlanta, with 7 innings allowing only 1 run, while Logan Verrett allowed 4 runs in 5 innings, with all 4 runs coming on 2 home runs in the 5th inning. The Mets wasted some opportunities against Wisler early and scored only one run with a major opportunity in the 8th against Wisler and the Atlanta bullpen. However, a Baltimore defeat of Washington reduces the Mets’ magic number to 6, while keeping their divisional lead at 6.5 games. Wisler has just his 6th quality start in his first 17 career starts, and 3 of those 6 have come against the Mets (oddly enough, the other 3 came against St. Louis, Colorado (in COL), and the Yankees, some fairly strong offenses).

chart092215

Once again, the Mets got off to a fast start, but failed to come away with much. After Logan Verrett worked around a leadoff single, David Wright hit a 1-out solo home run to put the Mets up 1-0. Daniel Murphy followed with a 1-out double, but they stranded him there. The Mets had a leadoff single in the 2nd, and a 1-out double in the 6th, but those were the only real threats against Wisler, who once again shut down the Mets, this time through 7+ innings. Wisler allowed only 5 hits, 2 runs, and 1 walk while striking out 8.

After 4 fairly easy innings, the Braves jumped on Logan Verrett in the 5th, first with a home run to Jace Peterson to tie the game at 1. An out, a single, and a sac bunt put a runner on 2nd with 3 outs. Verrett intentionally walked Nick Markakis (curious call) to face Hector Olivera, who hit a 3-run home run to make it 4-1 Braves. Verrett was done after 5 innings, allowing 5 hits, 4 runs, and 1 walk, while striking out 3.

The Mets kept it 4-1 until the 8th inning, when Curtis Granderson drew a leadoff walk against Matt Wisler to chase him from the game. A single by David Wright singled against righty Peter Moylan before Freddi Gonzalez brought Matt Marksberry into the game to face Daniel Murphy. Murphy popped out, but Yoenis Cespedes walked to load the bases. After pinch hitter Michael Cuddyer was announced, Gonzalez countered with righty Edwin Jackson, who got out of the jam while only allowing a sacrifice fly to Cuddyer. It was 4-2 through 8.

In the top of the 9th though, Tyler Clippard got into trouble immediately by allowing a leadoff double to Nick Swisher. After two foul popouts to Kevin Plawecki, Clippard lost Michael Bourn on a walk before allowing a pinch-hit 2-run double to Adonis Garcia (Garcia also hit the pinch-hit 3-run home run to tie off of Clippard a week and a half ago). Arodys Vizcaino retired the Mets in order in the bottom of the 9th to complete a 6-2 loss.

With the win combined with Washington’s 4-1 loss to Baltimore, the Mets remain 6.5 games up with 11 left to play (12 for the Nationals). The magic number is down to 6.

Bartolo Colon faces off against Williams Perez in the series finale tomorrow, 7:10 at Citi Field. For the Nationals, Max Scherzer faces Chris Tillman of the Orioles at 7:05.

Positives: David Wright and Daniel Murphy each had good games, going 2-4 each. Murphy had 2 doubles, but was stranded both times, while Wright had a single and a solo home run. Sean Gilmartin also pitched two scoreless innings, allowing only 2 hits while striking out 3, and Hansel Robles had a nice bounce-back outing after his debacle on Sunday.

Negatives: Tyler Clippard continues to have trouble with his command, allowing yet another big hit, to Adonis Garcia for the 2nd time in as many weeks. As the radio broadcast noted, Clippard is leaving his pitches up, which won’t particularly work for a changeup pitcher who does not have a hard fastball. Logan Verrett was solid before his 5th inning, but he was unable to limit the damage. Also, Lucas Duda continues to struggle since his return from injury. Also, I understand the decision to walk Nick Markakis, the lefty having a fantastic season in order to face rookie Hector Olivera, but Olivera is no slouch at the plate. This was a ridiculous call, but it is greatly colored by the benefit of hindsight.

WPA Winner: David Wright (.171)

WPA Loser: Logan Verrett (-.319 pitching, -.018 batting, -.337 total)

Best Play: David Wright homers, 1-0 Mets, 1st inning (.120)

Worst Play: Hector Olivera hits a 3-run home run, 4-1 Braves, 5th inning (-.361)

9/22/15 Game Preview: Wisler vs. Verrett, slumping d’Arnaud sits

The Mets (85-65) take on the Atlanta Braves (60-91) at 7:10 toight at Citi Field in the 2nd game of a 3-game series. Rookie right-handers Matt Wisler (5.63 ERA, 5.32 FIP, 1.63 WHIP, 86 1/3 IP over 16 starts and 1 relief appearance) and Logan Verrett (2.89, 3.87, 0.94, 37 1/3 IP over 2 starts and 13 relief appearances) square off.

Lineups:

[Newsday]

Braves:

  1. Nick Markakis, RF (L)
  2. Hector Olivera, 3B (R)
  3. Freddie Freeman, 1B (L)
  4. A.J. Pierzynski, C (L)
  5. Nick Swisher, LF (S)
  6. Jace Peterson, 2B (L)
  7. Andrelton Simmons, SS (R)
  8. Michael Bourn, CF (L)
  9. Matt Wisler, P (R)

Mets:

  1. Curtis Granderson, RF (L)
  2. David Wright, 3B (R)
  3. Daniel Murphy, 2B (L)
  4. Yoenis Cespedes, CF (R)
  5. Lucas Duda, 1B (L)
  6. Wilmer Flores, SS (R)
  7. Michael Conforto, LF (L)
  8. Kevin Plawecki, C (R)
  9. Logan Verrett, P (R)

With the Mets this season, Verrett has a 1.91 ERA in 28 1/3 IP, and has allowed only 2 runs over 13 IP in his two starts. He has only allowed 7 hits and 2 walks in those 13 innings to go with 11 strikeouts. Also since joining the Mets, Verrett has a 25.2% strikeout rate and a 5.8% walk rate, both fantastic, even though it’s a small sample size. Verrett has also allowed a .164 BABIP against, which is way too low to be sustainable. However, Verrett has shown a certain knack for turning batted balls into outs, and a combination low walk rate and low BABIP looks like a good matchup against a weak hitting Atlanta team that likes to work the count and make contact.

Matt Wisler has struggled mightily this season, but has done very well in his two starts against the Mets. In 14 IP, Wisler has allowed only 3 runs, 13 hits, and 3 walks while striking out 8. Put another way, Wisler has a 1.92 ERA against the Mets and a 6.35 ERA against the rest of baseball. Wisler has struggled mightily on the road and to lefties this season. On the road, Wisler has a 7.42 ERA (.422 wOBA against) while against lefties, he has a .463 wOBA against with a 13.9% walk rate and only an 8.4% strikeout rate.

In today’s game of arbitrary endpoints, Daniel Murphy has been doing very well in his last 8 games. Since September 11th, Murphy is hitting .333/.371/.667 (.436 wOBA, 185 wRC+, 5.12 RE24, 0.64 WPA). In 35 plate appearances, Murphy has struck out only twice and has hit two huge home runs – a 3-run shot to tie the game in the 9th inning against Atlanta and a solo shot to give the Mets the lead against Masahiro Tanaka and the Yankees. Of Murphy’s 20.08 RE24 this season, 5.12 have come in those 8 games.

Continuing with said game, Cameron Maybin has struggled mightily since August 26th, part of which was likely influenced by a scratched cornea which caused him to miss some time. However, Since that date in 59 plate appearances, Maybin is hitting only .127/.186/.145 (.157 wOBA, -9 WRC+, or 109% below league average). Therefore, Maybin sits out today.

Similarly for the Mets, Travis d’Arnaud is 0 for his last 17 with only 1 walk and 6 strikeouts. D’Arnaud gets the day off in favor of Kevin Plawecki.

As always, LET’S GO METS!

Game Recap: Mets 4, Braves 0, strong outing for Niese

The Mets (85-65) defeated the Braves (60-91) by a score of 4-0 behind 6 shutout innings by Jon Niese. A run scoring double play, a solo home run by Michael Conforto, and a 2-run double by Daniel Murphy was all the scoring the Mets needed, as Niese, Addison Reed, Tyler Clippard, and Jeurys Familia combined for a 5-hit shutout.

chart092115

The Mets, like last night, got off to a quick start, this time against hard-luck pitcher Shelby Miler. After a 1-2-3 first by Jon Niese, Curtis Granderson walked, Daniel Murphy singled, and Yoenis Cespedes singled to load the basees. After Lucas Duda popped out, Travis d’Arnaud grounded into a bizarre double play, 5-4-6, allowing Granderson to score. 2nd baseman Daniel Castro dropped the ball on the transfer, allowing Granderson to score and allowing d’Arnaud to reach, but Daniel Murphy wandered off the basepath and was tagged out for a reverse force double play. The Mets took a 1-0 lead.In the bottom of the 2nd, Michael Conforto tacked on with an opposite-field solo homer, his 8th of the year to make it 2-0.

Jon Niese pitched very well tonight, allowing only 3 hits and 0 runs in 6 innings with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. Niese was a ground ball machine, recording 12 of his 18 outs on ground balls (one double play, 2 strikeouts, 3 fly balls). He worked past a bases loaded jam in the 2nd, and finished 6 innings, though he only had thrown 88 pitches. Terry Collins opted to go to Addison Reed for the 7th, who worked a 1-2-3 inning.

The Mets tacked on a couple runs in the bottom of the 7th after singles by Michael Cuddyer and Curtis Granderson, and a fielding error to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Daniel Murphy then doubled down the right field line to make it 4-0. Tyler Clippard pitched the 8th and worked around a leadoff single and two wild pitches, while the Braves worked around a 1-out walk to Ruben Tejada in the bottom of the 8th. In the 9th, Jeurys Familia worked around a 1-out single to complete the 4-0 victory.

Good victory, it was one they definitely needed, especially against a good pitcher like Miller. It was also a fantastic outing by Niese, who had his pitches working well tonight. Niese pitched 6 shutout with 3 hits and 2 walks and was lifted after only 88 pitches.

The broadcast was a bit confused on this, but it made sense to me. Niese tends to have an inning blow up on him, and the stats across baseball on the 3rd time through the batting order are too strong to ignore. Niese does not throw hard and can’t overpower batters, rather, he pitches to contact. At some point, the Braves were going to figure it out, and it made much more sense to go to Addison Reed for the 7th, Reed who has looked absolutely dominant since his first outing with the Mets. As I said during the game, you can’t honestly think Jon Niese gives you a better shot in the 7th than Addison Reed, because no matter how well he’s pitching, Reed has been better.

Another positive was Yoenis Cespedes breaking out of his slump. Cespedes had two doubles and had 3 hits in his first 3 plate appearances. That being said, Travis d’Arnaud continues to slump, and he is now 0 for his last 17.

Daniel Murphy continues to confuse. A blockheaded play on the basepaths was made up for in the 7th inning with a 2-run double. I will never understand what goes through his head sometimes

With the win combined with a rainout in DC, the Mets go up 6.5 games on the Nationals and lower their magic number to 7. The Nationals will make up their game against Baltimore on Thursday at 4:05, a mutual off-day for the two teams. The Mets continue the series tomorrow with Logan Verrett facing Matt Wisler at 7:10.

WPA Winners:

  • Jon Niese (.293 pitching, .002 batting, .295 total)
  • Yoenis Cespedes (.129)

WPA Losers: None under -.100

Best Play:

  • With runners at 1st and 2nd and 0 out, Nick Swisher grounds into a double play. 2-0 Mets, 4th inning (.135)
  • Michael Conforto homers, 2-0 Mets, 2nd inning (.107)

Worst Play: None under -.100

9/21/15 Game Preview: Miller vs. Niese, Wright and Markakis sit

The Mets (84-65) take on the Atlanta Braves (60-90) at 7:10 tonight at Citi Field. Shelby Miller (3.00 ERA, 3.33 FIP, 1.24 WHIP, 186 innings over 30 starts) opposes Jon Niese (4.31 ERA, 4.48 FIP, 1.41 WHIP, 167 IP over 28 starts). The Mets last faced Miller a week and a half ago and scored 3 runs on 7 hits with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts in 6 innings. The Mets won that game 7-2 behind Bartolo Colon. Niese faced the Braves in his last start, and was strong over 6 innings, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 8 hits while walking 1 and striking out 3.

Lineups:

[Newsday]

Braves:

  1. Michael Bourn, RF (L)
  2. Daniel Castro, 2B (R)
  3. Freddie Freeman, 1B (L)
  4. Adonis Garcia, 3B (R)
  5. A.J. Pierzynski, C (L)
  6. Nick Swisher, LF (S)
  7. Cameron Maybin, CF (R)
  8. Andrelton Simmons, SS (R)
  9. Shelby Miller, P (R)

Mets:

  1. Curtis Granderson, RF (L)
  2. Daniel Murphy, 3B (L)
  3. Yoenis Cespedes, CF (R)
  4. Lucas Duda, 1B (L)
  5. Travis d’Arnaud, C (R)
  6. Kelly Johnson, 2B (L)
  7. Michael Conforto, LF (L)
  8. Wilmer Flores, SS (R)
  9. Jon Niese, P (L)

David Wright gets the day off, and after leaving with a collarbone injury yesterday, Juan Uribe does not take his place. Therefore, Daniel Murphy slides to 3rd today with Kelly Johnson playing 2nd.

Nick Markakis is out of the Braves lineup for the 2nd straight day. There is no known injury as of this moment; perhaps Freddi Gonzalez simply wants to give him a 2nd straight day off against a lefty.

UPDATE: According to the Mets broadcast, Nick Markakis is out due to a strained neck and Christian Bethancourt is out due to a sprained thumb.

Over his last 6 starts (34 IP), Shelby Miller has struggled to a 5.56 ERA (3.71 FIP and 1.62 WHIP). Miller had a decent start against the Mets, but a bad one against the Blue Jays in his one start since he last saw the Mets. Miller is still winless since May 17th, yet another indication that wins is a dated statistic (as Brian Kenny of MLB Network put it, when guys were pitching 9 innings every start, then maybe a pitcher’s wins was a useful statistic). Miller’s numbers aren’t quite as strong on the road, with a 3.43 ERA and 3.71 FIP in those starts.

Jon Niese looks to improve on a decent outing his last time out, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) over 6 innings of work. He’s facing the same team this time out. Niese has a 15% strikeout rate this season with a 7.1% walk rate and a .301 BABIP. He is mostly in line with his career averages, at 18%, 6.9%, and .310 respectively, but the big difference is the strikeout rate, which is going down. Niese also has completely given back his improved walk rate from last season (5.6%).

It has also been a tale of two seasons for Niese. Through his August 4th start, he had a 15.5% K%, a 6.7% BB%, and a .293 BABIP. Since, Niese is at 12.7%, 10%, and .343 respectively. While his strikeout rate has gone down and his walk rate up, Niese has also experienced a bit of bad luck, with a 50 point jump in BABIP. While this should stabilize over time, Niese is certainly not the pitcher he was.

Niese also has a 3.23 ERA in 21 career starts against the Braves (1.44 WHIP). In 3 starts against them this season, he has a 2.04 ERA and 1.47 WHIP in 17 2/3 IP.

Though Ruben Tejada has gotten the bulk of the starts behind Jon Niese, Wilmer Flores starts today. Tejada often starts behind Niese because he generates a lot of ground balls and Tejada is the better defender than Wilmer Flores. By advanced fielding metrics, though, Tejada doesn’t look nearly as good. Tejada has a -14.1 UZR/150, copared to Flores’s -1.2. Similarly, Tejada is at -17 DRS while Flores is at -9. Fielding metrics do take a while to stabalize, so they should certainly be taken with a grain of salt, but it is worth noting when the metrics agree.

Game Recap: Mets 10, Braves 7 (10), bad bullpen > bad defense

The Mets (82-61) defeated the Atlanta Braves (56-88) by a score of 10-7 in 10 innings. The game was a defensive nightmare for the Mets, the likes of which they have not seen in a long time. It was contagious, affecting everyone from Daniel Murphy to usually-strong defenders Curtis Granderson, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, Lucas Duda, and Juan Uribe. Only two official errors were charged to the Mets. However, Daniel Murphy made up for his misplay in the 9th inning with a 2-out 3-run home run to tie the game. The Mets took the lead for good on a Hector Olivera error and a couple bases-loaded walks from the Atlanta bullpen.

chart091315

The Mets got off to a fast start with a 2-run home run by Michael Conforto after a single by Juan Uribe. The Mets were up 2-0 in the 2nd inning. Kirk Nieuwenhuis doubled to follow, but was caught trying to steal third to cool off the threat. The Braves countered with 2 runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning, after leadoff singles by Nick Markakis and Daniel Castro. The single by Markakis was upheld on review, after Jon Niese‘s throw to first handcuffed Lucas Duda. RBI singles by Adonis Garcia and Andrelton Simmons tied up the game.

In the bottom of the 6th inning, Andrelton Simmons singled to lead off the inning. Christian Bethancourt followed with a ground ball to Juan Uribe which skipped off his glove into left field. A tailor-made double play off the bat, the Braves now had 1st and 3rd with no one out. Niese limited the damage, however, and after a sacrifice fly to Michael Bourn, he retired the next two batters. The Braves took a 3-2 lead.

The Mets came right back in the top of the 7th, after a leadoff walk to Kirk Nieuwenhuis. Nieuwenhuis advanced on a groundout and went to 3rd on a single by Kevin Plawecki. Pinch hitter Michael Cuddyer was hit by a pitch, and Curtis Granderson singled in two runs against left-handed reliever Matt Marksberry. Marksberry got out of the inning without allowing any more runs.

In the bottom of the 7th, Tim Stauffer, his first appearance as a Met, allowed a leadoff single to Daniel Castro. Freddie Freeman followed with a hard ground ball that skipped by Daniel Murphy, putting runners at 1st and 3rd. It was another ball that should have been a double play, but Murphy failed to get his body in front of the ball, and missed while trying to stab at the ball with his glove. What followed was a chopper right back to Stauffer, who elected to get the double play and let the tying run score rather than throw to the plate. The game was tied at 4-4, and after working around a hit batsman, Stauffer got out of the inning.

Top of the 8th, after a 1-out walk to Michael Conforto, pinch runner Eric Young Jr. was thrown out trying to steal second, on a fantastic play by catcher Christian Bethancourt. The Mets were turned aside, and Bethancourt singled against Stauffer to lead off the bottom of the 8th. Dario Alvarez came in and got Michael Bourn out on a sacrifice bunt, hit pinch hitter Nick Swisher with a pitch, and got Nick Markakis to fly out to left. Daniel Castro singled down the left field line to score Bethancourt from 2nd, and Freddie Freeman sent a fly ball to left that Kirk Nieuwenhuis lost in either the sun or the wind. The ball landed foul, and Freeman’s at-bat continued. Freeman walked and Bobby Parnell came in to face Adonis Garcia. Garcia sent a shallow fly ball to right field, and Curtis Granderson slid but lost the ball in the sun. The misplayed single scored two runs to give the Braves a 7-4 lead.

In the top of the 9th, the Braves sent out Peter Moylan for his first save since 2012. Moylan struck out Ruben Tejada and Kevin Plawecki before defensive replacement Juan Lagares doubled to right-center. Ryan Kelly came in to try and get the save, and walked Curtis Granderson before allowing a 3-run home run to Daniel Murphy. That tied the game at 7.

After an easy bottom of the 9th by Parnell, journeyman right-handed pitcher Edwin Jackson came in for the top of the 10th. After getting Juan Uribe to pop out and pinch hitter Yoenis Cespedes to strike out, the wheels came off for Jackson. A walk to Kirk Nieuwenhuis and a single to Ruben Tejada put runners on the corners with 2 outs. What followed was a sharp ground ball to 3rd by Kevin Plawecki, where third baseman Hector Olivera made a nice stop. However, throwing to 2nd to get the forceout, Olivera threw wide, pulling second baseman Daniel Castro off the bag, allowing the go-ahead run to score. The play was upheld on video review. Jackson then proceeded to walk Juan Lagares and Curtis Granderson, forcing in a run. Danny Burawa then entered the game, and after walking Murphy to force in another run, retired Lucas Duda to end the threat. The Mets had a 10-7 lead.

Addison Reed worked around yet another error (this one by Ruben Tejada) in the bottom of the 10th to earn the save.

As Gary Cohen said when calling Murphy’s home run, “this team just doesn’t know how to lose.” What an odd game and what a dramatic win. This was the 7th straight game the Mets have scored 3 or more runs between the 7th and 9th inning.

Aside from the various defensive miscues, today saw bounce-back outings for both Jon Niese and Bobby Parnell. On a day when David Wright, Travis d’Arnaud, Wilmer Flores, Tyler Clippard, and Jeurys Familia never even appeared in the game (and Yoenis Cespedes struck out in his only plate appearance), this is a fantastic win.

Coupled with the Nationals’ 5-0 win against Miami, the Mets remain 9.5 games up in the division and reduce their magic number to 11. Rookies Logan Verrett and Justin Nicolino square off tomorrow at Citi Field at 7:10 as the Mets open a 3 game series against the Miami Marlins.

WPA Winners:

  • Kevin Plawecki (.430)
  • Curtis Granderson (.425)
  • Daniel Murphy (.248)
  • Michael Conforto (.198)

WPA Losers:

  • Tim Stauffer (-.251)
  • Dario Alvarez (-.237)
  • Jon Niese (-.172 pitching, -.043 at the plate, -.215 total)
  • Lucas Duda (-.120)

Best Plays:

  • Daniel Murphy hits a 3-run home run with two outs in the 9th inning, ties the game at 7-7. (.384 WPA)
  • Kevin Plawecki reached on a fielder’s choice, error on 3rd baseman Hector Olivera, with 2 outs in the top of the 10th inning. Kirk Nieuwenhuis scores to make it 8-7 Mets. (.352 WPA)
  • Curtis Granderson singles to right with 1 out in the top of the 7th, scoring Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Kevin Plawecki. Mets lead 4-3. (.337 WPA)

Worst Plays:

  • Daniel Castro singles to left with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th against Dario Alvarez, Christian Bethancourt scores. Braves take a 3-2 lead. (-.306)
  • Freddie Freeman singled to right, Daniel Castro advanced to 3rd. No one out, bottom of the 7th against Tim Stauffer. (This is the play that should have been an error on Murphy (-.212 WPA)

9/12/15 Game Preview: Syndergaard vs. Perez, Duda sits

The Mets (80-61) take on the Atlanta Braves (56-86) tonight at 7:10 at Turner Field in Atlanta. Tonight features a matchup between rookie right handers Noah Syndergaard (3.31 ERA, 3.39 FIP, 1.14 FIP, 122 1/3 IP over 20 starts) and Williams Perez (5.42 ERA, 5.09 FIP, 1.57 WHIP, 93 IP over 16 starts and 3 relief appearances).

Lineups:

[NY Times]

Mets:

  1. Curtis Granderson, RF (L)
  2. Yoenis Cespedes, CF (R)
  3. Daniel Murphy, 1B (L)
  4. David Wright, 3B (R)
  5. Michael Conforto, LF (L)
  6. Travis d’Arnaud, C (R)
  7. Kelly Johnson, 2B (L)
  8. Wilmer Flores, SS (R)
  9. Noah Syndergaard, P (L)

Braves:

  1. Nick Markakis, RF (L)
  2. Hector Olivera, 3B (R)
  3. Freddie Freeman, 1B (L)
  4. A.J. Pierzynski, C (L)
  5. Nick Swisher, LF (S)
  6. Jace Peterson, 2B (L)
  7. Andrelton Simmons, SS (R)
  8. Michael Bourn, CF (L)
  9. Williams Perez, P (R)

Lucas Duda gets the day off in favor of Kelly Johnson, who has been swinging a hot bat. Since the start of the month, Johnson is 9/20 with 2 doubles, 2 home runs, 2 walks, 6 runs scored, 6 runs batted in, and a stolen base.

Noah Syndergaard has struggled over the last month or so, not showing the dominance he showed earlier in the season. After a dominant outing on Sunday Night Baseball against Washington on August 2nd, Syndergaard has a 5.53 ERA, 5.31 FIP, and 1.41 WHIP over 5 starts. Syndergaard has given up at least one home run in each of his last six starts. He was skipped the last time through the rotation in order to save innings, has not started in 13 days, since August 30th against Boston. Syndergaard has been almost equally effective against both lefties and righties, but has struggled mightily on the road this season, to the tune of a 4.91 ERA, 3.96 FIP, and 1.56 WHIP (compared to 2.15/2.97/0.83 at home).

In two games pitched against the Mets this season, Williams Perez has garnered both a win and a save. In total, Williams has pitched 7 innings against the Mets this season (one start and one relief appearance) allowing 7 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts, and 2 home runs (to Granderson and d’Arnaud). Since returning from a left foot contusion on July 31st, Perez has made 8 starts and has allowed 43 runs in 43 innings (40 earned). That is good for an 8.37 ERA and a 5.89 FIP with a 1.81 WHIP. Like Matt Wisler yesterday, Perez struggles against lefties to the tune of a .306/.385/.503 batting line (.383 wOBA), allowing 8 of his 11 home runs on the season.

As always, LET’S GO METS!

9/11/15 Game Preview: Matz vs. Wisler

The Mets (79-61) take on the Atlanta Braves (56-85) at Turner Field in Atlanta, tonight at 7:35. Rookie Steven Matz (1.89 ERA, 4.35 FIP, 0.95 WHIP, 19 IP over 3 starts) takes on rookie Matt Wisler (5.81 ERA, 5.36 FIP, 1.61 WHIP in 74 1/3 IP over 14 starts and 1 relief appearance).

Lineups:

Mets:

  1. Curtis Granderson, RF (L)
  2. Yoenis Cespedes, CF (R)
  3. Daniel Murphy, 2B (L)
  4. David Wright, 3B (R)
  5. Lucas Duda, 1B (L)
  6. Travis d’Arnaud, C (R)
  7. Michael Conforto, LF (L)
  8. Ruben Tejada, SS (R)
  9. Steven Matz, P (R)

Braves:

  1. Nick Markakis, RF (L)
  2. Daniel Castro, 2B (R)
  3. Freddie Freeman, 1B (L)
  4. Adonis Garcia, 3B (R)
  5. Nick Swisher, LF (S)
  6. Andrelton Simmons, SS (R)
  7. Christian Bethancourt, C (R)
  8. Michael Bourn, CF (L)
  9. Matt Wisler, P (R)

According to Steve Gelbs, Dan Warthen is back with the team and in uniform. He is feeling great.

On the 14th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, the Mets and Braves will be wearing NY first responder caps up until the start of the game. MLB does not allow the caps to be worn during the game.

Steven Matz starts after leaving last week with a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand. Matz says the blister is not an issue. Matz has been very solid in his first three starts for the Mets, giving up only 4 runs over 19 IP with 11 hits, 7 walks and 20 strikeouts.

Matt Wisler faced the Mets in his first career start on June 19th, and shut them down over 8 innings. He allowed 6 hits, 1 run, and no walks with 2 strikeouts. That being said, the Mets lineup that day was as follows: Granderson, Tejada, Duda, Cuddyer, Flores, Lagares, Herrera, Plawecki, deGrom. The Braves, on the other hand, had Kelly Johnson batting 3rd that day. Wisler’s major struggle this season has been against left handed batters. They are hitting a Bryce Harper-like .331/.436/.626 against him, good for a wOBA of .449. His walk rate against lefties is also at 13.6%, compared to 4.3% against righties. His strikeout rate also suffers against lefties – 9.1% compared to 19.6% against righties.

Look for Wisler’s struggles against lefties to come into play against Granderson, Duda, and Conforto, all left handed batters with power and a strong ability to draw walks.

As always, LET’S GO METS!

Game Recap: Mets 7, Braves 2, Bartolo effective at mound, plate

The Mets (79-61) defeated the Braves (56-85) by a score of 7-2 after a 2 hour and 20 minute rain delay. This officially eliminates the Braves from postseason contention and reduces the Mets’ magic number to 16.

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After a long rain delay (see tweet by Kevin Plawecki), tonight’s game started with technical difficulties, and pregame/postgame hosts Gary Apple and Nelson Figueroa did some emergency play-by-play. The game remained scoreless through the first four, with each starter working in and out of a jam or two. In the top of the fifth, Juan Uribe singled, followed by two fly outs. Kelly Johnson had an infield single, and Kevin Plawecki lined a ball into the right-center gap to score both runners. Next batter, Bartolo Colon, lined a single up the middle to score Plawecki from 2nd. The Mets had a 3-0 lead.

In the top of the 7th, after two leadoff walks, Braves reliever Ross Detwiler was removed from the game due to a hamstring injury. After a flyout by Duda, Juan Uribe singled in the Mets’ fourth run of the game. A double play off the bat of Michael Conforto ended the threat.

Colon, meanwhile, was scoreless through six. He reached 31 consecutive scoreless innings pitched, a new record for a pitcher 42 or older (he broke the record of 27 innings, held by Warren Spahn and Cy Young). He now has the 3rd longest scoreless innings streak in Mets history, behind only Jerry Koosman and R.A. Dickey. Colon ran into some trouble in the bottom of the 7th though, allowing, in order, a single to Nick Swisher, triple to Jace Peterson, and single to Andrelton Simmons. This made it 4-2 and ended Colon’s scoreless streak. He followed by getting a force out and a flyout, bringing up Nick Markakis with a runner on 1st. Dario Alvarez was brought in to face Markakis, who promptly flied to Kirk Nieuwenhuis in left field (double switched into the game with Alvarez).

The Mets tacked on a run in the top of the 8th after a leadoff single by Wilmer Flores. A wild pitch, flyout, and groundout brought pinch runner Eric Young Jr. around to score. Dario Alvarez remained on for the bottom of the 8th and retired the side in order, an impressive showing for a Mets team that has been looking for a reliable left handed reliever all season. This too comes on a night when Hansel Robles, Jeurys Familia, and Tyler Clippard were all unavailable. In the 9th, Curtis Granderson and Lucas Duda both walked, setting up a line drive double off the bat of Juan Uribe, scoring both runners. Addison Reed pitched the 9th for the Mets and worked around a walk and an infield hit to retire the side.

The Mets have now equaled their win total from last season with 22 games still left to play. They extend their division lead to 7.5 games (Washington was off tonight) and reduce their magic number to 16. Rookies Steven Matz and Matt Wisler square off at 7:35 tomorrow night.

WPA Winners:

  • Kevin Plawecki (.282)
  • Bartolo Colon (.172 pitching, .030 batting for .202 total)
  • Juan Uribe (.096)

WPA Losers:

  • Michael Conforto (-.116)

9/10/15 Game Preview: Wright, d’Arnaud, Murphy sit

The Mets (78-61) take on the Atlanta Braves (56-84) tonight at 7:10 PM at Turner Field in Atlanta. The Mets are chasing the division crown, while the Braves are chasing the number one overall draft pick. Reigning NL Player of the Week Bartolo Colon (4.18 ERA, 3.77 FIP, 1.24 WHIP in 170 IP over 28 starts and 1 relief appearance), with a current 25 inning scoreless streak, takes on Shelby Miller (2.81 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 1.21 WHIP, 176 1/3 IP over 28 starts), the epitome of a bad luck starting pitcher this season. With those numbers, Miller only has 5 wins on the season and has 20 straight starts without a win.

Lineups:

Bartolo Colon flips behind his back for the out in last Saturday’s 9-0 complete game shutout

Mets:

  1. Curtis Granderson, RF (L)
  2. Yoenis Cespedes, CF (R)
  3. Lucas Duda, 1B (L)
  4. Juan Uribe, 3B (R)
  5. Michael Conforto, LF (L)
  6. Wilmer Flores, SS (R)
  7. Kelly Johnson, 2B (L)
  8. Kevin Plawecki, C (R)
  9. Bartolo Colon, P (R)

Braves:

  1. Nick Markakis, RF (L)
  2. Hector Olivera, 3B (R)
  3. Freddie Freeman, 1B (L)
  4. A.J. Pierzynski, C (L)
  5. Nick Swisher, LF (S)
  6. Jace Peterson, 2B (L)
  7. Andrelton Simmons, SS (R)
  8. Michael Bourn, CF (L)
  9. Shelby Miller, P (R)

Cameron Maybin is out of the lineup for the Braves do to eye discomfort (scratched left cornea) and blurred vision.

Daniel Murphy, David Wright, and Travis d’Arnaud are all out of the lineup for the Mets. After a sweep in Washington, Wright and d’Arnaud are due days off against the right hander, while Murphy is still nursing his strained quad. There does not appear to be any setback with him, this is just a standard day off.

Jeurys Familia and Tyler Clippard both get the day off after a busy Washington Series. Familia had pitched three straight days, Clippard two. Hansel Robles is also unavailable due to a death in his family. Presumably, Addison Reed will be the closer tonight, with Erik Goeddel or Sean Gilmartin setting him up.

The Braves have a lefty-dominated lineup tonight, with the only right handed batters being Olivera, Simmons, and Shelby Miller. Lefties on the season against Colon are batting .290/.314/.444 with a wOBA of .324. However, the Braves are the worst slugging team in baseball by quite a bit with a team slugging percentage of .361 (The Marlins are 2nd worst at .378). The Braves, generally, work towards making contact and drawing walks (6th best K% in MLB, 10th best BB%). Unfortunately for the Braves, those play into Colon’s strengths, as he walks very few (1.11 BB/9, best among all qualified NL pitchers) and pitches to a lot of contact.

Shelby Miller is having the best season of his young career after being acquired from St. Louis in exchange for Jason Heyward. He has not gotten a win since May 17th, and in his 20 starts since, is 0-12 with a 3.46 ERA, 3.38 FIP, and 1.37 WHIP. He has not fared as well recently, giving up four or more runs in 3 of his last 4 starts (including 7 to the Nationals in 4 1/3 IP in his last start). In his home ballpark this season, Miller has a 2.21 ERA, 3.00 FIP, and a 1.19 WHIP.

The Braves recently acquired Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn from the Indians in exchange for Chris Johnson, an interesting swap of bad contracts. Swisher, since arriving, has hit .260/.398/.438 over 93 plate appearances, while Bourn has hit .186/.275/.229 in 80 plate appearances. Bourn’s defense, once elite, does not grade out well as a center fielder but grades very well in left field.

The Mets play the Braves for the first time since acquiring Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson from them. Since the trade, Uribe has hit .200/.294/.410 with 5 home runs while Johnson has hit .250/.301/.458 with 5 home runs.

As always, LET’S GO METS!