METS VS. HALOS
So, these here Metsies are out in Tinseltown to face the Angelinas.
Should be a breeze, right? No Ohtani, no Trout, mostly lousy pitching….
But, remember when Steve Carlton was 27-10 and the rest of his team was 32-93? It matters who is taking the hill for the opposition.
34 year old lefty Tyler Anderson, their ace of sorts, is pitching Friday night.
The 34 year old lefty is just 8-9, but in 131 innings has a 2.96 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. In other words, Carlton Lite. A .500 career pitcher at 58-58, but he was 15-5 in 2022.
Saturday, their next best starter in Jose Soriano, who is 6-7, 3.69 with a 1.21 WHIP in 98 innings. The 25 year old righty was a solid reliever in 2023 in his rookie campaign before converting to a starter in 2024. Unlike the Mets’ overall lack of success with DSL pitchers, he started out in the DSL way back in 2016 before finally being promoted to the majors in early 2023. He is a success story so far.
Those two hurlers have combined for just 179 hits allowed in 231 innings.
Hunter Strickland (remember him? He was a 2020 Met for all of 3.1 IP) has been in 49 games, 51 innings, 3.35, 0.98. 35 year old righty with a very solid relief career.
Speaking of relief, the Mets might get some on Sunday, when Griffin Canning (3-10, 5.25) pitches.
But the Mets are getting most of the better part of the Angels’ rotation, quite naturally.
Hitting-wise, they are not nearly as potent as the Mets.
But the Angels have some tools.
Their best hitter is a catcher who has hit even better than Francisco Alvarez in his young career.
24 year old West Islip NY native Logan O’Hoppe has 16 HRs, and is .280/.333/.471 in 93 games in 2024. In 525 career at bats, 30 HRs, 77 RBIs, .265. Alvarez, in 567 career at bats, is 31/90, but just .224. (How did the sleepy Mets draft squad miss this 2018 23rd rounder right in their own back yard)?
3B Luis Rengifo, a 27 y/o switch hitter, is hitting a low-powered .302. But he has 24 steals, so he is a tough opponent. Zach Neto at SS is good too.
Ex-Met Kevin Pillar shockingly is hitting .300 in 160 at bats. Good for Pillar.
All said, the Mets better win at least 2 of 3 against this weaker opponent.
It would have been nice if Kodai Senga was starting one of these 3 games, huh? Oh, well…
MINORS HIGHLIGHTS
Drew Gilbert had 2 doubles and a walk for Syracuse. Encouraging.
Recently acquired Tyler Zuber gave up 3 hits and 2 runs in his inning of work and took the loss.
Luke Ritter had 4 RBIs, giving him an IL-leading 77. The second highest International League player has 69.
Three hitters in the very hitter-friendly AAA PCL have a few more RBIs than Ritter, so Ritter is 4th highest in RBIs in the minors in 2024, and has his average up to .267. Keeps getting better. Hitting .333 in 81 at bats after June, with 5 HRs and 23 RBIs.
Nick Morabito (.288 in Brooklyn, and .313 overall, with 46 steals) and St Lucie’s 19 year old Boston Baro (.288 in St Lucie) are both continuing to rock. Baro is 4th in the FSL in hitting, but the top 3 are all in the mid to upper .320s, so he won’t catch them.
Kevin Parada is slightly over .300 after June, going 1 for 2 and a walk in Binghamton’s 1-0 win last night. So, some positive Parada signs, but Ks need to come down.
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ReplyDeleteThank you for the recap Tom and Adam Smith makes a good point on the winter setup for the Mets. I was disappointed in Hamel’s outing yesterday, although not as disappointed as he probably was. Way short and lacked spice. I want him and Vasil to make it.
ReplyDeleteLooks like the Mets didn’t sign the ninth rounder after all. Two teams didn’t sign their second rounder and another team didn’t sign their sixth rounder. But, it seems the Mets never even made him an offer… I wonder why? They didn’t sign the 20th rounder either.
It’s the weekend, it’s the team from NY, you know teams will adjust their rotations to get attendance up. The Mets saw Chris Sale at his best, they can handle these guys too. The day off must have been nice, but they just had a week off two weeks ago. They’ll be ready for the road series.
Last thing from me, Winker has a .838 OPS against righties and Marte has a .677. But, Marte has a .913 OPS against lefties… see my point?
This road trip, with 10 games in 10 days in 5 cities and 4 time zone changes, including a one-day stop in St. Louis for the season series tie-breaker game with the Cards, and a getaway game next Sunday that’s been moved to Sunday night, is going to be a bear, regardless of the opponents. And so of course we start out facing the Angels’ two best pitchers. We should have a much better sense of our playoff chances by the time they get home.
ReplyDeleteMorabito seemed to go through a bit of a slump recently, but seems to be through it. They say that’s a key development milestone. I’m hoping that he sprints to the finish this season and can take another big step forward in ‘25. Interesting prospect. Great to see Gilbert starting to find his stroke. What a shame that he, Williams, and Mauricio had their seasons derailed by injury. That, combined with all of the expiring contracts, is gonna make Stearns’ job this winter and the decisions he’ll face a whole lot tougher.
Gus, Winker will play, and I don’t expect a Mets hiccup. Winker is Nimmo against righty pitching.
ReplyDeleteMarte, if/when the chiseled man returns, will get lots of days off.
Win 2 of 3 over the next 6 weeks. Get closer to the Phillies and pass the Braves.
D J, Stearns will have limited time to see how Giblbert and Mauricio will fit in in Flushing in 2025. Stearns is a smart cookie.
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