Game Chat: Braves vs Mets, 4:10 PM

Saturday, May 11, 2024 • 4:10 PM
Citi Field • Flushing, NY
LHP Max Fried (2-1, 4.23) vs. RHP Christian Scott (0-0, 1.35)
SNY • FS1

Happy Christian Scott Home Debut Day!

The Mets look to rebound after Friday night’s loss to the Braves with Christian Scott making his Citi Field debut this afternoon at Citi Field. The Mets got last Friday’s game in after about an hour of delays and the Mets offense spent most of the night looking like they haven’t played in days. Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso powered the offense but overall the team fell short 4-2.

Mets Lineup

1. Brandon Nimmo – LF
2. Starling Marte – RF
3. Francisco Lindor – SS
4. Pete Alonso – 1B
5. J.D. Martinez – DH
6. Jeff McNeil – 2B
7. Harrison Bader – CF
8. Brett Baty – 3B
9. Tomás Nido – C

Christian Scott looked electric in his debut last weekend where he held the Rays to one run from five hits and a walk over 6 2/3 innings while striking out six. He tossed 94 pitches, 67 of them for strikes. The Rays are a much more free-swinging team than the Atlanta Braves, and today may be the toughest lineup that he faces all season. We’ll see if the Braves approach him differently at the plate after seeing the tape of what he did to the Rays lineup.

Opposing Lineup

1. Ronald Acuña Jr. – RF
2. Ozzie Albies – 2B
3. Austin Riley – 3B
4. Matt Olson – 1B
5. Marcell Ozuna – DH
6. Travis d’Arnaud – C
7. Michael Harris II – CF
8. Orlando Arcia – SS
9. Jarred Kelenic – LF

The Mets bats started to heat up late in Friday’s game, hopefully, that’s a sign they’ll be ready for Max Fried this afternoon. Over seven starts Fried has pitched 38 1/3 innings with a 4.23 ERA, 4.09 FIP, 1.148 WHIP, and a 98 ERA+. Fried had a tremendous end of April where he tossed a complete game shutout against the Marlins and followed it up with shutting the Mariners out over six innings. His last time out though the Dodgers tagged him for four runs over seven innings. His season stats are still heavily impacted by his second start of the season where he allowed eight runs, seven earned over 4 1/3 against the Diamondbacks. The Mets have the following career numbers against Fried:

• Pete Alonso 10-34, 2B, 2 HR, 5 BB, 12 K
• Harrison Bader 2-9, BB, 4 K
• Brett Baty 2-5, K
• Francisco Lindor 3-25, HR, 6 K
• Starling Mart 4-18, 2 2B, BB, 4 K
• Jeff McNeil 10-28, 3 2B, BB, 5 K
• Tomás Nido 3-12, 2 2B, K
• Brandon Nimmo 3-26, 2 2B, 4 BB, 11 K
• Tyrone Taylor 2-6, 2 K
• Joey Wendle 0-4

Game Notes

• Christian Scott is set to make his second career start today against Atlanta. The right-handed pitcher made his major league debut on May 4. He became the third Mets player to make his major league debut this year. He allowed one run on five hits with one walk and struck out six over 6.2 innings. He is the first Mets pitcher to toss at least 6.0 innings in their debut since Steven Matz did so on June 28, 2015, vs. Cincinnati.
• The Mets are 9-11 at Citi Field this year. After starting the season 0-5 at Citi, the team is 9-6 at the ballpark. New York has posted a 2.74 ERA (57 ER/187.0 IP) at home this year, the lowest mark in the National League and the second-lowest mark in the majors. Only Seattle (2.54 ERA) has a lower mark at home.
• The Mets bullpen owns a 2.80 ERA (44 ER/141.1 IP) with 68 walks and 181 strikeouts. Their 2.80 ERA is the best in the Senior Circuit and fourth in the majors. Their 181 strikeouts from the bullpen are the most in the major leagues. They lead the majors with an 11.53 K/9 IP ratio and in batting average (.196). They have allowed 11 home runs, giving them a 0.70 HR per 9 IP ratio, the best in the National League.

Three Things To Watch For

1. Lindor is slugging now! Since April 28th Lindor has 10 hits in 44 trips to the plate. Six of his ten hits have been for extra bases. Three of them have been doubles, and three of them have been homers. Five of his seven home runs this season have come in his last 14 games played (or in other words he had two home runs in his first 23 games played this season).
2. Back-to-back multi-hit games for Pete. Pete Alonso was in the midst of a long slump before this week. In his last two games he has gone 4-for-9 at the plate with two doubles, a home run, and two runs scored. This feels like Pete Alonso breaking out of his slump.
3. The bullpen is well-rested. The Mets bullpen has essentially had three days off in a row with Yohan Ramírez and Adrian Houser taking care of business Friday night. Yohan was recently reacquired by the Mets and Houser was just bumped to the bullpen. Both tossed two scoreless innings. If both pitchers can continue to be successful in long relief, this will allow the Mets to pivot and use Reed Garrett in higher-leverage situations.

Let’s go Mets!

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