Game Chat: Mets vs Guardians, 6:10 PM

Tuesday, May 21, 2024 • 6:10 PM
Progressive Field • Cleveland, OH
RHP Adrian Houser (0-3, 7.44) vs. RHP Xzavion Curry (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
SNY

The Mets look to bounce back from Monday’s lackluster loss as they take on the Guardians in Game 2 of their three-game set. With a 6:10 start time on Monday night, the Guardians wrapped the Mets up by an early 8:30 PM. The Mets pitching was there but the bats evaporated again after being a force the previous two games.

Old friend Carlos Carrasco was supposed to start tonight for Cleveland, but he was scratched and placed on the injured list with acute neck spasm. Xzavion Curry will start in his place.

Mets Lineup

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

Adrian Houser returns to the Mets rotation after a short stint in the bullpen.

Overall this season he has pitched 32 2/3 innings with a 7.44 ERA, 5.20 FIP, 1.837 WHIP and a 52 ERA+. Compared to 2023, Houser is walking a lot more (2.7 to 6.3 BB/9) while striking out a lot less (7.8 to 4.7 K/9). Luckily, he’s keeping the ball in the park more (1.1 to 0.6 HR/9), otherwise his wayward ERA would be way worse. Houser has the following career numbers against the Guardians:

• Gabriel Arias 0-1, K
• David Fry 1-1
• Andrés Giménez 0-2, K
• Josh Naylor 0-2, K
• José Ramírez 0-1, 2 BB

Opposing Lineup

1. Tyler Freeman – CF
2. Andrés Giménez – 2B
3. José Ramírez – 3B
4. Josh Naylor – 1B
5. Will Brennan – LF
6. Kyle Manzardo – DH
7. Jonathan Rodríguez – RF
8. Bo Naylor – C
9. Brayan Rocchio – SS

The Mets were supposed to face old friend tonight in Carlos Carrasco, but he was scratched for Curry.

The 25-year-old Curry made one spot start earlier this year for the Guardians on April 15, when he blanked the Red Sox over five innings. In Triple-A, he’s 0-5 with a 8.79 ERA over 28 2/3 innings this year. Curry pitched in 41 games (95 innings) in 2023 with a 4.07 ERA, 4.50 FIP, 1.347 WHIP and a 103 ERA+. Nine of those 41 games were starts. He struggled more as a starter with a 5.24 ERA, 1.427 WHIP over 34 1/3 innings.

He has not faced any Met in an official major league game.

Game Notes

• Kodai Senga played “light catch” on Tuesday after feeling triceps soreness while rehabbing.

Three Things To Watch For

1. Pete Alonso has been heating up for two weeks now. On May 6, Pete Alonso came into a game as a substitution and went 0-for-1 at the plate dropping his line for the season to .205/.293/.417. Since then he has played in 12 games going 16-for-51 at the plate with six doubles and two homers, hitting .314/.352/.549 with a .901 OPS over that stretch, thus raising his season line to .235/.309/.454/.763.
2. Mets pitchers walk a lot, but they also strikeout a lot. Mets pitchers lead the league in walks allowed out 207. You know this. The whole world knows this. The next closest team is the Marlins with 191. The Mets pitchers though are also 7th in strikeouts at 420, just one strikeout behind the Dodgers (421) and a few behind the Yankees (424). When this team starts firing on all cylinders, they have the potential to make a Wild Card run.
3. Mets batters struck out too much last night. Here’s something that surprised me, Mets batters are 25th with strikeouts. Mets batters have struck out 366 times this year (Seattle leads the league with 486). It feels like the Mets strikeout numbers should be higher because of games like Monday night where everyone (literally every starter except Nido) strikes out. The Mets struck out 11 times last night with Brett Baty’s 0-for-4, three punch-out night leading the way. If the Mets strikeout numbers dip tonight, they’re probably having a better night.

Let’s go Mets!

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