Game Chat: Padres vs Mets, 7:10 p.m.

Friday, June 14, 2024 • 7:10 PM
Citi Field • Flushing, NY
RHP Matt Waldron (4-5, 3.76) vs. LHP Sean Manaea (3-3, 4.30)
SNY

The Mets came out victorious on Thursday night thanks to the first walk-off home run of J.D. Martinez’s career. They were befuddled at the plate for most of the game, but the bats were able to figure things out in the later innings as the team took the series from the Miami Marlins.

The Mets will now welcome the San Diego Padres to town, who are in the midst of a three-game winning streak as their offense is surging. New York’s offense has also been one of the better units in baseball the last couple of weeks, so both clubs are catching each other while they’re hot. However, there’s one thing that can slow them down – the weather.

Starting in the late afternoon throughout a larger portion of the evening, we are expecting to see scattered to severe storms across the tri-state area that may delay or perhaps even postpone tonight’s contest.

Mets Lineup

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

Sean Manaea has made 12 starts in 2024, tossing a total of 60 2/3 innings. Over that stretch, he has a 4.30 ERA, 3.79 FIP, 1.352 WHIP and an 89 ERA+. Manaea is coming off back-to-back subpar starts where he has allowed a combined 12 runs, 11 of which were earned, on 13 hits and three walks spread across 9 1/3 innings. His ERA has jumped from 3.16 to 4.30 as a result. Before this recent rut, Manaea allowed only five runs over 16 innings in his previous three outings.

In four games against the Padres last season, Manaea threw 12 1/3 innings while allowing seven earned runs and 15 hits to go with 14 strikeouts. San Diego has the following career numbers against him:

• Luis Arráez 2-6, HR, K
• José Azocar 1-2, 2B
• Jake Cronenworth 2-9, 2B, 2 K
• Kyle Higashioka 1-2
• Ha-Seong Kim 1-8, BB, K
• Manny Machado 7-17, 3 2B, BB, 2 K
• David Peralta 1-7, K
• Jurickson Profar 7-21, 2 2B, 3B, HR, BB, 3 K
• Donovan Solano 3-8, BB, 3 K
• Fernando Tatis Jr. 2-12, BB, 6 K

Opposing Lineup

1. Luis Arráez – 1B
2. Fernando Tatis Jr. – RF
3. Jurickson Profar – LF
4. Manny Machado – DH
5. Donovan Solano – 3B
6. Jake Cronenworth – 2B
7. Ha-Seong Kim – SS
8. Jackson Merrill (L) CF
9. Kyle Higashioka – C

It’s a knuckleball night as Matt Waldron graces the mound at Citi Field. Over 13 starts and 69 1/3 innings this year, Waldron has recorded a 3.76 ERA, 3.26 FIP, 1.226 WHIP and a 104 ERA+. Since May 11, he has made six starts while allowing only seven runs over 35 1/3 innings, which has translated into a 1.78 ERA and a 2.07 FIP. Over this stretch, opponents are hitting just .189/.243/.268 against him.

During his last three starts in particular, he has allowed only two runs across 19 1/3 innings while posting 16 strikeouts. No player on the Mets roster has faced Waldron in a major league game before.

Game Notes

The Mets, who have won the last two games after shifting Martinez into the No. 3 spot in the order while moving Nimmo back to No. 2 and Alonso to the cleanup role, are rolling with the same look tonight as they attempt to secure just their second three-game winning streak since April 20.

Manaea, after allowing a four-run third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks on June 1 and a six-run fourth against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 8 during the London Series, will look to avoid the “blow-up” inning this time around as he attempts to regain his footing.

Three Things To Watch For

1. The Mets’ bats against a knuckleball. It has been a minute since the Mets have faced a starting pitcher who uses a knuckleball. Waldron has used the pitch about 37% of the time this year followed by his fastball at 23% of the time. He also mixes in a sweeper, sinker and cutter. According to Baseball Savant, he’s in the 86th percentile in hard-hit rate, which is what you would expect from a pitcher whose success is derived from a knuckleball. Teams also aren’t chasing his pitches (23.3% rate), which makes sense with the given context. Let’s see how the Mets look facing Waldron over the first couple of innings and what adjustments they make throughout the game.
2. J.D. Martinez, RBI machine. The hero of Thursday’s game went 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and the aforementioned walk-off homer. In his last five games, he has gone 4-for-20 across 23 trips to the plate. Over that time, though, he has recorded six RBIs. He now has 21 RBIs to his name over 41 games as a Met, which is good for sixth on the team. There are three players on the roster sitting at 32 (Alonso, Lindor, Nimmo), and they have each played between 63 and 67 games this season, so Martinez is more than pulling his weight as a run producer.
3. Bullpen management. The Mets received a huge boon on Thursday with the return of Edwin Díaz, who pitched a clean ninth inning. Tonight, the Mets will have to balance the game script with the weather on the field. If Manaea doesn’t go deep, then the team will likely have to turn to Adrian Houser for multiple innings, but they also have to hope his long relief doesn’t get interrupted by a delay in that scenario.

Let’s go Mets!

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