Series Preview: Mets Look to Reset Against Angels

Things are back and rolling in the New York Mets’ 2025 season!

With the All-Star Game in the rear-view mirror, the trade deadline is now quickly approaching. Games to determine the NL East and the NL Wild Card races will be here shortly, and teams will soon have no margin for error.

After dropping two of three games to the Reds, the Mets need to snap back to their winning ways against the chaotic Los Angeles Angels. They are running out of time to work out their kinks, especially considering an upcoming stretch with the Giants and Padres that could go a long way in deciding playoff races. In a sense, the series against the Angels needs to be a launching pad for the Mets to play some of their best baseball of the season.

How do the Mets and Angels stack up for the week? What is the main headline for the slate of games? And what is the prediction for the early week series?

All of those questions will be answered here today! It is time for another 2025 New York Mets series preview!

Pitching Matchups

Monday: Kodai Senga (7-3, 1.39 ERA) vs. Tyler Anderson (2-6, 4.34 ERA)

• In their first game of the series, the Mets will send Kodai Senga to the bump. Senga, who was recently activated off the injured list, threw four shutout innings against the Royals while striking out four batters. His velocity was rightwhere it needed to be, and he was getting batters to take bad swings at his pitches. On the year as a whole, Senga’s underlying numbers are very good; he is generating whiffs (28.7%), limiting barrels (6.4%), and has a very impressive expected batting average (.220). Against an Angels lineup that has the potential to put up runs consistently, Senga has a challenge on his hands.
• On the other side of things for the Angels is Tyler Anderson. Anderson has given up eight hits and at least three runs in his past two starts, and he had a 6.93 ERA in June. He is not striking batters out, is walking players at a slightly below-average clip, and has a very poor -11 pitching run value. New York has a great opportunity to put up a crooked number to start this series. 

Tuesday: Frankie Montas (2-1, 5.03 ERA)  vs. Kyle Hendricks (6-5, 4.44 ERA)

• In game two, the Mets will send Frankie Montas to the mound. The veteran pitcher has been very hot and cold this season, but is coming off his second-best outing of the year; Montas struck out five batters and allowed only one run in five innings against the Royals. Working with essentially a four-pitch combination, Montas has been his best when the fastball velocity is up, allowing him to work in the slider and splitter. To succeed against the Angels, Montas will need his arsenal to be at the upper level of his range. 
• As for Los Angeles, Kyle Hendricks will be the starting pitcher. The veteran has allowed at least three runs in three of his past four starts, while also recording two or fewer strikeouts in two of those starts. However, Hendricks is not allowing hard contact (86.2%), is generating chases (31.7%), and is not walking batters (5.9%). He may not be the same pitcher he was in his prime, but Hendricks can still twirl some good outings on the mound. New York can put up some good offensive numbers in this game, but they need to lock in against Hendricks.

Wednesday: Sean Manaea (0-1, 2.45 ERA) vs. TBD

• New York, to round out the series, will send out Sean Manaea. The lefty has been extremely effective in his first two starts of the season, striking out 13 batters and only allowing two earned runs. He has a fastball run value of two, limits hard contact, shows nice extension, and is reducing his walks. Manaea is still working up his pitch count, so it remains to be seen how long he will go into this game.
• As of the writing of this article, the Angels do not have a listed starter for the last game of the series.

The Main Headline

For this week’s series, I am focused on the overall lineup of the New York Mets.

Over the team’s skid, the offense has struggled to produce compared to the beginning of the season. Players like Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso have hit the skids, while the likes of Mark Vientos and Tyrone Taylor have failed to find their footing at the plate. There is a lack of overall cohesion; despite good process and exit velocities, it seems that the team cannot get rolling in unison.

While the pitching has had its ups and downs, the lineup will be the true indicator and driver of how the Mets fare the rest of the season. The lineup is where the majority of the payroll is focused, as well as the expectations of elite production. In short, the Mets are expecting their highly paid offense to drive the team to wins.

Early in the season, I focused on individual players for this section, and will likely again in the future. However, as the season progresses, the Mets’ overall offense will need to be under scrutiny. They are too good to have the struggles that they have had, and it will be important to watch how their approaches and underlying metrics change throughout the season.

Starting with this Angels series, the success, or lack thereof, of this Mets lineup is my main headline.

Prediction

In their series against the Angels, I see the Mets winning two of three games. Francisco Alvarez will hit one home run in the series in his return to the team, while Brett Baty will have two extra-base hits. Francisco Lindor will get on base three times, while Brandon Nimmo will have four hits.

After this series, I have the Mets at 58-45 heading into a vital series with the San Francisco Giants.

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