Game Chat: Mets vs Marlins, 4:10 PM

Saturday, May 18, 2024 • 4:10 PM loanDepot Park • Miami, FL RHP Luis Severino (2-2, 3.00) vs. LHP Braxton Garrett (0-0, 8.44) WPIX Friday night was not a good one in Mets land. Christian Scott had his first difficult start in the majors while the offense just disappeared completely. The result was a Marlins […]

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Saturday, May 18, 2024 • 4:10 PM
loanDepot Park • Miami, FL
RHP Luis Severino (2-2, 3.00) vs. LHP Braxton Garrett (0-0, 8.44)
WPIX

Friday night was not a good one in Mets land. Christian Scott had his first difficult start in the majors while the offense just disappeared completely. The result was a Marlins 8-0 victory. For the Marlins, it was their fourth win in their last five games including three shutout victories.

The Mets can make this afternoon the inflection point for the series. Early offense, early effective pitching, and the Mets can snap the Marlins right out of the hot streak they are currently on.

Mets Lineup

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

Luis Severino has pitched 45 innings over eight starts this season with a 3.00 ERA, 3.70 FIP, 1.200 WHIP, and a 128 ERA+. He’s coming off of a successful start against the Braves where he held them to two runs over five innings from four hits and three walks. The walks prevented him from going deeper into the game. After five innings he tossed 94 pitches, and only 55 of them were for strikes (tied for his lowest strike total of the season). The Marlins have the following career numbers against him:

• Christian Bethancourt 0-2, 2 K
• Vidal Brújan 0-2
• Jake Burger 2-3, 2B, HR, K
• Emmanuel Rivera 0-3, 2 K

Opposing Lineup

1. Jazz Chisholm Jr. – CF
2. Bryan De La Cruz – DH
3. Josh Bell – 1B
4. Jesús Sánchez – RF
5. Jake Burger – 3B
6. Nick Gordon – LF
7. Otto Lopez – 2B
8. Vidal Bruján – SS
9. Nick Fortes – C

The Mets bats will get Braxton Garrett who is making his second start of the season. In his first start against the Phillies last week he allowed five runs from five hits and two walks while striking out eight over five innings. When he’s been on the field the last two seasons he’s been pretty consistent. In 2022 he had a 3.58 ERA, 3.56 FIP, 1.250 WHIP, and 115 ERA+ over 88 innings. In 2023 he had a 3.66 ERA, 3.68 FIP, 1.146 WHIP, and 125 ERA+ over 159 2/3 innings.

Due to the Mets and Marlins’ schedule last season, Braxton started his 2023 season by facing the Mets in back-to-back outings and then ended his 2023 season facing the Mets in back-to-back starts. Overall he had a 4.08 ERA and 1.472 WHIP over 17 2/3 innings of work. The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 6-15, 2 HR, 2 BB, 3 K
• Brett Baty 0-2
• Francisco Lindor 5-14, 2 2B, 3 HR, 3 K
• Starling Marte 3-5, 2 2B, K
• J.D. Martinez 0-3, 3 K
• Jeff McNeil 3-8, 2B, BB
• Omar Narváez 1-2
• Tomás Nido 1-3
• Brandon Nimmo 1-11, BB
• DJ Stewart 0-2, K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-4, K
• Mark Vientos 0-4, K

Game Notes

• Luis Severino is slated to make his ninth start of the year today in Miami. He is 2-2 with a 3.00 ERA (15 ER/45.0 IP) with 20 walks and 41 strikeouts. Today will mark his second career start against the Marlins. On April 16, 2018, Severino allowed only one hit, walked one, and struck out eight in 6.0 innings of work at Yankee Stadium.
• J.D. Martinez is batting .309 (21-68) with five runs, four doubles, two home runs, seven RBI, and five walks in 20 games this year. He has hit 317 home runs in his career. That is eighth among active players. Over the last 10 games, Martinez is batting .342 (13-38) with four runs, two doubles, two home runs, six RBI, and three walks with a .943 OPS.
• The Mets fell to the Marlins, 8-0, last night in Miami. Since starting the season 0-5, the Mets have gone 20-19. The Mets are in a stretch of 13 straight games and 26 games in 27 days. New York is 2-6 in that span. The Mets are on an eight-game road trip (1-2) to Philadelphia (1-1), Miami (0-1), and Cleveland (three games).

Three Things To Watch For

1. J.D. Martinez is staying hot at the plate. While the rest of the Mets offense vanished on Friday night, Martinez went 2-for-4 at the plate. It was the third time in five games that Martinez recorded at least two hits. Overall in his last five games, he has gone 8-for-19 with two doubles and a homer, hitting .421/.476/.684. He has reached base ten times but has only scored three times.
2. Mets need Vientos and Baty to both get back into rhythm. Vientos has gone 2-for-10 at the plate since returning to the majors. Both of those hits came in his first game back. Since then he has gone 0-for-6. Brett Baty hasn’t seen as much playing time since Vientos joined the team (due to the amount of left-handed pitching the Mets have faced) and has gone 1-for-3 over two games.
3. The back of the Mets bullpen got the night off they needed. Losing a game by eight runs is not the optimal way to give the bullpen a rest, but all the high-leverage relievers got the night off as Walker and Hartwig combined for four innings Friday night allowing four runs. When the Mets were racking up wins earlier in the season, the bullpen kept the team in games, regardless of the performance of the starting pitcher. The Mets sure need that bullpen now.

Let’s go Mets!

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