The New York Mets head back to Queens to take on the San Diego Padres in a three game series. The Mets come off a split in a rain shortened two game series against the New York Yankees. The Padres currently sit in last place with a 41-61 record and just finished losing two out of three games to the Philadelphia Phillies. The Mets took two out of three from the Padres earlier this season in San Diego.
Probable Pitching Matchups
(7/23, 7:10 PM) Joey Lucchesi (4-5, 3.34 ERA) vs. Jacob deGrom (5-4, 1.68 ERA)
(7/24, 7:10 PM) Eric Lauer (5-6, 4.87 ERA) vs. Zack Wheeler (3-6, 4.44 ERA)
(7/25, 12:10 PM) Clayton Richard (7-9, 4.82 ERA) vs. Corey Oswalt (0-2, 5.64 ERA)
deGrom’s Cy Young Push
Jacob deGrom will make his first start of the second half and what is likely the beginning of his Cy Young push. He currently holds the lowest ERA in baseball and will be battling Max Scherzer all the way to the end for the Cy Young award. Zack Wheeler and Corey Oswalt will make the other two starts in the series. Jason Vargas was originally supposed to get a start in the series but the Mets decided to hold his return off.
The biggest stories over the weekend had to do with injuries hitting the Mets stars. Yoenis Cespedes barely got through one game as a DH before his leg injuries bothering him again. The pain in his heels led him to say surgery to fix the injury would keep him out 8-10 months. Everyone was surprised at the news, but the surgery is a last resort and continued treatment will be done to suppress his pain. In the category of injuries only a Met would get, Noah Syndergaard came down with the Coxsackie virus from a youth camp. The virus put Thor on the 10-day DL and gave him infections in his hands, mouth and feet. He is only expected to miss one start.
Padres in the Cellar Again
The Padres are in danger of finishing in fourth or fifth in the NL West for the fourth straight season. They are in complete rebuild mode even though they signed Eric Hosmer to an eight year, $144 million contract. Hosmer has been decent but he would need Mike Trout numbers to live up to his enormous contract. Rookie Christian Villanueva has had a breakout season for the Padres. His average is only .229, but he leads the Padres with 19 home runs.
The Padres have below average pitching but have found solid pieces this season. One of those pieces they had was their closer Brad Hand but they traded him to the Cleveland Indians for top catching prospect Francisco Mejia. Kirby Yates could be the next Padres reliever on the move. He had a 1.74 ERA and could be a very good pick up for any team in contention. Joey Lucchesi burst on to the scene after going unnoticed in the minor leagues. He has missed time due to an injury but has a very respectable 3.34 ERA.
Matchups to Lookout For
Freddy Galvis vs. Jacob deGrom: 10-28 (.357) 7 Strikeouts
Jose Reyes vs. Clayton Richard: 4-18 (.222) Home Run, 3 Walks, Strikeout
Asdrubal Cabrera vs. Clayton Richard: 8-16 (.500) 5 Doubles
Wil Myers vs. Jacob deGrom: 2-13 (.154) Home Run, Walk, 6 Strikeouts
Interesting Stats
Wil Myers with 1 out in the inning in 2018: 15-44 (.341) 2 Doubles, 3 Home Runs, 3 Walks, 11 Strikeouts
Zack Wheeler when caught by Devin Mesoraco: 42.1 IP, 3.61 ERA, 39 Strikeouts