Game Chat: Mets vs. Rays, 1:40 P.M.
Sunday, May 5, 2024 • 1:40 PM
Tropicana Field • St. Petersburg, FL
RHP Luis Severino (2-2, 2.31) vs. RHP Ryan Pepiot (3-2, 3.12)
SNY
The New York Mets look to avoid a sweep and climb back up to .500 this afternoon as they take on the Tampa Bay Rays one last time. Saturday was a day of highs and lows for the Mets. Christian Scott made his major league debut and looked terrific through 6 2/3 innings, allowing only one run. The Mets’ bats though disappeared again and the bullpen ended up walking in two runs in the bottom of the eighth.
Mets Lineup
- Brandon Nimmo, LF
- Starling Marte, RF
- Francisco Lindor, SS
- Pete Alonso, 1B
- DJ Stewart, DH
- Jeff McNeil, 2B
- Harrison Bader, CF
- Brett Baty, 3B
- Omar Narváez, C
Luis Severino looks to right the ship for the Mets and continue his strong 2024 campaign this afternoon. Over six starts (35 innings) this season, Severino has a 2.31 ERA, 3.23 FIP, 1.057 WHIP, and a 170 ERA+. He’s coming off of his strongest start of the season where he allowed one run and only one hit as well as two walks over eight innings.
Part of his success this year has come from not allowing opponents to barrel up on the ball. He’s in the 89th percentile for barrel% and 79th for average exit velocity. Further he’s in the 85th percentile for ground ball rate.
The only players on the Rays roster who have faced Severino in a major league game are Yandy Díaz (0-for-3, 2 SO) and Amed Rosario (2-for-11, HR, 3 SO).
Luis Severino. Photo by Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Rays Lineup
- Yandy Díaz, 1B
- Richie Palacios, 2B
- Isaac Parades, 3B
- Randy Arozarena, LF
- Amed Rosario, DH
- José Caballero, SS
- Alex Jackson, C
- Jonny DeLuca, RF
- José Siri, CF
The Mets’ bats will try to find themselves this afternoon against Ryan Pepiot. Over six starts (34 2/3 innings), Pepiot has a 3.12 ERA, 3.32 FIP, 0.865 WHIP, and a 120 ERA+. Pepiot came over from the Dodgers as part of the Tyler Glasnow trade and is close to a season high in major league innings pitched (36 1/3 in 2022, 42 in 2023).
In two of his first three starts this season, he allowed 10 runs over 10 2/3 innings. Since then, he has allowed only two runs over 18 innings.
The only Met who has seen him in a major league game before is Joey Wendle (0-for-6, BB, SO).
Game Notes
The Mets are looking to avoid their second sweep of the season and their first on the road. The Mets have dropped seven straight games to the Rays at Tropicana Field.
Luis Severino is slated to make his seventh start of the season today. His 2.31 ERA ranks fifth in the National League. Severino has made 11 starts (15 games) against the Rays in his career and is 8-3 with a 3.33 ERA (73 innings pitched) and 94 strikeouts.
Over the last 11 games, Brett Baty is batting .273 (9-for-33) with a .351 OBP and an .836 OPS. He is batting .286 (22-for-77) with a .360 OBP and a .750 OPS against right-handed pitching this year.
The Mets’ bullpen has posted a 2.85 ERA and 162 strikeouts this season thus far. Their 2.85 ERA is the best in the National League and seventh in the majors. The unit’s 162 strikeouts are the most in the major leagues.
Three Things To Watch For
- Can Starling Marte build on Saturday’s game? Marte was the Mets best hitter on Saturday going 2-for-3 at the plate with a walk as well as a stolen base. When Marte’s been hot this season the Mets have been too. Before this game, Marte was 2-for-22 and no walks over his last five games.
- Pete Alonso’s slump. In his last seven games, Alonso has gone 1-for-23 at the plate with five walks. The Mets desperately need their big power hitter to bounce back and back up the awesome pitching performances.
- Can the Mets keep Rays hitters unbalanced? In Saturday’s game chat we discussed how the Tampa Bay Rays were one of the least patient teams at the plate, near the bottom of the league in walks and near the top in strikeouts. Well, they got patient yesterday at the right moment and were able to work two walks with the bases loaded to win the game. They still struck out nine times, though.
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