5 things to watch as Mets face Padres in three-game series at Citi Field
The Mets will host the San Diego Padres in a three-game series starting Monday in what will be a rematch of the 2022 Wild Card Series.
As was the case last October, Max Scherzer will get the ball against Yu Darvish in the first game.
Here are five things to watch…
The tendency of many early in the season is to overreact. And with a team like the Mets, who are off to a 5-5 start (after winning two of their last three) and have huge expectations, the doom and gloom brigade is out. It shouldn’t be, but it is.
Part of the reason why is the early-season performance of Max Scherzer, who has looked ordinary in his first two starts. If you break it down, though, both of those starts have been spoiled by one bad inning.
In Scherzer’s first outing, he allowed three runs in the sixth inning after dominating for five scoreless. In his second start, he shockingly allowed back-to-back-to-back homers in the sixth after allowing two runs over the first five frames.
After a spring training where Scherzer’s stuff looked incredibly sharp — and a 2022 season where he posted the lowest ERA of his career — it’s fair to believe that the roadblocks he’s hit early on are an aberration. But with the new pitch clock speeding things up and perhaps draining pitchers, it’s worth keeping an eye on how Scherzer fares as Monday’s game rolls on.
Right after Alvarez was called up, Buck Showalter made some eye-opening and disconcerting remarks about how much he would play, strangely comparing him to a backup quarterback who can learn while on the bench.
Here’s the thing: if Alvarez is here, he has to play regularly. If not, the Mets are stunting his development and are better off sending him back to Triple-A and clearing a 40-man roster spot for journeyman catcher Michael Perez.
Alvarez made his first appearance on Sunday, starting behind the plate and delivering an RBI single in his first at-bat. The Miami Marlins stole five bases with him behind the dish, but Showalter said those were mostly on the pitchers. It should also be noted that Alvarez actually threw one of the runners out, but the Mets failed to challenge the call after he was ruled safe.
In any event, with two left-handers starting for the Padres in this series (Ryan Weathers on Tuesday and Blake Snell on Wednesday), Alvarez needs to be in the lineup for those games. It could make the most sense to DH him on Tuesday and catch him on Wednesday, which is a day game after a night game.
Marte left Sunday’s game early after sliding into third base on a steal and hitting his head on Jean Segura‘s knee.
The outfielder stayed in the game to run the bases, but was removed between innings.
After the game, Showalter said that things were looking good as far as Marte avoiding a concussion, but he was listed as day-to-day due to a neck strain.
Marte is a huge piece of the offense, as evidenced by how much the Mets struggled late last season when he was out. If Marte can’t play against the Padres, it will be all the more reason to make sure Alvarez’s potentially difference-making bat gets plenty of burn.
Can the Mets get to Yu Darvish?
Darvish stifled the Mets during the regular season in 2022 and took it up a notch in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series.
In seven innings, Darvish limited the Mets to one run on four hits while walking none and striking out four.
The right-hander has made just one start so far this season, tossing five innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks last week while allowing one run, walking four, and striking out three — needing 91 pitches to get through those five innings.
Juan Soto is heating up
The Padres are averaging five runs per game this season and aren’t even firing on all cylinders yet.
But Juan Soto, who had just one hit in his first 14 at-bats, is starting to heat up.
Soto has multi-hit games in three of his last five games, and homered over the weekend as San Diego took three of four from the Atlanta Braves.
Xander Bogaerts is off to an incredibly hot start, with three homers and a 1.071 OPS in his first 10 games as a Padre.
Source: Yahoo Sports
