Mets by the Numbers: Max Scherzer Is The Birthday King

In this weekly feature for MMO, I’m going to look back at the previous week’s games and share some interesting data and information that I’ve collected through various websites such as Baseball-Reference, FanGraphs, and Baseball Savant. It’ll be a mixture of facts, stats, and analytics.

Let’s get into the seven days between July 24 and July 30.

Sunday, July 24, 2022

Padres vs. Mets

Pete Alonso went 2-for-3 with a double, home run, walk, and four RBIs in the Mets’ 8-5 win over the San Diego Padres. It was Alonso’s 32nd career game with multiple extra-base hits, which broke a tie with Mookie Wilson and Curtis Granderson and moved Alonso in sole possession of the 16th-most games in Mets history. David Wright owns the most such games with 104.

Pete Alonso’s home run was his 25th of the season. It’s the third time in Alonso’s major league career that he’s reached that mark. In Mets history, only Darryl Strawberry (8), David Wright (5), and Mike Piazza (4) have posted more seasons of 25+ homers.

Tuesday, July 26, 2022

Yankees vs. Mets

Taijuan Walker started for the Mets and went six innings, allowing three runs (all earned), with one walk and three strikeouts in the Mets’ 6-3 win in their first game against the New York Yankees this season. It was Walker’s ninth consecutive start of at least six innings pitched with no more than two walks allowed. It’s the longest streak by a Met in a single season since Jacob deGrom had 11 games in 2014.

Eduardo Escobar hit a go-ahead, two-run home run in the bottom of the first to give the Mets a 4-2 lead. It was Escobar’s 12th home run of the season and the 150th of his major league career. He became just the 18th Venezuelan-born player to hit 150+ home runs.

Edwin Díaz recorded his 22nd save of the season and 86th as a member of the Mets. That tied him with Tug McGraw for the sixth-most saves in Mets history.

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Yankees vs. Mets

Max Scherzer tossed seven scoreless innings against the Yankees on his 38th birthday. He became the second-oldest pitcher since at least 1901 to toss 7+ scoreless innings on his birthday. Sam Jones is the oldest at 42-years-old on July 26, 1934.

Max Scherzer lowered his season ERA to 2.09 in 13 starts. That’s the second-lowest ERA posted by a starter in his first 13 games with the Mets. Al Leiter leads with a 1.53 ERA in his first 13 starts with the club in 1998.

For his career, Max Scherzer has 41 strikeouts on his birthday. That’s the most strikeouts by a player on his birthday in major league history. Randy Johnson is second with 39.

Max Scherzer got the Yankees to swing at his slider 14 times over his seven innings of work, and recorded 10 swings-and-misses. The 10 whiffs on his slider are a season high for Scherzer, along with the slider whiff% (71.4 percent). It was Scherzer’s highest slider whiff% in a start since July 23, 2020, at 82.4 percent (min. 10 sliders swung at).

Aaron Judge went 0-for-4 against Max Scherzer with three strikeouts. Scherzer became just the second starting pitcher to strike out Judge three times in a game this season, joining Frankie Montas of the A’s (June 28).

Pete Alonso homered in the second to give the Mets an early 1-0 lead. It was Alonso’s 132nd home run of his major league career, which tied him with Michael Conforto for the 7th-most homers in Mets history.

Friday, July 29, 2022

Mets vs. Marlins

Starling Marte went 3-for-5 with a triple, home run, and 3 RBI in the Mets’ 6-4 win in the opening game of a three-game series against the Miami Marlins. It was the first time Marte tripled and homered in the same game since June 25, 2013, as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Edwin Díaz struck out the side on just 10 pitches to close out the Mets’ win. It was the first time a Mets reliever had struck out the side on no more than 10 pitches since Trevor May on August 8, 2021.

Edwin Díaz faced exactly three batters and struck them all out for the sixth time this season. That’s the most single-season appearances by a Mets reliever in franchise history, breaking the tie with Armando Benítez (1999) and Seth Lugo (2019) with five each.

Saturday, July 30, 2022

Mets vs. Marlins

Carlos Carrasco tossed 7.2 scoreless innings in the Mets’ 4-0 win over the Marlins. In five starts in July, Carrasco owns a 0.90 ERA. He’s just the fourth Mets pitcher since 2000 to post a sub-1.00 ERA in a single month (min. 30 IP), joining Al Leiter (April 2002), R.A. Dickey (June 2012), and Jacob deGrom (April 2021).

Carlos Carrasco earned his 100th career victory. He became the eighth Venezuelan-born player to reach 100 career victories.

Saturday was the 100th game of the season for the Mets, and their record was 63-37. Only the 1986 Mets had more wins in their first 100 games of the season (68).

The post Mets by the Numbers: Max Scherzer Is The Birthday King first appeared on Metsmerized Online.