MMO Game Thread: Mets vs Marlins, 4:10 PM
Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Thursday, March 30, 2023 • 4:10 PM
loanDepot Park • Miami, Florida
RHP Max Scherzer (0-0, -.–) vs. RHP Sandy Alcántara (0-0, -.–)
SNY • MLBN
The Mets begin their highly anticipated 2023 campaign this afternoon as they take on the Marlins in Miami. Fresh off a 101-win season, the Mets are hungry to take the division and make a deep run in October. After a wild off-season, the Mets have had a tough spring, losing Edwin Díaz and José Quintana to injuries. This is Opening Day though. Today is the day of optimism and wild dreaming about all of the opportunities the Mets have this season.
Mets Lineup
First lineup of the year!#OpeningDay #LGM pic.twitter.com/lFyjW1eN5z
— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) March 30, 2023
Max Scherzer will kick off the season for the Mets. He made 23 starts in his first season with the Mets tossing 145 1/3 innings with a 2.29 ERA, 2.62 FIP, 0.908 WHIP and a 169 ERA+. Incredibly, Scherzer never faced the Marlins last season however there are many Marlins who have faced Scherzer over his career:
- Jean Segura 13-36, HR, BB, 8 K
- Garrett Cooper 2-18, 2B, 2 BB, 5 K
- Avisaíl García 4-13, 3B, 2 HR, 3 K
- Jon Berti 3-9, BB, 3 K
- Joey Wendle 3-9, 3 K
- Jazz Chisholm Jr. 1-3, 3B, K
- Jorge Soler 0-3, 2K
Opposing Lineup
Your 2023 #OpeningDay lineup.
: @BallySportsFL
: @FoxSports940, @radiomambi710
: 4:10PM ET #MakeItMiami // https://t.co/5rOTQv6054 pic.twitter.com/h5xHVghdR2— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) March 30, 2023
The Mets bats will get a tall order on their first day of the season – the 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner, Sandy Alcántara. Last season he made 32 starts and tossed a league-leading 228 2/3 innings including a league-leading six complete games. Over that stretch he had a 2.28 ERA, 2.99 FIP, 0.980 WHIP and a 178 ERA+. He faced the Mets four times last year and the Mets were able to get to him a bit more than other teams. He allowed 11 runs, 10 earned (3.33 ERA) over 27 innings from 26 hits and five walks while striking out 21. The Mets have the following career numbers against Sandy:
- Pete Alonso 5-30, 3 2B, HR, BB, 8 K
- Jeff McNeil 9-31, 2B, HR, 3 BB, 3 K
- Brandon Nimmo 4-29, 2 2B, 3 BB, 6 K
- Francisco Lindor 7-23, 2 2B, HR, 3 BB, 3 K
- Eduardo Escobar 2-18, K
- Luis Guillorme 5-15, 5 K
- Starling Marte 4-13, 2 3B, HR, 3 K
- Mark Canha 3-8, 2B, HR, BB< K
- Daniel Vogelbach 4-9, 3 2B, HR, BB, K
- Omar Narváez 1-5, K
Game Notes
With Justin Verlander and Luis Arraez both moving to the NL, this would be the first time that a league’s ERA and batting champions both did not play in that league the following season since 1943, when Ted Lyons and Ted Williams both left for World War II.
José Quintana (bone graft surgery) is with the team in Miami and before the game said he’s hopeful he will return during the 2023 season.
Before the game, the Mets placed veteran starter Justin Verlander on the injured list with a low-grade teres major strain.
Three Things To Watch For
- Mets on Opening Day: The Mets are a statistical anomaly for Opening Day. The Mets are 40-21 on Opening Day, by far the best in the league and it’s made even better considering the first eight seasons the Mets lost on Opening Day. Facing Sandy Alcántara today is going to put that record in jeopardy and give the Mets probably their toughest challenge since the years when they had to face Max Scherzer on the first day of the season.
- A Game of Batting Champs: Today’s game will feature the National League batting champion, Jeff McNeil, against the American League batting champion, Luis Arraez. Arraez was traded to the Marlins in the off-season for a package built around Pablo López. Even crazier, if Justin Verlander got the start today we would have last year’s Cy Young Award winners in the same game as both batting champions. Anyway, I don’t know if both leagues batting champions have ever faced off to start a season before. It is definitely unusual.
- Late Inning Bullpen Watch: How do the Mets respond to not having Edwin Díaz to close out games? Is it going to be David Robertson? Adam Ottavino? Both depending on the situation? It is very difficult to replace the best closer in the game but both Robertson and Ottavino had excellent seasons in 2022. Ottavino was in the 99th percentile for average exit velocity, 97th for hard hit percentage and 89th for strikeout percentage. David Robertson was in the 97th percentile for expected batting average, 90th for strikeout percentage and 99th for fastball spin. Unlike Díaz who was top in every category, both Robertson and Ottavino have some holes. Players are more likely to hit Robertson hard. They both struggle to get players to chase their pitches. The late-inning scenario is something the Mets will be watching all season.
Let’s go Mets!
The post MMO Game Thread: Mets vs Marlins, 4:10 PM first appeared on Metsmerized Online.