MMO Game Chat: Brewers vs Mets, 1:40 PM
Friday, March 29, 2024 • 1:40 PM
Citi Field • Flushing, NY
RHP Freddy Peralta (0-0, -.–) vs. LHP José Quintana (0-0, -.–)
SNY
The Mets are back! The 2024 season will finally start this afternoon as they welcome the Milwaukee Brewers to Queens for Opening Day. For the second year in a row, weather has interrupted the team’s plans for the home opener, causing them to push the game back by a day. We watched most of the league have fun and celebrate the opening to their seasons yesterday, and now it’s finally our turn.
The Mets had a 2023 to forget. The expectations going into last season were sky high as the Mets were incredibly active in the offseason, signing Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga, José Quintana and David Robertson while also re-signing Brandon Nimmo and Edwin Díaz. Then, injuries happened, and the season got off track real fast. The Mets ultimately underperformed and went on to trade a lot of their marquee players at the trade deadline in an effort to bolster the farm system.
Understanding how last year ended is key for understanding the start of this year. The most impactful change for the Mets is having David Stearns at the helm. The Mets needed to fill out their rotation in the off-season, which they accomplished by signing Luis Severino and Sean Manaea while trading for Adrian Houser. Stearns then rebuilt bullpen depth with a flurry of major league and minor league signings. With the addition of J.D. Martinez to the lineup as well, Stearns has built a team that can contend for a Wild Card spot. The farm system also has more than a few players in Luisangel Acuña, Drew Gilbert, Christian Scott, Dom Hamel and Mike Vasil who can all make an impact for the Mets this season.
The Mets took a weird journey to get to the point they are at right now. Can they surprise baseball pundits and overperform this year?
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Mets Lineup
- Brandon Nimmo LF
- Francisco Lindor SS
- Pete Alonso 1B
- Jeff McNeil 2B
- Starling Marte RF
- DJ Stewart DH
- Francisco Álvarez C
- Brett Baty 3B
- Harrison Bader CF
Quintana will make the second Opening Day start of his career on Friday. His season got off to a scary start last spring when a benign lesion was discovered on his rib. Quintana had a long recovery period after the surgery and returned to the field in July before finishing the season strong, starting 13 games and throwing 75 2/3 innings with a 3.57 ERA, 3.52 FIP, 1.308 WHIP and a 118 ERA+. Much of his success last season came from batters not making solid contact against him as he was in the 87th percentile for barrel percentage and 88th for hard-hit rate according to Baseball Savant.
The Brewers have the following career numbers against him:
- Willy Adames: 4-10, 2B, HR, BB, 3 K
- William Contreras: 3-4, 2B, HR
- Rhys Hoskins: 3-12, HR, 5 BB, 3 K
- Gary Sánchez: 0-3, BB, K
- Christian Yelich: 7-32, 4 2B, BB, 8 K
- Jake Bauers: 1-1
Opposing Lineup
- Jackson Chourio RF
- William Contreras C
- Christian Yelich LF
- Rhys Hoskins 1B
- Willy Adames SS
- Blake Perkins CF
- Joey Ortiz 2B
- Gary Sánchez DH
- Andruw Monasterio 3B
The Mets’ bats will get their campaign started against Freddy Peralta. Peralta’s ERA+ has been above 110 every season since 2020, meaning he has consistently been a good pitcher when he’s on the field. Last season was the first where he was able to start 30 games, and he recorded a career high in innings pitched with 165 2/3 while posting a 3.86 ERA, 3.85 FIP, 1.117 WHIP and a 112 ERA+. An area of concern for him last year was the long ball as he allowed a career high of 26 homers and owned a 1.4 HR/9 rate, his highest since 2019 when it sat at 1.6.
Peralta’s first start of the season last year was also against the Mets, where he shut them out over six innings and held them to two hits and three walks while striking out seven batters.
The Mets have the following career numbers against him:
- Alonso: 1-4, 2B, BB, K
- Bader: 4-16, 2B, HR, BB, 6 K
- Lindor: 1-4, 3 BB, 2 K
- Marte: 2-10, 3B, K
- McNeil: 0-4, 2 K
- Nimmo: 0-5, BB, K
- Omar Narváez: 0-4, 3 K
- Joey Wendle: 0-5, 3 K
Game Notes
Today represents the Mets’ first home Opening Day game with fans in the stands since their 2018 opener against the St. Louis Cardinals, a game in which they won 9-4.
Today will also mark the first Opening Day for Álvarez, Baty and INF Zack Short.
Joey Lucchesi gets the start for the Triple-A Syracuse Mets on Opening Day today as they take on the Rochester Red Wings at home at 2:05 PM. Coverage of the contest will air on MiLB.TV.
The Mets have recorded 10 shutouts on Opening Day… Before 2021, the Mets won back-to-back Opening Days via shutout, a 2-0 win at Washington in 2019 and a 1-0 win against the Atlanta Braves in 2020…The Mets have been shut out only once (7-0, April 9, 1963 vs. St. Louis) on Opening Day… Research courtesy of Elias.
Three Things To Watch For
- Mets’ Opening Day Record: The Mets have the best Opening Day record in baseball. Last year’s win improved them to 41-21, which is even more impressive when you consider that they were 0-6 for the first six Opening Days in franchise history. The Mets have won seven of their last nine season openers, with their last loss coming in 2021 against the Philadelphia Phillies.
- New Manager Carlos Mendoza. Carlos Mendoza will manage his first official game with the New York Mets this afternoon and this will be our first real view at his in-game style and strategy. Who does he talk to during the games? How does he develop players during the game? Are pitchers in the bullpen up and down? Is today just another game or does it mean more because it’s Opening Day? Tim Healey of Newsday had a great quick story about Mendoza as a father this week.
- Edwin Díaz: At some point this weekend, we are likely going to see Díaz’s return to Citi Field. He was the soul of the team in 2022, and his entrance not only made games fun but also kicked other ballparks around the league into overdrive to develop the infrastructure to take closer entrances to the next level. He has battled over the last year coming back from a torn patellar tendon and we just can’t wait for him to step on the mound for the first time this year.
Let’s go Mets!
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