Picture Credit: MLB.tv & ESPN
Probable Pitchers:
Jose Quintana (1-1) Keaton Winn (1-3)
Luis Severino (2-1) Logan Webb (2-1)
Sean Manaea (1-1) Blake Snell (0-3)
The New York Mets are set to take on the San Francisco Giants in a three game series to cap off the west coast trip.
As of today the Mets are 2.5 games back from the Atlanta Braves in the NL East and currently hold the last National League Wild Card spot by 1.5 games. On the outside looking in the San Francisco Giants can really use a series win against the Mets. They currently are 3 games back from the final wild card spot and a series loss against the Mets puts them in a pretty tough spot in this early part of the season.
For today’s game Jose Quintana will take the ball for the Mets. Quintana is coming off a gusty performance against the Pirates where he seemed to get himself out of trouble on multiple occasions to hold on just enough for the Mets offense to get ahead. He has 6 appearances against the Giants in his career with a record of 1-3, an ERA of 4.30 and 27 strikeouts. The biggest thing for Quintana tonight is to limit the walks. He has allowed 4.79 walks per nine innings in his first four starts this year and if he can find a way to lower his walks he will be able to pitch late in the game.
The Giants will have Keaton Winn take the bump as he looks to keep the Mets offense in check. Winn has a record of 1-3 with an ERA of 4.09 in 22 innings pitched. Winn faced two great offenses in the Dodgers and Padres to start the year, but since then he only gave up 3 earned runs in two starts while striking out 10. This is new territory for Winn as he has never faced the Mets in previous starts. The Mets will look to get after him early and make Winn uncomfortable.
Keys to the Series:
While the Mets have faced some great offenses over the last week and a half it is going to be crucial to start walking less batters. In the early part of the season hitters are still getting adjusted so there has been situations for the Mets staff to get out of trouble, but it is going to be hard to continue to let up walks and get out of jams as the season continues. As a team the Mets have walked 4.57 batters per nine innings so far this season, this stat should decrease as the Mets starting rotation is starting to get more comfortable and Kodai Senga is going to be joining the staff eventually. However, for this series pitchers should be going after hitters getting ahead of the count.