Picture Credit: MLB.tv & ESPN
Mets (Severino) vs Royals (Wacha)
The New York Mets are coming home for a 6 game home stand starting with a 3 game series against the Kansas City Royals.
The Royals are a very well balanced team this year and will be a handful the whole entire weekend. Bobby Witt Jr. had an incredible season last year and has continued his success into the start of this season. He has started the season batting .358 with 8 RBIs and 4 home runs. Mets pitching will look to slow him down as he is always a very tough out.
The Mets are coming into the series going 5-2 in their last 7 games and have broken out offensively. Over the last three games the Mets have scored 29 runs with 6 home runs. They were 12 for 31 with runners in scoring position against the Braves which is a massive improvement from the previous series.
Michael Wacha will be the starting pitcher for the Royals tonight who is always been a respectable pitcher in the league for a long time. In his two starts this year, (White Sox and Orioles) Wacha has an ERA of 2.25 over 12 innings pitched with 13 strikeouts. Over Wacha’s career he has had success against the Mets. He has a 5-3 record with an ERA of 3.28 and 48 strikeouts in 8 appearances against the Mets.
Luis Severino will trot out for the Mets in his third start of the year. Severino has only managed to pitch in 5 innings each start but has struck out 13 batters over the two starts. He carries a 3.60 ERA through two starts and will look to slow down a very talented Royals lineup. Severino is not a stranger against the Royals as he has a 3-1 record with an ERA of 4.66 and 27 strikeouts in 5 appearances when he was with the Yankees.
Keys to the Series
For the Mets it is pretty simple keep doing what they are doing offensively. On the defensive side the starting pitchers this weekend need to pitch more than 5 innings. Severino is a guy who gets better as the season goes on and he will look to keep improving tonight. The Mets have to be aggressive both offensively and defensively and get the game to Diaz in the 9th. Diaz, Ottavino, Garrett are on multiple days rest and will be ready to go but it still is important for the starters to go past 5 innings in this series.