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Mets (Quintana) Cardinals (Lynn) 1:40 PM SNY
The New York Mets finish off the weekend series against Lance Lynn and the Cardinals.
The second piece of the Cardinals dynamic duo, Lance Lynn, will take the mound this afternoon. Lynn has been solid thus far through his first 5 starts. He has an ERA of 2.81 through 25 and 2/3rds innings with 26 strikeouts. The innings pitched is interesting for Lynn, as he has only went past 5 innings once in 5 starts against the Oakland Athletics. Something the Mets have capitalized on in their wins, getting after opposing teams bullpens. In Lynn’s lengthy career he has a 3-3 record with an ERA of 2.33 and 40 strikeouts in 9 appearances against the Mets in his career.
Looking into Lynn’s analytical stats it makes sense why his innings are down in comparison to previous years. The pitch clock being a major factor for Lynn, has been average in almost every category on Baseball Savant. He is ranked in the 97th percentile in fastball run value, which means he excels with his fastball in dangerous situations. His fastball velocity has taken a dip since the pitch clock rule, but has managed to mix in cutter, sinker, slider to get ahead and punch batters out via the fastball.
For the Mets Jose Quintana will get the start as he looks to avenge his worst start of the year. Through five starts this year Quintana has a 4.21 ERA and 20 strikeouts through 25 and 2/3rds innings. Much like Lynn and the rest of the Mets rotation, the innings pitched per start has been a massive problem for Quintana. He has yet to get past five innings pitched due to not being able to put hitters away, something to keep an eye on as Cardinals hitters have been getting great contact on Mets starting pitching. Quintana is familiar with the Cardinals as he has faced them 13 times and has an ERA of 4.29 with 63 strikeouts versus them in his career.
Keys to the Game:
Jose Quintana. No in-depth analysis on this one, he is going to have to find ways to put hitters away and get some length out of his start. Out of the 13 appearances against the Cardinals he has made it past the fifth inning five times, all five times he has recorded a win. The Mets are due for a quality start to put this week behind them and move forward to the Cubs.