ATLANTA BRAVES NOTES:
The Braves and Mets today are set to play the first of two scheduled doubleheaders between the clubs, with the other slated for August 12 here at Citi Field. The Braves went 2-4 in doubleheader games last season, with all four losses coming in a pair of doubleheaders with New York. Ronald Acuña Jr. has played in 25 doubleheader games in his career, and is batting .357/.432/.869 with 12 homers and 23 RBI. He has five career leadoff homers in doubleheader games, and has went deep in both games three different times.
TODAY’S GAMES: The Braves and Mets today conclude a three-game wraparound series with what are the second and third of 13 games between the teams this season…The two will next meet from June 6-8, playing a three-game set at Truist Park in Atlanta.
• Atlanta won the opener, 4-0, on Friday night in a game that was called after 5.0 innings due to rain, before rainouts on Saturday and Sunday.
• The Braves went 10-9 against the Mets last season, taking the season set from their N.L. East rivals for the fifth consecutive season…They also went 10-9 in 2021, 7-3 in 2020, 11-8 in 2019 and 13-6 in 2018…Since the start of the 2018 season, Atlanta is 52-35 (.598) against New York overall.
• The Braves have won seven of the last eight games with New York dating to last season, outscoring the Mets 46-19 (+27) over the stretch…Atlanta allowed more than two runs just twice in the eight games.
• RH Spencer Strider has made five appearances and three starts in his career against New York, compiling a 2-1 record with a 4.30 ERA (7
ER/14.2 IP)…In three turns last season, the 6-foot-0, 205-pound right-hander went 1-1 with a 4.38 ERA (6 ER/12.1 IP) and 17 strikeouts…
The Braves have yet to lose any of Strider’s five starts this season, and he is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA in these games.
• RH Charlie Morton has made 18 career appearances and 17 starts against the Mets, going 4-5 with a 3.66 ERA (39 ER/96.0 IP)…The 6-foot-5, 235-pound right-hander made four starts against New York last year, going 1-2 with a 4.98 ERA (12 ER/21.2 IP)…Morton has allowed no more than two runs in each of his last four starts, including 7.0 one-run innings last turn.
• RH Denyi Reyes is set for his first start of the season and the second of his career…In five relief appearances with the Mets this season, he has yet to allow a run over 6.1 innings, and has a 1.29 ERA (2 ER/14.0 IP) in eight career games…Reyes has never faced Atlanta.
• RH Tylor Megill has pitched in six games and made five starts against Atlanta in his career, going 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA (11 ER/25.2 IP)…The
6-foot-7, 230-pound native of Long Beach, CA made one start and one relief appearance against the Braves last season, and allowed seven hits and five runs over just 6.0 innings…In five games this year, all starts, he has gone 3-1 with a 3.96 ERA.
WIN: Atlanta won the opener of this series Friday night, 4-0, after rains stopped play at the end of the fifth inning…Atlanta improved to a perfect 5-0 in series openers on the road this season.
• LH Max Fried was credited with the shutout, his first of the season…The first complete game of his career also came in a rain-shortened affair, a 4-1 win over the Reds on August 1, 2019…That game was called after six innings.
STRIDER STRIKEOUTS: RHP Spencer Strider enters tonight with 49 strikeouts on the season, third most in the majors…Both of the two pitchers with more (TOR’s Kevin Gausman -54; ARI’s Zac Gallen – 51) have made six starts on the season, compared to Strider’s five.
• Strider’s 14.70 SO/9.0 IP are most in the majors, and just one other pitcher (Jacob deGrom, 13.35) is over 13.00.
• Strider struck out 13 over 8.0 scoreless innings in his last start, carrying a no-hitter into the eighth… He induced 31 swings-and-misses in the start, the most by a Braves pitcher since pitch tracking was introduced in 2008.
• He has 16 strikeouts this season on just three pitches, the most such strikeouts in the majors…Tampa Bay’s Shane McClanahan has 15 to rank second.
• Strider has fanned at least nine batters in each of his last nine starts, dating to last season…The run is the longest active streak in baseball of at least nine strikeouts, and stands as a new franchise record… He surpassed John Smoltz’s then-record eight such starts in his last turn.
• Just two pitchers in baseball’s modern era (since 1900) have a longer streak of nine-plus strikeout games…Chris Sale did so in 10 straight starts in 2018, while Nolan Ryan owns the major league record with 11 straight games of at least nine strikeouts, done in 1977.
MARCH & APRIL: Back-to-back rainouts ended Atlanta’s schedule for the opening month of the season, and the Braves played to an 18-9 (.667) record entering May…That is the second-best record in the National League (Pittsburgh, 20-9, .690), and fourth best in the majors (Tampa Bay, 23-6, .793; Baltimore, 19-9, .679).
• This year marks Atlanta’s best record entering the month of May since 2000, when that club played to an 18-6 record and a .750 winning percentage in March and April.
• The Braves went 11-2 (.846) on the road to open the season, the club’s best road mark before May since the 1982 team played to a perfect 8-0 away from home.
OLSON RBI: 1B Matt Olson drove in three of Atlanta’s four runs on Friday night, connecting on a three-run homer in the top of the fifth…Olson’s 25 RBI on the season are tied for most in the National League, and his eight home runs rank fourth.
• The home run also accounted for the 500th RBI of his career.
• Since his major league debut on September 12, 2016, he is one of just 11 players in baseball with at least 500 RBI, and one of four first basemen to do so in that span…Nolan Arenado leads all of baseball with 621 RBI since that date, while José Abreu (576), Paul Goldschmidt (562) and Freddie Freeman (552) have more among primary first baseman.
Tonight’s Starting Pitcher – #99 Spencer Strider
RHP • 6-0 • 195 • 24 yrs
2023 Record: 3-0, 1.80 ERA • 2022 Record: 11-5, 2.67 ERA
vs. RHB: .143 (8-56), 0 HR • vs. LHB: .128 (6-for-47), 1 HR
Home: 1-0, 3.00 ERA (6 ER/18.0) • Away: 2-0, 0.00 ERA (0/12.0)
Today’s Game
• Strider is set to make his sixth start of the year and first against the Mets in ’23.
• Won his last matchup against New York (NL) August 15, 2022.
• Enters play with nine consecutive games of at least nine strikeouts dating to September 1, 2022.
• It is the longest active streak in baseball and is tied for third-longest in the modern era (since 1900).
• Passed Hall-of-Famer John Smoltz for the longest streak in franchise history.
• The most in baseball were 11 games by Hall-of-Famer Nolan Ryan.
• Among active pitchers, only Chris Sale has recorded a longer streak of consecutive games with at least nine strikeouts.
• Leads all qualified starters with a rate of 14.70 strikeouts per nine innings.
• Strider’s 59.5% rate of pitches in the zone is the highest among qualifiers.
• His swing and miss rate of 40.1% is the second highest in the majors, trailing only Texas’ Jacob deGrom’s 42.1%.
• Carried a perfect game into the seventh inning in his last start against Miami until he lost his bid on a Matt Olson error.
• Maintained a no-hitter through 7.1 innings; broken up on a single by Jean Segura.
• Struckout a season-high 13 hitters and finished with two hits allowed over 8.0 innings pitched.
• Enters play with a 1.80 ERA, second lowest in the NL and fourth in the majors.
2023 Recap
• Started the second game of the season for Atlanta and earned the win, fanning nine hitters while pitching 6.0 scoreless innings against Washington.
NEW YORK METS NOTES:
METSCELLANEOUS: The Mets were rained out the last two days…On Friday, the Mets fell to the Braves, 4-0, in a five-inning, rain-shortened contest…The Mets have lost five of their last six games…The Mets continue a seven-game homestand (1-3) against the Nationals (1-2) and Braves (0-1)…Following this series, the Mets travel to Detroit for a three-game series.
ROSTER MOVES: Today, RHP Stephen Nogosek has been activated from the IL…Had been on the 15-Day IL with a left elbow bone bruise…The Mets made a series of roster moves the past few days…On Saturday, LHP Brooks Raley was placed on the 15-day IL, retroactive to April 28, with left elbow inflammation and RHP John Curtiss was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse… RHP Adam Ottavino was been reinstated from the paternity list and LHP David Peterson was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse…Yesterday, RHP José Butto was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse.
DOUBLE DARE: The Mets are set to play their first doubleheader of the season today…New York played 10 doubleheaders in 2022…The Mets went 16-4 (.800) last season, the most wins in baseball in twin-bill games…The Mets have played 24 double dips since 2021, more than any other team in the majors…The Mets have earned at least a split in all 24 of their twin-bills over the last two years…Elias notes the team’s streak of 24 consecutive doubleheaders without being swept is the longest in Mets history…According to sportradar, the streak is tied for he second-longest in the expansion era…Only the Yankees (30 in a row from 1996-2006) have had a longer streak since 1961…New York has swept seven of their last 11 doubleheaders, including five DH sweeps last season…The last time the Mets were swept in a doubleheader was September 26, 2020 at Washington.
BASEBALL IS LIFE: Denyi Reyes will make his second career start in game one of today’s twin-bill…The 26-year-old signed a minor league contract with New York on November 23, 2022…This season with the Mets, he has thrown 6.1 scoreless innings in five appearances, allowing three hits with two walks and seven punchouts…He has posted a 1.29 ERA (2 ER/14.0 IP) with 10 strikeouts and three walks in eight career major league outings (one start)…His first career start came last season with the Orioles at Boston on May 28…He threw 3.2 innings, allowed one run on four hits, walked one and struck out one.
JUST PEACHY: The Mets and Braves played two doubleheaders last year, on May 3 in New York and again on August 6 in New York…The Mets swept both twin-bills…Prior to that, the Mets and Braves have split each of their previous three doubleheaders…The Mets have not been swept by the Braves in a doubleheader since they dropped both games on September 8, 2011 in New York.
ONE SHINING MOMENT: Prior to today’s first game, the Mets will honor UConn’s men’s basketball team for their 2023 national championship…Head
Coach Danny Hurley, a native of Jersey City, NJ will be in attendance and Andre Jackson Jr., a native of Amsterdam, NY, who averaged 18.8 points, 10.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists during his senior season will throw out the first pitch.
TYLOR THE CREATOR: Tylor Megill is slated to make his sixth start of the season in game two against the Braves…He is 3-1 with a 3.96 ERA (11 ER/25.0 IP) with 12 walks and 19 strikeouts…It will mark his third start at Citi Field this year where he is 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA (2 ER/11.0 IP) with five walks and six strikeouts…Megill has faced the Braves six times in his career (five starts) and is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA (11 ER/25.2 IP) with eight walks and 33 punchouts.
BRETT THE MET: Brett Baty is on a seven-game on-base streak, batting .409 (9-22) with two runs, a double, one home run, two RBI and two walks in that span…This comes after he went 1-8 in his first three games.
JEFF McHITS: Over his last 12 games, Jeff McNeil is batting .405 (17-42) with seven runs, two doubles, a home run, a triple, four RBI, five walks with a .490 OBP and a .571 SLG…Since April 16, he has raised his batting average from .212 to .298 and his OBP from .359 to .416…His .416 OBP is the eighth-best in the majors and sixth-highest in the National League.
MULTIPLICITY: McNeil has recorded multiple hits in three of his last five games…He has 171 multi-hit game of his career, which places him 19th on the Mets all-time list…He has 61 multi-hit games since the start of last season, which is the third-most during that span behind Bo Bichette and Freddie Freeman who each have 65 multi-hit games since 2022.
STEAL MY SUNSHINE: The Mets are fifth in the NL with 23 steals this season…Starling Marte is tied for ninth in the majors and tied for sixth in the NL with eight steals…He ranks third among active players with 322 career SB…Only Elvis Andrus (338) and Billy Hamilton (324) have more.
METS ON THE MOVE: Mets on the Move, presented by the Hospital for Special Surgery, is a fitness program dedicated to keeping kids active
and healthy…This year, the Mets will work with 1,000 students at two local elementary schools…The program launches today and will run throughout the month to coincide with National Physical Fitness and Sports month… Participating students received pedometer watches to track their physical fitness…The more steps they accumulate, the more Mets prizes they can earn…Earlier today, Mets front office staff, members of the HSS Sports Safety Team, and Mr. Met visited one of the program’s participating schools, P.S. 110 in Queens, and hosted a rally to introduce the program and get students excited to move!
CITI SLICKERS: The Mets are 5-5 at Citi Field this year…The team’s 10 home games are the fewest in the major leagues…The team won 54 games at home last year…That was their highest total at Citi Field in franchise history… The last time the team won more than 50 games in New York was in 2000 when they went 55-26…Overall, the Mets went 54-27 at Citi Field…The team’s .667 winning percentage was the fourth-highest in team history… Only the 1988 (56-24, .700), 2000 and 1986 teams (both 55-26, .679) had a better home winning percentage.
DOCTOR ROBERT-SON: David Robertson has appeared in 11 games and has allowed one run in 11.1 innings of work, good for a 0.79 ERA…He has allowed five hits, three walks while striking out 14 in that span…He is holding lefthanded hitters to a .100 (2-20) batting average this season…He has converted all five save opportunities he’s had this season…Overall, he has recorded 162 saves in his career…That is the seventh-most among active players.
A HIT’S A HIT: The Mets have collected 36 infield hits this season, which is the second-most in the majors…Last year, the Mets collected 186 infield hits, the fifth-most in franchise history and the third-most in MLB in 2022.
WAR, WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?: Brandon Nimmo is fourth in the major leagues with a 1.6 fWAR…Over the last 17 games, Nimmo is batting .382 (26- 68) with 12 runs, five doubles, two home runs, 10 RBI, seven walks, one steal with a .442 OBP and a .544 SLG…He has raised his batting average from .192 to .330 in that span…The Wyoming native is fourth in the majors with a .435 OBP, fifth in batting average (.330) and is tied for 14th in the majors with 17 walks this season.
WALK, DON’T STRIKE: The Mets are tied for fourth in the majors with 109 walks this season…As a team, New York has struck out 207 times this season, the second-fewest in the majors…Brandon Nimmo has drawn 17 walks and struck out 16 times this season…Jeff McNeil has 15 walks and has struck out only nine times…McNeil ranks fifth in the majors in strikeout rate, whiffing in just 8.1 percent of his plate appearances.
GUESS WHO’S BACH?: Over the last 10 games, Daniel Vogelbach is 9-25 (.360) with two runs, one double, one home run, six RBI, four walks with a .448 OBP and a .520 SLG…He has posted a .417 OBP in 20 games this season, which is only behind Brandon Nimmo (.446) for the team lead.
FOR PETE’S SAKE: Pete Alonso is tied for second in the majors with 10 home runs and is tied for fifth in the majors and tied for the NL lead with 25 RBI.. Alonso is tied for 17th in MLB and tied for ninth in the NL with 20 runs scored and is 17th in the majors and 10th in the NL with a .562 SLG.
KING OF QUEENS: Pete Alonso has hit 66 home runs at Citi Field…That is tied with Michael Conforto for the second-most in the history of the ballpark… Only Lucas Duda (71) has hit more.
STARTING PITCHER – TYLOR MEGILL RHP #38
2023 STATS: 3-1, 3.96 ERA
MEGILL’S PITCH ARSENAL
Pitch Type Usage Rate vs. LHB vs. RHB Avg. Velocity
Four-Seam Fastball 53% 58% 47% 94.3 mph
Slider 22% 6% 41% 83.0 mph
Changeup 17% 22% 11% 88.6 mph
Curveball 8% 13% 1% 77.7 mph
LAST TIME OUT: Threw a season-low 4.0 innings and allowed a season-high four runs on six hits, one walk and two strikeouts against the Giants on April 23 at Oracle Park…Did not factor into the decision.
BIG DRIP VS. THE BRAVES: For his career, Megill has faced the Braves six times, including five starts, the most against any one opponent in his career…Megill is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA (11 ER/25.2 IP) and has held the Braves to a .598 OPS in those outings…In three starts against the Braves at Citi Field, Megill is 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA (6 ER/15.0 IP) and 19 strikeouts.
AMAZIN APRIL: In nine April starts since 2022, Megill is 7-1 with a 2.89 ERA (17 ER/53.0 IP) and 46 strikeouts…Megill’s seven wins in April since last season are the third-most during that span…Clayton Kershaw and Joe Ryan have the most wins in April since 2022 with eight…Megilll has allowed three runs or fewer in eight of his 10 career April starts.
THE FRANCHISE HAS COMPANY: On April 7, the Mets home opener vs. Miami, Megill threw 6.0 scoreless innings and allowed three hits…Megill joined Tom Seaver (April 5, 1983) as the only other pitcher in franchise history to throw 6.0 shutout innings and allow three hits or fewer in a home opener…Courtesy of Elias.
DOIN’ THE SPLITS: This season, righties are hitting just .174 (8-46) against Megill, which is the seventh-best mark in the majors among starting pitchers (Min. 50 RHB faced)…On the contrast, left-handers have batted .333 (17-51) against Megill, tied for the fifth-highest mark in the majors among starting pitchers (Min. 50 LHB faced)…For his career, Megill owns a .197 (61-309) opponent’s average against right-handed batters, the ninth-best mark among right-handed starting pitchers since his major league debut on June 23, 2021 (min. 300 RHB faced)…During that same time frame, left-handed batters have a .311 (98-315) average against Megill, the third-highest mark among right-handed starting pitchers (min. 300 LHB faced).
NO PLACE LIKE NEW YORK: This season, Megill is 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA (2 ER/11.0 IP) in two home starts this season…In three road starts this season, Megill is 1-1 with a 5.79 ERA (9 ER/14.0 IP)…In 18 career home games (16 starts), Megill is 6-3 with a 4.19 ERA (38 ER/81.2 IP) and in 20 career road games (16 starts), Megill is 5-6 with a 5.04 ERA (45 ER/80.1 IP).
