WASHINGTON NATIONALS NOTES:
No team release available.
NEW YORK METS NOTES:
METSCELLANEOUS: The Mets fell to the Yankees, 3-1, in The Bronx last night…The Mets are 11-8 through 19 games this month…The Mets have posted a 3.59 ERA, the fourth-lowest ERA in the majors and second-lowest in the National League in July…Tonight, the Mets return to Citi Field for a four-game series against the Washington Nationals…The team is off on Monday before they head out on a six-game road trip to Kansas City (three games) and Baltimore (three games).
LET’S GO CAMPING: The Mets have teamed up with USA Baseball for their inaugural Junior Mets Youth Baseball Camp, presented by Nike…This week-long camp is being held at Leavitts Park in Queens and will conclude at Citi Field on Friday, July 28 with a special appearance from OF Brandon Nimmo…Campers have had the opportunity to work on baseball skills with local coaches, hear from Mets Alum Todd Zeile, and learn from Mets Baseball Operations staff…All participants received a special edition Junior Mets camp uniform and will receive award plaques at the conclusion of the camp on Friday.
KAMPAI KODAI: Tonight, Kodai Senga is slated to make his 19th start of season…He is 7-5 with a 3.27 ERA (36 ER/99.0 IP) with 50 walks and 125 strikeouts…In nine starts at home, Senga is 3-2 with a 2.50 ERA (14 ER/50.1 IP) with 24 walks and 66 strikeouts…His 2.50 ERA at home ranks seventh in the majors (min. 50.0 IP)…Teammate Justin Verlander ranks fifth with a 2.34 ERA at home this season.
SENGA GENESIS: Senga has recorded 125 strikeouts through 18 games this season…That places him fourth in Mets history behind only Dwight Gooden (143), Matt Harvey (132) and Nolan Ryan (127)…His 125 strikeouts through 18 career games is fourth among Japanese-born players…He trails only Hideo Nomo (161), Masahiro Tanaka (135) and Yu Darvish (132).
GO EAST, YOUNG MAN: The Mets are 13-13 against the National League East this season…The team has posted a 4.23 ERA against the division, while hitting .239/.320/.383.
LINSANITY: Over the last 30 games, Francisco Lindor is batting .274 (31-113) with 23 runs, five doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 18 RBI, 19 walks, 11 steals with a .378 OBP, a .540 SLG and a .918 OPS… Lindor has stolen 17 bases in 101 games this season, exceeding his total from 2022 (16 steals in 161 games)…His career-best is 25 steals 158 games in 2018…The shortstop ranks fourth in the majors with a 94.4% success rate in steals…He has gone 17 out of 18 in stolen base
attempts in 2023.
WASHINGTON D.C., IT’S PARADISE TO ME: Mark Canha has hit .356 (31-87) with 16 runs, fie doubles, two home runs, 15 RBI and four walks with a .385 OBP in 23 career games against the Nationals…In six career games, Brett Baty is 6-17 with three doubles, one double, one home run, three RBI and three walks against Washington… Jeff McNeil has slashed .333/.390/.466 with 34 runs, 12 doubles, three triples, five home runs, 30 RBI and 21 walks…Brandon Nimmo has hit .280/.382/.446 with 44 walks in 89 career games against Washington…Pete Alonso has crushed 22 home runs in 73 career games against the team from D.C.
FOR PETE’S SAKE: Pete Alonso is batting .391 (9-23) with five runs, two doubles, one triple, two home runs, six RBI, one walk with a .440 OBP and an .826 SLG over his last six games…His 22 home runs against the Nationals are the fifth-most among active players.
LIVIN’ IN THE CITI: The Mets are 23-22 at home this season…The team’s 45 home games are the fewest in the major leagues.
DR. ROBERTSON: David Robertson is 4-2 with 14 saves, and a 2.05 ERA (10 ER/44.0 IP) with 13 walks and 48 strikeouts in 40 games this year…He is holding lefties to a .185 (15-81) average this year…His 14 saves rank ninth in the National League…His 171 career saves are the eighth-most among active players.
INVADER NIM: Brandon Nimmo has hit 15 home runs in 99 games this season…Nimmo’s career-high is 17 home runs, which he accomplished in 140 games in 2018…The left-handed hitter smacked 16 home runs in 151 games last season.
IF YOU START ME UP: The Mets are 30-7 when the starting pitcher throws at least 6.0 innings…New York has gone 13-1 when its starter pitches 7.0+ innings and are a perfect 5-0 when the starter completes 8.0 innings.
SECOND HALF SQUAD: The Mets are 5-6 in the second half this year and 275-242 in the second half since 2015 (not including 2020)…New York has only posted a losing second half twice during that time frame (2021 and 2017)…New York’s .532 winning percentage during that span is the fifth-best in the NL, behind Los Angeles .625), St. Louis (.597), Chicago (.579) and Milwaukee (.535).
STEAL MY SUNSHINE: New York has been successful in all 18 of their stolen base attempts in July, bringing their season tally to 79 steals in 86 attempts…The team’s 91.9 percent success rate is the best in the majors…The Mets had a franchise-record run of 35 consecutive stolen bases without being caught from May 14-June 29…Overall, New York has been successful in 53 of their last 54 stolen base attempts.
YOU CAN CALL ME AL: Francisco Alvarez is tied for the lead all major league catchers with 17 home runs and is third among all rookies in homers…He is tied for third in home runs in the majors this month with seven.
STARTING PITCHER – KODAI SENGA RHP #34
2023 STATS: 7-5, 3.27 ERA
HEY NOW, YOU’RE AN ALL-STAR: On July 8, Major League Baseball announced that Kodai Senga was added to the National League All-Star team, which took place on July 11 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle…Senga joined Pete Alonso (2019), Dwight Gooden (1984), Jerry Koosman (1968) and Tom Seaver as the only Mets rookies selected to an All-Star Game…He is the eighth Japanese-Born rookie ever to be selected to an All-Star Game joining Masahiro Tanaka (2014), Yu Darvish (2012), Kosuke Fukudome (2008), Hideki Okajima (2007), Hideki Matsui (2003), Ichiro Suzuki (2001) and Hideo Nomo (1995).
SENGA GENESIS: Has recorded 125 strikeouts through his first 18 career major league games, that is the fourth-most by a Mets pitcher in franchise history…Only Dwight Gooden (133), Matt Harvey (128) and Nolan Ryan (127) have recorded more in his first 18 career starts…His 125 strikeouts are the fourth-most by a Japanese born pitcher through 18 career games…He trails only Hideo Nomo (161), Masahiro Tanaka (135) and Yu Darvish (132).
KODAI THE FRIENDLY GHOST: Senga has won seven games during his rookie campaign, tying Steven Matz for the most first-half wins by a Mets rookie since 2012…The last Mets rookie hurler to win more games was Robert Gsellman (eight wins in 2017)…Senga’s seven wins are tied with Seattle’s Bryce Miller for the most among all major league rookies this season and his 125 strikeouts are the most by any rookie…Among rookies with 50.0 or more innings pitched, Senga is third in the majors and first in the NL with a 11.36 SO/9 rate and third in the majors in opponent’s average (.204).
PUTTING THE K IN FORK: Senga’s “ghost fork” has accounted for 66 of his 125 strikeouts through 18 starts…The pitch has a 59.6 percent whiff rate and a 27.7 percent putaway rate…Opponents have managed just 12 hits in 96 at-bats ending with the forkball, a .125 batting average.
