LOS ANGELES DODGERS NOTES:
TONIGHT’S STARTER at METS: RHP TONY GONSOLIN (4-3, 3.86 ERA in 13 GS)
2023 SEASON NOTES:
- Got his fifth win of the season in his start against the Angels on July 7, a season-high 6.2 innings and giving up seven hits, four runs and one walk while punching out five
- 2022 All-Star tossed his first win of the season on May 14th against San Diego after firing five scoreless innings and giving up two hits, one walk, and tying a season-high six strikeouts
- In his rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City on April 20th, he hurled three innings, allowing one hit, two earned runs, two walks while sitting down seven
- Made one Spring Training start, tossing 2.1 innings, allowing no runs on three hits, while walking two and striking out two
- Gonsolin is 30-8 in his career and is tied for the second fewest decisions all-time among pitchers to reach 30 victories. In addition, his 27-6 (.818) record as a starter is the best in the modern era through 60 games started.
VS. METS:
- Will face New York for second time in his career…is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA (0 ER/6.0 IP) with five strikeouts against one walk
- First faced the club on June 2, 2022 firing six scoreless innings, giving up two hits and three walks while striking out five in the victory
NEW YORK METS NOTES:
METSCELLANEOUS: The Mets returned to action last night and fell to the Dodgers, 6-0…It was the ninth time this season the Mets were held scoreless…The Mets have dropped three straight including two in San Diego prior to the All-Star Break…New York begins the second-half with a seven-day, six-game homestand (0-1) against the Los Angeles Dodgers (0-1) and the Chicago White Sox (three games).
SECOND HALF SQUAD: The Mets are 270-237 (including last night) 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 .533 winning percentage during that span is the fourth-best in the NL, behind Los Angeles (.627), St. Louis (.596) and Chicago (.576).
SIGN OF THE TIMES: Yesterday, the Mets announced that the club has signed first-round selection (32nd overall) INF Colin Houck and second-round selection (56th overall) RHP Brandon Sproat…Both players will begin their professional careers at the Florida Complex League in Port St. Lucie, FL…In addition, the Mets have also signed the following players: RHP/OF Nolan McLean (3rd round, Oklahoma State University), RHP Kade Morris (3rd round, University of Nevada), RHP Austin Troesser (4th round, University of Missouri), INF, A.J. Ewing (4th round, Springboro HS (OH), RHP Jack Wenninger (6th round, University of Illinois), RHP Noah Hall (7th round, University of South Carolina), INF Boston Baro (8th round, Capistrano Valley HS (CA), INF Nick Lorusso (9th round, University of Maryland) and Catcher Christian Pregent (10th round, Stetson University).
GHOST BUSTER: RHP Kodai Senga is set to make his first start after the All-Star Break…Senga is 7-5 with a 3.31 ERA (33 ER/89.2 IP) in 16 starts this year…He has recorded 113 strikeouts through his first 16 career major league games, that is the fourth-most by a Mets pitcher in team history…Only Gooden (125), Matt Harvey (116) and Nolan Ryan (115) had more in their first 16 career starts…His 113 strikeouts are the fourth-most by a Japanese-born pitcher through 16 career games, trailing only Nomo (139), Tanaka (127) and Darvish (117).
IN THE CITI: The Mets have played 40 games at Citi Field this season, the second-fewest home games in the majors…Only the Phillies with 39 games, have played fewer home contests this year…New York is 20-20 at Citi Field this season, posting a 3.96 ERA while slashing .226/.303/.395.
SEEING DODGER BLUE: In 34 games against the Dodgers, Brandon Nimmo owns a .343/.422/.520 slashline…During the Mets three-game series against the Dodgers in April, Nimmo batted .571 (8-14) and went 5-5 with a home run and two RBI in the series finale on April 19…In 25 career games against the Dodgers, Pete Alonso has seven home runs and a .536 SLG.
VIVE LA METS!: New York has posted a 6-3 record in July after going 7-19 in June…The team’s six wins in July are tied for the fourth-most in the National League…The Mets have posted a 3.04 ERA (27 ER/80.0 IP) with 40 walks and 92 strikeouts this month…Their 3.04 ERA is the fourth-best mark in the majors and second-best in the National League.
BROOKS WAS HERE: Since returning from the IL on May 14, Brooks Raley has posted a 0.90 ERA (2 ER/20.0 IP) over 24 games…That is the fifth-lowest mark during that span (Min. 15 relief appearances)…Raley has 17 holds, the third-most in the NL and tied for the fifth-most in the majors.
SMILE LIKE YOU MEAN IT: Over his last 21 games, Francisco Lindor is batting .321 (25-78) with 18 runs, three doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 16 RBI, 11 walks and seven steals with a 1.082 OPS…Lindor ranks among NL leaders in fWAR (3.0, seventh), RBI (60, eighth), extra-base hits (41, tied for ninth), home runs (19, tied for 10th) and doubles (20, tied for 12th)…From July 6 – 7, Lindor became the only player in the Modern Era two eight or more hits, multiple home runs, multiple triples and multiple stolen bases over a two-game span…Courtesy of Stats Perform.
IF YOU START ME UP: From July 4-7, New York’s starting pitcher completed 6.0 innings or more in four straight games for the second time this season (also, May 30-June 2)…The Mets are 27-4 when the starting pitcher throws at least 6.0 innings…New York has gone 11-1 when its starter pitches 7.0+ innings and are a perfect 4-0 when the starter completes 8.0 innings.
STEAL MY SUNSHINE: New York has been successful in all 10 of their stolen base attempts in July, bringing their season tally to 71 steals in 78 attempts…Their 71 steals are tied for ninth in the majors and tied for fifth in the NL…The team’s 91.0 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 45 of their last 46 stolen base attempts…Starling Marte has swiped 23 bags this year, sixth in the majors and third in the National League…His 337 career stolen bases rank second among active players…Elvis Andrus is the active leader with 341 steals.
JUST THE TWO OF US: Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor are one of four pairs of teammates to have 60 or more RBI this season, joining Los Angeles-NL’s Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and J.D. Martinez, Atlanta’s Matt Olson and Ozzie Ablies and Adolis Garcis and Jonah Heim on the Texas Rangers…The duo also recorded 60+ RBI before the All-Star Break last season…Prior to 2022, only three other times have the Mets had pairs of teammates drive in 60 or more runs before the
All-Star Break…David Wright and Carlos Beltrán both drove in 60+ RBI before the All-Star Break in 2006 and 2008…Bernard Gilkey and Todd Hundley both drove in 60+ RBI before the All-Star Break in 1996.
ATTABOY ALVAREZ: Francisco Alvarez has 17 homers this season, tied with Sean Murphy for the most by a catcher in the majors and the third-most among rookies…Alvarez has eclipsed Travis d’Arnaud’s previous franchise record for home runs by a rookie catcher…Alvarez’s 17 home runs are the second-most in a season by a catcher in his age-behind Johnny Bench (26, age 21, 1969)…Courtesy of Sarah Langs…Alvarez has five long balls in his last eight appearances and has scored at least one run seven out of eight games during the month of July…On July 7, Alvarez had his first career four-hit game…He is the youngest Met to collect four or more hits in a game since José Reyes recorded four hits on July 25, 2004 vs. Atlanta at 21 years and 44 days.
DR. ROBERTSON: On July 4-5, David Robertson recorded a save on back-to-back days for the third time this season (also, April 15-16 and May 30-31)…He recorded his 12th save of the year Wednesday night… The veteran right-hander has posted a 3-2 record with 12 saves and a 2.06 ERA (9 ER/39.1 IP) in 36 appearances this season…He has walked 11, while striking out 46…He ranks eighth in ERA among NL relievers…He is tied for 19th in the NL with 46 punchouts as a reliever…He is holding left-handed hitters to a .187 (14-75) average this year.
STARTING PITCHER – KODAI SENGA RHP #34
2023 STATS: 7-5, 3.31 ERA
LAST TIME OUT: Tossed a career-high 8.0 innings in the 2-1 win against Arizona on July 5…Allowed one run on four hits, with one walk and tied a career-high 12
strikeouts…Recorded a career-high 107 pitches in the outing. H
SENGA GENESIS: Has recorded 113 strikeouts through his first 16 career major league games, that is the fourth-most by a Mets pitcher in franchise history…Only Dwight Gooden (125), Matt Harvey (116) and Nolan Ryan (115) recorded more in their first 16 career starts…His 113 strikeouts are the fourth-most by a Japanese born pitcher through 16 career games…He trails only Hideo Nomo (139), Masahiro Tanaka (127) and Yu Darvish (117).
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 lead all major league rookies this season and his 113 strikeouts are the most by any rookie…Among rookies with 50.0 or more innings pitched, Senga is second in the majors and first in the NL with a 11.34 SO/9 rate and opponent’s average (.204).
PUTTING THE K IN FORK: Senga’s “ghost fork” has accounted for 60 of his 113 strikeouts through 16 starts…The pitch has a 59.6 percent whiff rate and a 28.3 percent putaway rate…Opponents have managed just 11 hits in 87 at-bats ending with the forkball, a .126 batting average.
SHUT ‘EM OUT: On May 30 against the Phillies, Senga became the 10th rookie in franchise history to throw 7.0 or more innings, while one hit or less and was the first Met since Steven Matz did so on August 14, 2016…Joins Jonathon Niese, who tossed a complete game shutout on June 10, 2010, as the only Mets rookie to accomplish the feat without allowing a walk.
