NEW YORK METS NOTES:
METSCELLANEOUS: After being rained out on Saturday and Sunday, the Mets returned to action yesterday and split a doubleheader with the Braves…The Mets fell 9-8 in game one before winning the nightcap, 5-3…Tonight, the Mets begin a brief road trip to Detroit for a three-game series…The Mets are 6-3 in series openers this season… On Friday, the Mets return home for three games against the Rockies. GREETINGS FROM MICHIGAN!: The Mets face the Tigers for the first time since 2019…The Mets will play at Comerica Park for the first time since a three-game series from August 5-7, 2016…Overall, the Mets are 11-13 against the Tigers including a 4-8 record in Detroit and a 4-5 record in Comerica Park…New York played one series at Tiger Stadium…They were swept in a three-game set from June 30-July 2, 1997.
THEY’RE OUT OF MY LEAGUE: The new schedule format has New York playing a total of 43 Interleague games in 2023, more than double their previous high for a single season (20)…The Mets are 3-0 against the American League this year…Overall, New York owns a 238-227 record
in Interleague play…The team’s .512 winning percentage is the second-best among National League clubs.
INTERLEAGUE PETE: Pete Alonso is 4-12 with three runs, two home runs, two RBI and three walks in three games against the American League this year…He batted .333/.410/.639 against AL opponents last season with 15 runs, four doubles, six home runs, 15 RBI and 10 walks… His six home runs were tied for the sixth-most in the majors…Alonso has hit 31 home runs in Interleague Play since the 2019 season…His 31 home runs against the American League is a franchise record, and the most among any player in that time frame…Mike Piazza was the previous record holder with 28 Interleague home runs.
EN FUEGO: Joey Lucchesi is slated to make his third start of the season tonight in Detroit…It will mark his first career start against the Tigers… The lefty is 1-0 with a 2.19 ERA (3 ER/12.1 IP) with four walks and 12 strikeouts this season…Lefties are hitting .143 (1-7) against him this season…Overall, lefties have hit just .239 (68-284) against Lucchesi in his career.
FIRST TIME, LONG TIME: The Mets are 12-2 when scoring first this season…Their .857 winning percentage when scoring first ranks second in the National League and fourth in the majors…The Rays are 19-0 (1.000), followed by the Blue Jays (11-1, .917) and the Brewers (14-2, .875).
BRETT THE MET: Brett Baty went 3-9 with two runs, a double, a home run, and an RBI in both games of the doubleheader yesterday…He has reached base safely in nine straight games, batting .387 (12-32) with four runs, two doubles, two home runs, three RBI and two walks in that span…This comes after he went 1-8 in his first three games.
HERE’S THE CATCH: Francisco Alvarez is batting .320 (8-25) with three runs, a double, a home run, three RBI and a walk over his last nine games…This comes after he hit .067 (1-15) in his first five games this season.
DOCTOR ROBERT-SON: In game two, David Robertson notched his fourth career six-out save and his first since August 20, 2022 vs. the Mets with Philadelphia…He matched a career-high with four strikeouts for the 12th time in his career…Overall, the Alabama native has appeared in 12 games and has allowed one run in 13.1 innings of work, good for a 0.68 ERA…He has allowed seven hits, three walks while striking out 18 in that span…He is holding left-handed hitters to a .120 (3-25) batting average this season…He has converted all six save opportunities he’s had this season…Overall, he has recorded 163 saves in his career…That is the seventh-most among active players.
IT’S BEEN TWO WEEKS: Over his last 14 games, Jeff McNeil is batting .400 (20-50) with nine runs, two doubles, one triple, two home runs, five RBI, five walks, one streal with a .483 OBP and a .600 SLG…Since April 16, he has raised his batting average from .212 to .304 and his
OBP from .359 to .418…His .418 OBP is the ninth-best in the majors and seventh-highest in the National League.
MULTIPLICITY: McNeil has recorded nine multi-hit games this season… He has 172 multi-hit games in his career, which places him 19th on the Mets all-time list…He has 62 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 67 multi-hit games since 2022.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: New York will play its 18th road game tonight, tied for the most in the majors…New York is 10-7 on the road this season…They are 3-1-1 in road series in 2023…The Mets are batting .245/.337/.392 on the road this year…They have posted a 4.59 ERA with 63 walks and 148 strikeouts away from Citi Field in 2023…The Mets 10 road wins are tied for the third-most in the majors.
STEAL MY SUNSHINE: The Mets are third in majors with a 89.7% success rate in steals this season…That is the highest rate in the National League…The Mets are tied for third the NL with 26 steals this season…Starling Marte is tied for ninth in the majors and sixth in the NL with nine steals…He ranks third among active players with 323 career SB…Only Elvis Andrus (338) and Billy Hamilton (324) have more.
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 19 games, Nimmo is batting .364 (28-77) with 13 runs, five doubles, one triple, two home runs, 10 RBI, seven walks, one steal with a .419 OBP and a .532 SLG…He has raised his batting average from .192 to .320 in that span…The Wyoming native is tied for seventh in the majors with a .419 OBP, tied for 10thth in batting average (.320) and is tied for 15th in the majors with 17 walks this season.
WALK, DON’T STRIKE: The Mets are third in the majors with 116 walks this season…As a team, New York has struck out 227 times this season,
the fifth-fewest in the majors…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 his last 12 games, Daniel Vogelbach is 11-31 (.355) with three runs, two doubles, one home run, eight RBI, six walks with a .459 OBP and a .516 SLG…He has posted a .426 OBP in 22 games this season, which is leads the team.
FOR PETE’S SAKE: Pete Alonso is tied for the major league lead with 11 home runs and is second in the majors and leads the National League with 28 RBI..Alonso is tied for ninth in MLB and tied for fifth in the NL with 22 runs scored and is 17th in the majors and 11th in the NL with a .558 SLG.
STARTING PITCHER – JOEY LUCCHESI LHP #47
2023 STATS: 1-0, 2.19 E R A
LUCCHESI’S PITCH ARSENAL
Pitch Type Usage Rate vs. LHB vs. RHB Avg. Velocity
Sinker 51.6% 66.7% 49.0% 89.7 mph
Cutter 25.8% 3.7% 29.7% 90.0 mph
Churve 22.5% 29.6% 21.3% 78.3 mph
LAST TIME OUT: Lucchesi threw 5.1 innings on April 27 at Citi Field, allowing three earned runs on five hits and two walks…Fanned three Nationals batters in the Mets’ 9-8 comeback victory.
EYE OF THE TIGERS: Lucchesi has never faced the Detroit Tigers in his career… In matchups against American League teams, Lucchesi holds a 3-3 record in nine games and eight starts, and has pitched to a 4.65 ERA (21 ER/40.2 IP)… Has held opponents to a .227 average and has fanned 49 batters in Interleague contests.
PUTTING UP GOOSE EGGS: Dating back to June 13, 2021, Lucchesi tossed 18.1 straight scoreless innings, a career-best scoreless streak, which came to an end on April 27 against the Nationals…Among starting pitchers, Lucchesi’s scoreless streak was the third-longest active scoreless streak in the majors at the time, behind Zac Gallen (28.0 innings) and Gerrit Cole (20.0 innings)
MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU: Lucchesi holds a 2-4 record in 13 appearances and 11 starts in the month of May…Has pitched to a 4.15 ERA (28 ER/60.2 IP) in those games, while fanning 57 batters…This will be his first start in May since May 27, 2021 against the Rockies at Citi Field, when he allowed one run on two hits, three walks and two strikeouts in a 4-2 Mets victory.
JOEY FUEGO: Made his major league debut on March 30, 2018 while with San Diego in a start against Milwaukee…Played for the Padres for three season before coming to the Mets in 2021…As a Met, Lucchesi–who adopted the nickname “Fuego” while in college-made eight starts in 11 appearances in 2021, pitching to a 4.46 ERA (19 ER/38.1 IP) and racking up 41 strikeouts before his season was cut short after undergoing “Tommy John” surgery…Made his Mets debut in relief on April 7, 2021 at Philadelphia, tossing 2.0 scoreless innings… Pitched to a 1.19 ERA (3 ER/22.2 IP) with 24 strikeouts over his last five outings of the 2021 season before his season-ending injury.
TROUBLE WITH THE CHURVE: Has gained attention throughout his career for a pitch he created, called the “churve”…Developed from a basic changeup, Lucchesi holds the ball deep in his palm and tinkered with his wrist action and position to throw the pitch in a similar nature to a breaking ball…Since then, it is a go-to weapon for Lucchesi…In 2019, his churve had an average 8.9 vertical drop, per Statcast, which was the most movement of any pitcher’s changeup by more than a full inch…According to Baseball Savant, Lucchesi’s pitch arsenal also featured a sinker, curve, cutter and change the last time he was in the majors.
DETROIT TIGERS NOTES:
TIGERS DROP SERIES FINALE TO BALTIMORE: The Tigers lost to the Orioles, 5-3, in the series finale on Sunday. Jake Rogers hit a two-run home run, his third of the season, while Javier Báez added two hits, including a double, and drove in a run. Spencer Turnbull started for Detroit and took the loss, allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 4.0 innings. Jason Foley and Alex Lange each turned in scoreless outings of the Tigers bullpen.
ROSTER MOVES: The Tigers on Monday announced the following roster moves:
*Claimed RHP Braden Bristo off waivers from Tampa Bay and optioned him to Triple A Toledo
*To make room for Bristo on the 40-man roster, transferred OF Austin Meadows to the 60-day injured list
JAVY STAYS HOT: Javier Báez continued his hot stretch at the plate on Sunday, going 2×4 with a double and a RBI. After starting the season 4×40 in his first 11 games of the season, Báez has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games with at least one at-bat. During that stretch, Báez is slashing .340/.382/.440 with five doubles and 10 RBI.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT: Alex Lange struck out both Baltimore batters he faced in Sunday’s series finale. Lange has not allowed a run in nine consecutive appearances, throwing 9.0 innings with only three hits allowed, two walks and 15 strikeouts. For the season, Lange has posted a
1.42 ERA (12.2IP/2ER) with a 0.95 WHIP and 15 strikeouts.
TIGERS AND METS: The Tigers and Mets begin their only series of the season tonight. The two teams last played in 2019 with New York (NL) winning two-of-three games at Citi Field. Detroit has a 13-11 lead in the all-time series against the Mets, including a 5-4 edge in games at Comerica Park.
INTERLEAGUE ACTION: The Tigers return to interleague play tonight against the Mets. Detroit has started the season 4-1 against National League foes, sweeping a two-game series from San Francisco and taking two-of-three games at Milwaukee. The Tigers have finished with a winning record against NL opponents in each of the last two seasons.
AT COMERICA PARK: The Tigers are 1-3 on their current seven-game homestand, which includes four games vs. Baltimore (1-3) and three games vs. New York (NL) (May 2-4). Detroit is 5-7 at home this season. As a team, the Tigers are hitting .246/.314/.372 at Comerica Park, while the pitching staff has a 4.90 ERA (112.0IP/61ER).
TIGRES EN ESPAÑOL: The Tigers have an expanded 22-game slate of Spanish-language radio broadcasts in 2023, including each game of this week’s series against the Mets. Fans can tune in throughout metro Detroit on 1270 AM, for free across Michigan on the Audacy app, worldwide via the MLB app, and by choosing the SAP option on Bally Sports Detroit telecasts. Tigers bilingual media relations coordinator Carlos Guillen serves as the play-by-play announcer, while the analyst this series is 1984 World Series champion Barbaro Garbey.
TIGERS ON THE IL:
• RHP Beau Brieske (right upper arm discomfort, 15-day IL on March 30, retroactive to March 27)
• OF Kerry Carpenter (right shoulder sprain, 10-day IL on April 29, retroactive to April 28)
• RHP Matt Manning (right foot fracture, 60-day IL on April 12)
• OF Austin Meadows (anxiety, 60-day IL on April 8, retroactive to April 7)
• RHP Casey Mize (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on February 17)
• RHP Freddy Pacheco (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on March 27)
• LHP Tarik Skubal (left elbow strain, 60-day IL on March 14)
• RHP Trey Wingenter (right biceps tendinitis, 15-day IL on April 22, retroactive to April 19)
TONIGHT’S TIGERS STARTING PITCHER – Michael Lorenzen • 0-1, 7.07 ERA (14.0IP/11ER)
• Lorenzen will make his fourth start of the season tonight in the series opener vs. New York (NL).
• Suffered the loss in his last start on Wednesday at Milwaukee, allowing five runs on seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts in 5.0 innings.
• Has made 12 career appearances, including two starts, against the Mets, posting a 1-1 record with one save, a 2.73 ERA (26.1IP/8ER) and 20 strikeouts…has made only three career outings, including two starts, at Comerica Park, and has a 1-0 record with a 5.91 ERA (10.2IP/7ER) and eight strikeouts.
• Started 18 games with the Angels in 2022 and went 8-6 with a 4.24 ERA (97.2IP/46ER) and 85 strikeouts…finished the season strong, posting a 2-0 record with a 2.36 ERA (26.2IP/7ER) and 30 strikeouts over five starts from September 9-October 4.
