NEW YORK METS NOTES:
METSCELLANEOUS: The Mets returned to play last night and fell to the Reds, 7-6…New York is 4-6 in one-run games this year…The Mets have dropped 12 of their last 15 and dropped three straight…New York continues a seven-game road trip (0-1) to Cincinnati (0-1) and Washington D.C. (four games).
YOU’RE THE LAST TEAM ON THE LIST: In his career, Justin Verlander has earned at least one win against every major league team except for the Cincinnati Reds…In two career starts against the Reds, Verlander is 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA (6 ER/13.0 IP)…With a win against Cincinnati, Verlander would become the 21st pitcher in major league history to have at least one win against all 30 current major league teams and would join Gerrit Cole, Zack Greinke and teammate Max Scherzer as the only active pitchers to have at least one win against all 30 current major league teams…Courtesy of Elias.
Rank Player Strikeouts
- Greg Maddux 3,371
- Phil Niekro 3,342
- Max Scherzer 3,213
- Justin Verlander 3,203
- Fergie Jenkins 3192
Rank Player Strikeouts - Pedro Martinez 3,154
- Bob Gibson 3,117
- Curt Schilling 3,116
- CC Sabathia 3,093
- John Smoltz 3,084
MOST STRIKEOUTS, ALL-TIME (NO. 10-19)
FOREVER YOUNG: Francisco Álvarez recorded his first career multi-home run game yesterday..According to Sarah Langs, he is the fifth-youngest player since 1900 with a multi-homer game as a catcher…He is the sixth Met age 21 or younger with a multi-homer game and the first since David Wright on June 2, 2004 vs. Florida.
Name Date Age
Butch Wynegar September 22, 1976 20 years, 192 days
Joe Mauer: June 30, 2004 21 years, 72 days
Shanty Hogan: June 21, 1927 21 years, 92 days
Bill Freehan: May 5, 1963 21 years, 157 days
Francisco Álvarez May 9, 2023 21 years, 171 days
MLB HOME RUNS BY A CATCHER 21 OR YOUNGER
IT’S BEEN TWO WEEKS: Over the last 14 games, Francisco Álvarez is hitting .308 (12-39) with seven runs, two doubles, three home run, five RBI, three walks with a .357 OBP and a .590 SLG…He is now slashing .241/.281/.444 in 19 games this season.
BRIGHAM UP, BRIGHAM UP: Jeff Brigham tossed 1.0 scoreless frame yesterday…He has now allowed a run in eight of his 10 appearances this season, posting a 3.27 ERA (4 ER/11.0 IP)…He has struck out 14 and allowed five hits and four walks in 11.0 innings this year.
D-FENCE: The Mets have committed 12 errors in 36 games this season… That is tied for the second-fewest in the major leagues…The Padres lead the big leagues, committing only 10 errors this year…New York’s .990 fielding percentage is fifth in the majors and third in the National League.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: New York will play their 22nd road game today, tied for the second-most in the majors…New York is 10-11 on the road this season…They are 3-2-1 in road series in 2023.
TRUE AMERICAN: The Mets play the Reds for the first time in 2023…Last season, the Mets took five out of six games with the club, outscoring them 36-13 in the process…New York went 2-1 at Great American Ball Park in 2023…Francisco Lindor has hit .321 (26-81) with 17 runs, three doubles, seven home runs, 12 RBI and seven walks in 18 contests in Cincy…Pete Alonso has played 10 games at the ballpark and has hit .302 (13-43) with seven runs, three doubles, four home runs, seven RBI and five walks.
HIGH FIVE: Pete Alonso has 12 home runs and 30 RBI this year…He is one of only five MLB players this season with at least 10 homers and 25
RBI , joining Rafael Devers (11 HR/34 RBI), Max Muncy (12 HR/29 RBI), Matt Olson (12 HR/29 RBI) and Brent Rooker (10 HR/26 RBI)…Courtesy of Sportradar.
INVADER NIM: Over the last 23 games, Nimmo is batting .323 (30-93) with 15 runs, six doubles, one triple, three home runs, nine RBI, seven walks with an .890 OPS…He ranks 14th in the majors and eighth in the NL with a 1.6 fWAR.
DOCTOR ROBERT-SON: David Robertson has appeared in 13 games and has allowed one run in 14.1 innings of work, good for a 0.63 ERA… He has allowed eight hits, five walks while striking out 18 in that span… He is holding left-handed hitters to a .154 (4-265) batting average this season…He has converted all seven save opportunities he’s had this season…Overall, he has recorded 164 saves in his career…That is the seventh-most among active players.
GUESS WHO’S BACH?: Over his last 19 games, Daniel Vogelbach is 14-47 (.298) with four runs, three doubles, two home runs, 10 RBI, nine
walks with a .411 OBP and a .489 SLG…He has posted a .402 OBP in 29 games this season, which leads the team.
AND THEY’RE OFF: The Mets are second in the National League with a 83.9% success rate in steals this season…The Mets are tied for sixth the NL with 26 steals this season…Starling Marte is tied for 12th in the majors and tied for seventh in the NL with nine steals…He ranks third
among active players with 323 career steals…Only Elvis Andrus (340) and Billy Hamilton (326) have more.
BRETT THE MET: In 18 games this year, Brett Baty is batting .271 (16- 59) with six runs, three doubles, two home runs, six RBI, six walks with a .338 OBP and a .424 SLG.
JEFF McHITS: Jeff McNeil is batting .329 (24-73) with 10 runs, two doubles, a triple, two home runs, seven RBI, six walks with a .402 OBP and an .868 OPS over his last 21 games…Overall, he is batting .280/.384/.392 in 36 games this season.
MULTIPLICITY: McNeil has recorded 10 multi-hit games this season… He has 173 multi-hit games in his career, which places him 19th on the Mets all-time list…He has 63 multi-hit games since the start of last season, which is tied for the third-most during that span behind Bo Bichette (70) and Freddie Freeman (68).
A HIT’S A HIT: The Mets have collected 40 infield hits this season, which is the fourth-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.
FIRST THINGS FIRST: The Mets have been outscored 29-9 in the first inning this year.
OUCH: The Mets have been plunked 22 times this season…That is tied for the third-most in the majors and the most in the National League…
Since the start of last season, the Mets have been plunked 134 times, the most in the majors…The Giants are second at 116.
JUSTIN VERLANDER RHP #35
2023 STATS: 0-1, 3.60 E R A
VERLANDER PITCH ARSENL
Pitch Type Usage Rate vs. LHB vs. RHB Avg. Velocity
Four-Seam Fastball 47% 47% 47% 95.0 mph
Slider 43% 42% 44% 88.0 mph
Curveball 10% 11% 9% 79.9 mph
METS DEBUT: On May 4, Verlander made his Mets debut against his former team, the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park..After surrendering back-to-back home runs to Riley Greene and Javy Báez in the first, Verlander threw 4.0 scoreless innings…All told, the right-hander allowed two runs over 5.0 innings on five hits, one walk and five strikeouts…At 40 years and 73 days, Verlander was the oldest pitcher to debut for the Mets since Rich Hill, who debuted with the club at 41 years and 136 days on July 25, 2021.
YOU’RE THE LAST TEAM ON THE LIST: In his career, Verlander has earned at least one win against every major league team except for the Cincinnati Reds…In two career starts against the Reds, Verlander is 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA (6 ER/13.0 IP)…With a win against Cincinnati, Verlander would become the 21st pitcher in major league history to have at least one win against all 30 current major league teams and would join Gerrit Cole, Zack Greinke and teammate Max Scherzer as the only active pitchers to have at least one win against all 30 current major league teams…Courtesy of Elias.
3K AND COUNTING: Entering the 2023 season, Verlander was 12th on the all-time strikeout list with 3,198 strikeouts, five ahead of teammate Max Scherzer…Scherzer has since passed Verlander, but the pair remain close, with just 10 separating the two…Entering last season, Verlander ranked 19th on the all-time with 3,013 career strikeouts, seven behind Scherzer… During the 2022 season, Verlander passed all-time greats John Smoltz, C.C Sabathia, Curt Schilling, Bob Gibson, Pedro Martinez and Fergie Jenkins…See below for a chart of the No. 10-19 strikeout pitchers of all-time:
CINCINNATI REDS NOTES:
RED HOTS
• TJ Friedl (35g, 38h) and Jonathan India (35g, 39h) each has appeared in all 35 Reds games, and each has amassed at least 38 hits…Joey Votto (35g, 41h) was the last Reds player to produce those numbers, in 2013… Friedl and India comprise the first pair of teammates to produce at least 36 hits while appearing in each of the Reds’ first 34 games since 1995, when Reggie Sanders (35g, 42h) and Bret Boone (35g, 39h) did it.
TONIGHT’S GAME
• Is Game 2 (1-0) of a 3-game series vs Jay Horwitz’ Mets and Game 5 (2-2) of a 6-game homestand that included a 2-1 series loss to the White Sox.
• Following this series the Reds hit the road for a pair of 3-game series at Mia’s loanDepot Park and at Col’s Coors Field, then return to Great American Ball Park for 7 games vs the Yankees (3g) and Cardinals (4g).
SERIES NOTES
• The Mets won last season’s 6-game season series, 5-1, including their first sweep in New York since 4/25-4/27, 2016.
• Beginning 9/24/13, the Reds are 16-38 vs NYM, including a 14-game losing streak from 9/7/14 – 9/7/16 that ranks as Cin’s longest ever vs the Mets and its longest vs any team since a 16-game skid vs Ari from 5/8/01 – 8/13/03.
• Dating back to 1962, the 7-0 series win by the Mets in 2015 was the first season series sweep by either team, followed by NYM’s 6-0 series win in 2016.
MARLINS UP NEXT…
• Friday the Reds and Marlins begin a 3-game series at loanDepot Park.
• The Reds went 15-6 vs Mia over the previous 3 seasons (6-1 in 2019, 5-2 in 2021, 4-3 in 2022) following 4 straight losing season series to the Marlins.
• Between the 2014 and 2019 winning season series, the Reds went 10-18 vs Mia (3-4, 3-4, 2-5, 2-5).
• The Reds are 16-19 at Marlins Park / loanDepot park, including 3-0 with the roof open and 13-19 closed.
…FOLLOWED BY THE ROCKIES
• Next week the Reds make their annual visit to Coors Field.
• Last season the Rockies earned the 4-2 series win, including their first series sweep of the Reds since September 2010.
• Beginning in 2002 and with a minimum of 40 games, the Reds’ .338 winning percentage at Coors Field (22-43) is tied for their second-lowest at any current road ballpark in that span (Phi’s Citizens Bank Park, 21-43, .328; LA’s Dodger Stadium, 22-43, .338).
• The Reds’ 3-1 series win from 5/30-6/2, 2016 is their only series win at Coors Field since 8/27-8/29, 2012.
Tonight’s Pitcher – #21 Hunter Greene, RHP
• In just his second season, tonight is making his 32nd Major League appearance and start…will be his second career appearance and start vs the Mets.
• In Fri’s 5-4 loss vs WSox allowed all 5 runs on a pair of homers, including a 3-run HR by Elvis Andrus in the fifth inning and a 2-run HR by Luis Robert Jr. in the sixth…were Greene’s first home runs allowed since Opening Day, snapping his career-high homerless streak at 29.0 innings.
• Through the first 7 starts of his 2022 rookie season had allowed 11 home runs.
• Has been charged with 3 pitch timer violations.
• Was the Reds’ 2023 Opening Day starting pitcher.
• At age 23 years, 236 days became the first pitcher age 25 or under to start for the Reds on Opening Day since 1980, when at age 22 years, 232 days RHP Frank Pastore beat Phil Niekro and the Braves, 9-0… courtesy @EliasSports.
• Became the first second-year pitcher to start for the Reds on Opening Day since 26-year-old RHP Raisel Iglesias started the 6-2 win vs the Phillies in the 2016 season opener…courtesy @EliasSports.
• On 4/18 signed a $53 million contract through the 2028 season that includes for 2029 a $21 million club option and $2 million buyout.
