NEW YORK METS NOTES:
METSCELLANEOUS: The Mets downed the Cubs, 10-1, last night…New York snapped a two-game skid…The team has won six of their last eight games…New York continues a six-game road trip (1-2) to Chicago-NL (1- 2) and Colorado (three games)…Following this road trip, the Mets enjoy Memorial Day off before beginning a six-game homestand against Philadelphia (three games) and Toronto (three games).
ROCKY ROAD: The Mets have won six of their last eight games at Coors Field…Overall, the Mets are 41-57 at the ballpark…Starling Marte has hit .421 (48-114) with 27 runs, four doubles, five home runs, 22 RBI, five walks with a .468 OBP and a .588 SLG in 26 games at Coors Field…Marte has hit safely in each of his last nine games at the yard, going 16-42 (.381) with 11 runs, one doubles, two home runs, 10 RBI and a .982 OPS… Pete Alonso has hit .400 (14-35) with six runs, two doubles, three home urns, seven RBI in nine games in Denver.
TAP THE ROCKIES: Brandon Nimmo, who grew up around 100 miles from the ballpark, is a .364 (20-55) lifetime hitter with 12 runs, four home runs, 11 RBI, four walks with a .400 OBP and a .582 SLG in 14 games at the ballpark…After going 0-1 with a run in his career game at Coors Field on August 2, 2017, Nimmo has hit in 13 straight games at the ballpark… He is 20-54 (.370) in that span with 11 runs, four home runs, 11 RBI, and four walks with a .999 OPS.
FIRST IS THE BEST: The Mets are 15-3 when scoring first this season… The team’s .833 winning percentage when scoring first is tied for the second-best mark in the majors…On the other hand, the Mets are 11- 22 (.333) when their opponent scores first…Since the start of 2022, the Mets are 96-19 when scoring first…Their .835 winning percentage is the best in the majors.
HOMER HAPPY: After the Mets went five straight games without a home run, the Mets have homered in season-high nine straight contests, hitting 16 home runs in that span…The Mets are 21-11 when hitting a home run this season and 9-5 when hitting multiple homers…In 2022, the Mets longest home run streak was nine games (September 9-17)… The team hit 14 home runs in that span…The last time the Mets had a longer streak was in 2021…From September 4-12 the Mets homered in 10 straight games, socking 19 dingers in that span.
HEY NINETEEN: Pete Alonso has homered in six of his last nine games… Overall, he has hit 19 home runs this year, which leads the majors leagues…His 45 RBI are third in The Show and lead the National League… Alonso ranks 12th in franchise history with 425 career RBI…Next up is Kevin McReynolds (456) and Keith Hernandez (468)…Alonso has appeared in 51 games this year…See the chart below for the fastest Met to reach 20 home runs in a season and the fastest to 50 RBI…Courtesy of Elias.
ATTABOY ALVAREZ: Francisco Alvarez is on a five-game hitting streak, batting .444 (8-18) in that span with five runs, one double, three home runs, seven RBI, a walk with a .500 OBP, a 1.000 SLG and a 1.500 OPS… His six home runs are tied for the fifth-most by a rookie in the majors and tied for the third-most in the National League…The backstop is batting .290 (18-62) with four doubles, six home runs, five walks with a .353 OBP and a .645 SLG against right-handed pitching this year…In 18 games in May, Alvarez is batting .304 (17-56) with nine runs, five doubles, five home runs, 11 RBI, six walks with a 1.042 OPS.
STEAL THIS BASE: The Mets rank fourth in the majors and second in the National League with a 85.4% stolen base rate this season…Starling Marte has swiped 14 bags this year, tied for fourth in the majors and tied for second in the National League…His 328 career stolen bases rank second among active players…Elvis Andrus is the active leader with 340 steals.
ROAD WARRIOR: Brandon Nimmo is batting .342 (41-120) with 15 runs, eight doubles, one triple, two home runs, 17 RBI, 11 walks with a .397 OBP and .475 SLG in 30 games on the road this season…His .342 road average ranks sixth in the majors and fourth in the National League… Nimmo owns a career .396 OBP on the road…That is the fourth-highest mark in the majors since the Wyoming native entered the league in 2016.
TRIPLES MAKES IT SAFE. TRIPLES IS BEST: Brandon Nimmo recorded his second triple of the season last night…It was the 25th of his career…
That places him tied for 10th with Ed Kranepool on the Mets all-time list.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: New York has played 30 games on the road this year, the most in the majors…New York is 14-16 with a 4.59 ERA away
from Citi Field in 2023…The team’s 254 strikeouts on the road are the most in the majors.
EIGHT IS GREAT: The Mets are 23-0 when leading after eight innings this season…The last time the Mets lost a game when they were ahead after eight innings was on September 6, 2021 at Washington…The Mets were up 3-2 and lost 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth…Since then the Mets have won their last 118 games when ahead after eight, the longest active streak in MLB…It’s the longest streak in franchise history, surpassing the previous high of 117 consecutive games…From October 1, 1990- September 2, 1992, the Mets also won 117 straight games when ahead after eight innings.
D-FENCE: The Mets have committed 17 errors in 51 games this year… That gives the team a .991 fielding percentage….Their .991 fielding percentage ranks third in the majors and is the best in the NL…Their 17 errors are tied with the Padres for the fewest committed in the Senior Circuit.
I RALEY LIKE YOU: Since his return from the 15-Day IL, Brooks Raley has appeared in five games, allowing only one hits, three walks and striking out five in 5.0 innings…He has been unscored upon in 17 of his 19 appearances this season…Overall he is 1-0 with a 3.31 ERA (6 ER/16.1 IP) with four walks and 16 strikeouts.
FOGO POWER: Eduardo Escobar is 12-32 (.375) with a triple, three home runs, six RBI, five runs scored and a 1.147 OPS over his last 14 games.
MAX SCHERZER RHP #21
2023 STATS: 3-2, 4.01 E R A
SCHERZER’S PITCH ARSENAL
Pitch Type Usage Rate vs. LHB vs. RHB Avg. Velocity
Four-Seam Fastball 49% 53% 46% 93.2 mph
Slider 22% 3% 40% 84.1 mph
Changeup 13% 17% 10% 83.4 mph
Curveball 10% 16% 4% 75.1 mph
Cutter 6% 11% 1% 88.3 mph
LAST TIME OUT: Threw 6.0 scoreless innings in the first game of a doubleheader at Citi Field against Cleveland on May 21…Allowed three hits and one walk while striking out five Guardians batters…Scherzer had not completed 6.0 innings since his Opening Day start in Miami on March 30…His streak of five straight starts of fewer than 6.0 IP was the second-longest of his career…His only longer streak was in 2010 with Detroit (six straight GS under 6.0 IP).
LOOKING FOR K’S: Scherzer has not recorded more than six strikeouts in any of his last eight starts dating back to his final start of the 2022 season…He has had six strikeouts or fewer in eight straight starts only one other time in his career (September 2009-April 2010 with Arizona/Detroit).
DOUBLE THE FUN: Scherzer ranks tied for third all-time with 110 double-digit strikeout games in his career, two more than Pedro Martinez…His next 10+ K game will break a tie with Roger Clemens, who also had 110 in his career…He’ll then need over 100 more to catch the top two: Nolan Ryan (215) and Randy Johnson (212).
COLORADO ROCKIES NOTES:
I THINK WE’VE MET BEFORE
- The Colorado Rockies welcome the New York Mets to town tonight-Sunday to conclude the seven-game homestand … coming of a 3-1 series win over the Marlins, the first of two four-game home series the Rockies have this season (also: Sept. 14-17 vs. San Francisco).
- Colorado has won five of its last seven series since May 2 and six of their last nine series since April 24 … had lost or split each of their first seven series of the season prior to this stretch.
- The Rockies have won 10 of their last 14 home games since April 30 after snapping a seven-game losing streak at Coors Field … their .714 home winning percentage across that span ranks fourth in the Majors and second in the NL.
- The Rockies are in the midst of a stretch of 17 straight games without an off-day from May 19-June 4, their longest stretch without an off day this season.
PURPLE CARPET
- The Rockies welcome back three alumni to Coors Field over the weekend as part of their 30th anniversary celebrations throughout the season … outfielder Brad Hawpe and pitchers Jason Jennings and Ubaldo Jiménez will be at the ballpark Saturday and Sunday, and will throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to Sunday’s game.
YOU GOT HEART, KID…WHERE YOU FROM?
- 21-year-old shortstop Ezequiel Tovar logged his first career walkoff hit Thursday vs. Miami with a bases loaded single in the ninth inning … was the Rockies’ first walkoff since Alan Trejo’s RBI single on Sept. 23, 2022.
- Tovar has hit safely in six-straight games and is one game shy of tying his career-high seven game hit streak from April 26-May 4 of this year … has hit safely in 13 of his last 15 home games since April 28, slashing .294/.321/.510 with three doubles, one triple, two home runs and eight RBI across that span.
- Per Sports Info Solutions, Tovar’s five defensive runs saved are tied for the third-most among all shortstops while his four outs above average (Baseball Savant) are tied for the fourth-most … 0.7 dWAR (Baseball Reference) is tied for the sixth-highest among all National League position players.
QUEENS
- The Rockies have dropped six of their last eight home matchups vs. the Mets and have not won a home series against the club since a 3-1 series win June 18-21, 2018 … overall, the Rockies are 106-117 against the club from Queens, 63-44 in Denver.
- The Rockies took two of three from the Mets May 5-7 at Citi Field, Colorado’s first series win over the Mets since 2018 when they went 6-1 overall in the matchup.
- The 13-6 rubbermatch win over the Mets on May 7 was the Rockies highest scoring affair of the season, their most runs in a game since plating 13 on Sept. 9, 2022 vs. Arizona … was their highest scoring road game since also scoring 13 runs at Wrigley Field Aug. 25, 2021 in a 10-inning contest.
CATCH OF THE DAY
- Catcher Elias Díaz has homered in at least two consecutive games for the first time this season and fifth time of his career … has three home runs over his last four games overall … ranks second in the Majors with a .340 batting average and ranks fourth with a .452 batting average (19-for-42) with runners in scoring position.
- Díaz is hitting a Major League leading .390 (32-for-82) at home … has gone 14-for-24 (.583) with 14 RBI with runners in scoring position at Coors Field.
- Has appeared in 43 games at catcher, the second-most in the Majors … his 10 catcher caught stealing are third in the Majors, while his 40.7 caught stealing percentage ranks second (min. 20 games).
WE DON’T NEED ANOTHER HERO
- Rockies Manager Bud Black is sitting at 439 wins with the Rockies since his first season with the club in 2017, one win shy of tying Don Baylor for the second-most managerial wins in franchise history … Baylor, the Rockies’ first manager in franchise history, went 440-469 in six seasons at the helm from 1993-98.
THANK YOU SIR, MAY I HAVE ANOTHER?
- Outfielder Jurickson Profar holds an active 32-game on-base streak since April 15, the longest active streak in the Majors and the second-longest streak this season, trailing Yordan Álvarez (36 games) … it is tied for the 12th-longest on-base streak in franchise history, the longest since Connor Joe’s 35-game on-base streak last season (tied for the seventh-longest).
- Profar is slashing .268/.356/.425 through the streak with 18 walks … over his last 14 games since May 7, is slashing .333/.397/.579 with eight doubles, two home runs, nine RBI and eight multi-hit games.
ROCKIES STARTING PITCHER – #43 CONNOR SEABOLD RHP
STARTING THINGS OFF
- Laguna Hills, Calif., native is in his seventh professional season, his first with the Rockies organization.
- Selected by Baltimore in the 19th round of the 2014 First Year Player Draft but did not sign.
- Selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of Cal. State Fullerton.
- On Aug. 21,2020 was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies with Nick Pivetta to the Boston Red Sox for Heath Hembree and Brandon Workman.
- Designated for assignment by Boston, Jan. 12, 2023 … acquired by Colorado via trade for cash considerations or a player to be named later, Jan. 17.
- Rated by Baseball America as having the best changeup in the Red Sox system in 2021 and best control in 2022 … also ranked by Baseball America as one of the Red Sox top prospects in 2021 (No. 11) and ‘22 (No. 21).
- Made his Major League debut with the Red Sox on Sept. 11, 2021 vs. Chicago-AL.
START YOUR ENGINES
- The Rockies won each of his first three starts since joining the rotation the first week of May … tossing 14.1 innings, allowing 10 runs (eight earned) for a 5.02 ERA with 18 hits, six walks and seven strikeouts in those starts.
- Picked up his first loss of the season last time out in Texas …allowing 5 runs over 3.2 innings pitched with five hits, two walks and five strikeouts.
- Earned his first Major League win May 9 at Pittsburgh … allowed one run on three hits with a career-high three walks and three strikeouts across five innings in the 10-1 Rockies win.
- Made his first start of the season May 4 vs. Milwaukee at Coors Field … did not factor into the Rockies’ 9-6, allowing three runs on seven hits with no walks and one strikeout in five innings … all three runs came on solo home runs … exited the game with the Rockies trailing 3-0 before Colorado scored four in the seventh and five in the eighth in the comeback win.
EMPIRE STATE OF MIND
- Making his first career start against the Mets.
- Has made one career appearance against the NL East … came out of the bullpen against the Nationals on April 8, 2023 … tossing 2.1 innings and allowing one run on two hits, no walks and three strikeouts.
ARM BARN
- Made seven relief appearances across two stints this season before joining the rotation … allowed eight runs on 18 hits across 13.2 innings (5.27 ERA).
- Has allowed 3.13 walks per nine on the year.
- Opponent’s hitting .315 (41-for-130) against the righty.
- Made his first career Opening Day roster before being optioned on April 18 … recalled on April 28.
