NEW YORK METS NOTES:
METSCELLANEOUS: Yesterday, the Mets defeated the Diamondbacks, 8-5, to begin their final road trip before the All-Star Break…New York is 9-18 over its last 27 games…The team continues their three-game tonight vs. Arizona and will conclude the first half with a three-game series in San Diego from July 7 – July 9.
BACK IN THE WIN COLUMN: New York has won three straight games for the first time since their three-game sweep of the Phillies from May 30-June 1… The last time the Mets won four straight games was when they won a season-high-tying five straight games from May 17-May 21.
SERIES-LY SPEAKING: The Mets are fresh off taking a three-game set from the Giants, their first series win since their three-game sweep of the Phillies from May 30 – June 1…With a win today or tomorrow, New York would capture consecutive series since taking two out three from the Rays (May 16-18) and sweeping the Guardians (May 19-21).
SENGA GENESIS: Kodai Senga has recorded 101 strikeouts through his first 15 career major league games, that is the fourth-most by a Mets pitcher in franchise history…Only Dwight Gooden (113), Nolan Ryan (109) and Matt Harvey (109) recorded more in their first 15 career starts…His 101 strikeouts are the fifth-most by a Japanese born pitcher through 15 career games… He trails only Hideo Nomo (138), Masahiro Tanaka (119), Yu Darvish (106) and Daisuke Matsuzaka (102).
KODAI THE FRIENDLY GHOST: Senga has won six games during his rookie campaign, tied for the most by a Mets rookie in the last six years (David Peterson won six games in 2020)…With a win today, Senga would tie 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 six wins are tied for the major league rookie lead and lead the National League outright… Senga’s 101 strikeouts are the most by an NL rookie and second-most by any rookie, trailing Houston’s Hunter Brown’s 103 punchouts…Among rookies with 50.0 or more innings pitched, Senga is second in the majors and first in the NL with a 11.13 SO/9 rate and opponent’s average (.209).
SNAKE CHARMER: Francisco Lindor has reached base safely in all 16 of his games played vs. Arizona in his career, hitting safely in 15 of the 16 contests… All told, he has posted a .359/.419/.656 slashline with 12 RBI and 15 runs scored against the Diamondbacks.
CHASE IS OASIS: Starling Marte has hit safely in 38 of 42 career games against the Diamondbacks and has posted a .341/.381/.604 slashline with eight home runs, 18 doubles, three triples and 33 RBI vs. Arizona…In 37 career games at Chase Field, including 18 games played at the venue as a member of the Diamondbacks in 2020, Marte owns a .366 (53-145) average, the third-best mark in the ballpark’s history (min. 100 at-bats).
CATCH US IF YOU CAN: New York recorded a season-high-tying four stolen bases yesterday, bringing their season tally to 67 steals in 74 attempts…The team’s 90.5 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 41 of their last 42 stolen base attempts…Starling Marte has swiped 22 bags this year, tied for sixth in the majors and third in the National League…His 336 career stolen bases rank second among active players…Elvis Andrus is the active leader with 341 steals.
INVADER NIM: Brandon Nimmo is tied for fourth in the majors with nine home runs since June 8…Nimmo now has 13 home runs, tied for his most before the All-Star break in his career (also, 2018)…Seven of his 13 homers have tied the game or given New York the lead…He has a .977 OPS over his last 23 games with three doubles, nine homers, 20 RBI and 14 runs…He is tied for third in the majors and shares the NL lead with nine game-winning RBI this season and tied for third in the NL and tied for sixth in the majors with 16 go-ahead RBI. THE PHAM-NOMENON: Tommy Pham is batting .359 (37-103) since May 28 with a 1.072 OPS…He ranks third in the majors in OPS and fourth in batting average during that span…Has 11 multi-hit efforts and 24 RBI during that timeframe.
WHEN YOU’RE IN SCORING POSITION, YOU’RE PHAMILY: Pham leads the Mets with a .341 (14-41) average with runners in scoring position…Since May 18, has 12 hits in 25 at-bats with RISP…He leads the NL in SLG (.960) and OPS (1.523) with RISP over that timeframe.
ATTABOY ALVAREZ: Yesterday, Francisco Alvarez hit his 14th homer of the season, breaking Travis d’Arnaud’s franchise record for home runs by a rookie catcher set in 2014…Alvarez’s go-ahead, 467-foot, two-run blast in the seventh…The tape-measure shot was the longest by a Met this season and the 13th-longest in the majors this season per Statcast…Among NL rookies, Alvarez is tied for second in home runs and ranks fifth in SLG with a .471 clip…Alvarez’s 14 home runs are the fourth-most in a season by a catcher in his age-21 season or younger behind Johnny Bench (26, age 21, 1969), Darrell Porter (16, age 21, 1973) and Johnny Bench (15, age 20, 1968)…Courtesy of Sarah Langs.
HOME RUN HAPPY: This season, the Mets have hit 108 home runs through their first 85 games, the seventh-most in franchise history during that span…Last season, the Mets had 85 home runs through their first 85 games…The Mets have homered three or more times in a game 14 times this season, surpassing their total of 12 from 2022.
LINDOR CITY OVER HERE: Over his last 16 games, Francisco Lindor is batting .288 (15-52) with 13 runs, three doubles, five home runs, 12 RBI, 10 walks and five steals with a 1.044 OPS…Over the last 26 games, Lindor has posted a .952 OPS with 18 runs, five doubles, seven home runs, 16 RBI, 16 walks, seven steals, a .379 OBP and a .573 SLG…He has posted a 2.7 fWAR this year, which ranks 14th in the National League…His 37 extra-base hits are 13th-most in the National League.
FIRST IS THE BEST: The Mets are 24-11 (.686) when scoring first this season… The Mets are 15-35 (.300) when their opponent scores first.
FIRST IS THE WORST: The Mets have been outscored 60-23 in the first inning this year…New York has posted a 5.82 ERA (55 ER/85.0 IP) in the first inning this season…That is the sixth-highest first inning ERA in the majors…Last year, the Mets posted a 4.39 ERA (79 ER/162.0 IP) in the first frame.
DR. ROBERTSON: David Robertson recorded his 12th save yesterday…The veteran right-hander has posted a 2-2 record with 12 saves and a 1.93 ERA (8 ER/37.1 IP) in 34 appearances this season…He has walked 11, while striking out 44…He ranks eighth in ERA among NL relievers…He is tied for 19th in the NL with 44 punchouts…He is holding left-handed hitters to a .194 (13-72) average this year.
STARTING PITCHER – KODAI SENGA RHP #34
2023 STATS: 6-5, 3.53 ERA
LAST TIME OUT: Tossed 5.0 innings and allowed two runs on five hits, two walks and eight strikeouts against the Brewers on June 28…Became the 20th Mets rookie pitcher to reach the 100-strikeout mark in a season and the first since Steven Matz in 2016.
SENGA GENESIS: Has recorded 101 strikeouts through his first 15 career major league games, that is the fourth-most by a Mets pitcher in franchise history…Only Dwight Gooden (113), Nolan Ryan (109) and Matt Harvey (109) recorded more in their first 15 career starts…His 101 strikeouts are the fifth-most by a Japanese born pitcher through 15 career games…He trails only Hideo Nomo (138), Masahiro Tanaka (119), Yu Darvish (106) and Daisuke Matsuzaka (102).
KODAI THE FRIENDLY GHOST: Senga has won six games during his rookie campaign, tied for the most by a Mets rookie in the last six years (David Peterson won six games in 2020)…With a win today, Senga would tie 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 six wins are tied for the major league rookie lead and lead the National League outright…Senga’s 101 strikeouts are the most by an NL rookie and second-most by any rookie, trailing Houston’s Hunter Brown’s 103 punchouts…Among rookies with 50.0 or more innings pitched, Senga
is second in the majors and first in the NL with a 11.13 SO/9 rate and opponent’s average (.209).
PUTTING THE K IN FORK: Senga’s “ghost fork” has accounted for 55 of his 101 strikeouts through 15 starts…The pitch has a 58.8 percent whiff rate and a 27.2 Percent putaway rate…Opponents have managed just 10 hits in 80 at-bats ending with the forkball, a .125 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.
ALL I DO IS WIN: Senga became the only Japanese-born pitchers to start their career 3-0 and is the fourth player in franchise history to earn the win in their first two career major league starts, joining Steven Matz, Mike Pelfrey and Gary Gentry…Additionally, he joins Kazuhisa Ishii, Hideki Irabu and Koji Uehara as the only Japanese-born pitchers to win each of their first two career major league starts…Senga fell just shy of becoming the second Mets starting pitcher ever to begin his career 4-0, a record held by Steven Matz.
ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS NOTES:
TOP OF THE WEST: The D-backs are in first place in the NL West (+2.5) and have spent 56 days in/tied for first place in the division.
TOP 5 RECORD: The D-backs’ 50-36 (.581) season record is fi fth in the Majors, behind the Braves (57-28, .671), Rays (57-31, .648), Rangers (51-35, .593) and Orioles (49-35, .583).
VS. METS: The D-backs are 9-8 vs. Mets in their last 17matchups @ Chase Field (since 2017).
♦ Last year, the D-backs went 2-4 vs. Mets, including 1-2 @ home.
bWAR LEADERBOARD: The D-backs are 1 of 2 teams (also: Padres) with at least 2 players among the Majors’ top 10 in Wins Above Replacement (Baseball Reference – bWAR):
- Shohei Ohtani/LAA …………………………….. 6.3
- Ronald Acuña/ATL ………………………………. 4.9
- Wander Franco/TB ……………………………… 4.3
- Luis Robert Jr./CWS …………………………….. 4.1
- Ha-Seong Kim/SD ………………………………. 3.9
- Mookie Betts/LAD ………………………………. 3.9
- Fernando Tatís/SD ………………………………. 3.9
- Corbin Carroll/AZ ……………………….. 3.8
- Luis Arraez/MIA …………………………………. 3.7
- Ketel Marte/AZ ………………………….. 3.7
♦ Carroll’s 3.8 offensive bWAR (fielding excluded) is tied for second in the Majors (also: Shohei Ohtani/LAA), behind Ronald Acuña Jr./ATL (4.7).
GOING BACK-TO-BACK: Christian Walker and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. marked the fourth D-backs’ pair this season to hit back-to-back home runs (4th inning off Scherzer)…all have occurred @ Chase Field).
♦ The D-backs are the second team to hit back-to-back homers off Scherzer this season (also: Brewers, 3 straight on April 4).
♦ The D-backs along with the Brewers are the only teams to reach the feat vs. Scherzer since 2018 (Mets and Marlins).
SWIPING BAGS:The D-backs’ 83 stolen bases are fourth in the Majors behind the Rays (105), Reds (101) and A’s (87).
♦ Since June 8, the D-backs are 21-for-21 in stolen base attempts (16 @ second base, 5 @ third), the best stolen base percentage in the Majors, ahead of the Mets (96.2, 25-for-26) and Phillies (95.8, 23-for24).
SEEING IT WELL: Since May 1, the D-backs’ 216 walks and 9.8 walk pct. (57 games) are third in the Majors, behind the Padres (240 BB, 11% in 57 games) and Dodgers (218 BB, 9.9 % in 56 G).
STRIKING FAST: Among teams in the first 2.0 innings since June 16, the D-backs are second with a .935 OPS and 31 runs, tied for third with 15 walks and third with 19 extra-base hits.
DEFENDERS OF THE DIAMOND: The D-backs’ .990 fielding pct. is the best in the Majors 30 errors committed are the fewest.
♦ The D-backs 24 team defensive runs saved ranks tied for second (also: Padres), behind the Brewers (27).
♦ Christian Walker’s 8 Outs Above Average (OAA) and 6 Runs Above Average (RAA) lead all MLB first basemen, ahead of Anthony Rizzo/NYY (5 OAA/4 RAA) and Nathaniel Lowe/TEX (5 OAA/3 RAA).
BULLPEN OF LATE: Since June 24, D-backs’ relievers have allowed the fewest hits in the Majors (14), ahead of the Twins (15) and Phillies (18) and have the fifth-best WHIP (0.99), behind the Phillies (0.70), Astros (0.86), Guardians (0.88) and Twins (0.91).
♦ The D-backs are the 1 of 5 teams in the Majors with 4 relievers with 36+ outings (also: Blue Jays, Astros, Reds and Orioles) — Miguel Castro, Andrew Chafin, Scott McGough, Kyle Nelson.
FOR THE TAKING: The D-backs’ 105 bases taken lead the Majors while their 49 pct. extra bases taken percentage is tied for the best in MLB (also: Rays and Reds), ahead of the Braves (48%) and Orioles (47%).
Pct. runner advanced more than 1 base on single or 2+ bases on a double.
EXTRA! EXTRA! The D-backs’ 60 straight games with an extra-base hit (since April 28, 36-24 record) is the Majors’ second-longest active streak behind the Angels (61, since April 29, 2023)…it is also the second-longest streak in a season in club history behind the 69-gamer from July 18-Oct. 7, 2001.
NO SHUTOUT STREAK CONTINUES, NINTH BEST SINCE 1998: The D-backs’ club-record 86 games without a shutout to start the season is tied for the Majors’ eighth-longest
single-season streak since 1998 (also: Nationals from April 3-July 7, 2017): Reds (163 G, April 3-Oct. 1, 2000), Rangers (160 G, April 1-Oct. 5, 2001), Yankees (138 G, March 28-Sept. 1, 2019), Orioles (133 G, April 2-Aug. 31, 2007), Rangers (96, March 31-July 13, 2008), Tigers (April 5-July 16, 2012), Yankees (89 G, April 2-July 16 [GM1], 2017).
♦ Arizona is the only team to not be shut out in 2023.
CARROLL TABBED AS NL ROOKIE OF THE MONTH FOR JUNE : Corbin Carroll earned NL Rookie of the Month for June after finishing among Major League leaders for the month in runs (4th, 25), RBI (T-6th, 22) and home runs (T-7th, 8)…became the fifth D-backs player to win the NL Rookie of the Month Award and the first since Chris Owings in April 2014 (also: Gerardo Parra in May 2009; Daniel Hudson in August 2010 and Wade Miley in April 2012).
STARTING PITCHER – LHP TOMMY HENRY ♦ #47
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Is 2-0 with a 1.96 ERA (4 ER in 18.1 IP) in his last 3 bids.
- The D-backs are 7-0 in his last 7 starts.
LAST START: Struckout a career-high 8 batters and earned his second consecutive win on June 30 after allowing 1 run over 5.2 innings…retired 14 of 19 batters faced before allowing a home run to Shohei Ohtani in the sixth inning.
VS. METS: Making his fi rst career start.
VS. NL EAST: In 6 starts against NL East teams, is 2-1 with a 6.32 ERA (22 ER in 31.1 IP).
STRIKEOUTS PER 9.0 INNINGS : Since May 31, is averaging 8.13 strikeouts per 9.0 innings with 31 strikeouts.
EARLY IMPACT: In innings 1-3, is limiting opponents to a .235 average (32-for-136) with 15 walks and 27 strikeouts.
FIRST TIME THRU: Limiting batters to a .219 average (21-for-96) with 12 walks and 21 strikeouts the fi rst time through the lineup.
PITCH TRACKING: Opposing batters are hitting .215 (14-for-65) with 17 strikeouts on his curveball and .190 (8-for-42) with 9 strikeouts on his slider.
KEEP ‘EM CHASING : His 33.5 out-of-zone swing percentage is up 7.8 percent (32.7) from 2022 (24.9).
IT’S UNDER CONTROL: Has walked 2 or fewer batters in 9 of his 12 starts. 0-2 GOT YOU: Has a .160 (20-for-125) opponents average and 49 strikeouts with 2 strikes
and opponents are 5-for-30 (.167) with 11 strikeouts on an 0-2 count.
AHEAD IN THE COUNT : Holding batters to a .214 average (22-for-103) with 24 strikeouts when he is ahead in the count.
MAY RECAP : Went 2-1 with a 2.97 ERA (10 ER in 31.1 IP) and .214 opponent average in 6 games (5 starts).
