PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES NOTES:
GAME #54 RECAP: The Phillies fell to the New York Mets, 2-0, in the first game of a three-game set in Queens … Starter Ranger Suarez (L, 0-2) gave the Phils 6.2 innings of 2-run ball – he allowed 5 hits with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts … The Phillies managed only two hits (both singles) and a walk on the night … They had the tying run at the plate in the 9th but fell short.
I’VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN: Over their last 20 games against the Mets, the Phillies are 5-15 (.250 win %, since 4/11/22) … Of those 20 games, seven have been one-run games and 10 have been decided by two runs or fewer … Last season, on their way to the 2022 National League pennant, the Phillies went 5-14 (.263 win %) with a -37 run differential against the Mets (63-100) … Against all other teams last year, the Phillies went 82-61 (.573 win%) with a +99 run differential (684-585) … Per Elias, it marked the first time the Phillies were as many games under .500 against one club in a season, but at least 20 games over against all others since 1983, when they went 1-11 against the Dodgers and 89-61 versus all other teams … Of the 19 games between the Phils and Mets last year, 16 lasted at least three hours and six of those 19 took at least 3:40 … The final meeting of 2022 between these two rivals came on August 21 at CBP and took 4:26 to complete, which fell only four minutes shy of tying the NL record for longest 9-inning game ever (4:30 – ARI at COL on 6/24/2016 and PHI at PIT on 7/6/2018) … Last night’s game, their first meeting since that 4:26 marathon, took only 2:20 to complete, which was the fastest Phillies/Mets game since another 2:20 game on Aug. 8, 2021 (Wheeler vs Walker on Roy Halladay day at CBP).
JUNE BLOOM: Over the last three seasons (2021-23), the Phillies have combined to go 32-49 in the month of May and their .395 winning percentage during May ranks 27th out of 30 MLB clubs … During that same time (2021-23), the Phillies are 31-20 during the month of June and their .608 winning percentage during June ranks 5th out of 30 MLB clubs, trailing only BOS (.704), HOU (.660), NYY (.630) and ATL (.618).
SCHWARBERFEST STARTS TOMORROW: Since 1901, 1,880 major league players have made at least 500 plate appearances in the month of June … Out of those 1,880, 10 players have a career SLG of .600 or greater during the month, and, of those 10, eight are enshrined in Cooperstown and the other two are Mike Trout and Kyle Schwarber … Lou Gehrig ranks 1st (.739 SLG), Babe Ruth 2nd (.709), Larry Walker 3rd (.641), Ted Williams 4th (.635), Hank Greenberg 5th (.622), Trout 6th (.616), Jim Thome 7th (.616), Jimmie Foxx 8th (.615), Schwarber 9th (.607) and Rogers Hornsby 10th (.603) … Schwarber has 47 home runs in 458 career at bats during June and his 9.74 AB/HR average ranks 1st among all players in MLB since at least 1901 (min. 500 PA) – Babe Ruth ranks 2nd at 10.64 … Schwarber also has a .349 isolated power (ISO) during the month of June for his career which ranks 3rd in MLB since at least 1901 (min. 500 PA), behind only Lou Gehrig (.361 ISO) and Babe Ruth (.357 ISO) … Last June, Schwarber hit 12 home runs in 27 games and slashed .372/.385/.680 with a 1.065 OPS in 122 plate appearances as he was named National League Player of the Month, his second consecutive POM Award in June (also 2021 with WSH) … Over the last two months of June combined, Schwarber has 28 home runs (56 total hits) and is slashing .276/.374/.719.
GO NOLES: Phils starter Aaron Nola has gone at least 6.0 IP in each of his last eight starts (since 4/16) – it’s the 2nd-longest active streak in MLB (longest: Logan Webb, 9 G) and the 5th-longest 6.0-inning streak of Nola’s career (longest: 14 G, 5/26-8/13/22) … Since 2018, Nola has gone 6.0 innings in 102 of his 154 total starts (66.2%) … His 102 games of at least 6.0 innings pitched since 2018 ranks 3rd among all pitchers in MLB – he trails only Gerrit Cole (116 such starts) and teammate Zack Wheeler (105 such starts).
RISP AND REWARD: Over their last 10 games (since 5/20), the Phils are 16-for-67 with RISP (.239 AVG), with a .232 BABIP (MLB average BABIP with RISP since 5/20 is .301), .360 OBP and .463 SLG (.823 OPS) … During this 10-game stretch, the Phillies have more walks with RISP (13) than strikeouts (12) and their 15.1% walk rate with RISP is 3rd-best in MLB and their 14.0% strikeout rate with RISP is the lowest in MLB.
BULLISH ON THE PEN: Since April 16, the Phillies bullpen has allowed 44 ER in 140.0 IP and has the lowest ERA in the National League at 2.83 (next: SD, 3.07) … That ranks 3rd among all relief corps in MLB, trailing only HOU (2.62) and BAL (2.81) … Philadelphia’s bullpen has faced 595 batters during this stretch and limited them to a .225/.298/.348 slash line with a .647 OPS that ranks 4th in MLB behind HOU (.606), SD (.616) and BAL (.630) … Per Statcast, since April 16, the Phillies bullpen is running the lowest hard hit rate of any bullpen in MLB (31.7%) with the lowest average exit velocity on balls in play (87.1 MPH).
MR. 400: Friday night in Atlanta, right-hander Craig Kimbrel earned the 400th save of his ML career in the Phils’ 6-4 win … He became only the eighth player in the history of Major League Baseball to reach 400 saves and he did so in the 730th game of his career, which is the 3rd-fewest games needed to achieve the feat, trailing Hall of Famer’s Trevor Hoffman (706 games) and Mariano Rivera (697 games) … The other five pitchers achieved their 400th save as follows: Kenley Jansen (778 games), Billy Wagner (813 games), John Franco (837 games), Lee Smith (847 games) and Francisco Rodriguez (878 games).
IN COMPANY WITH COOPERSTOWN: The newest member of the 400 save club, Craig Kimbrel, ranks 11th since at least 1893 with 1,130 SO as a reliever … He trails Hall-of-Famers Trevor Hoffman (1,133) for 10th place and Mariano Rivera (1,135) for 9th place … Additionally, in the instances in which he converted his first 400 saves, Kimbrel had a 0.63 ERA (28 ER, 397.2 IP) – here are the ERA’s (in saves) for the seven current members of the 400-save club when they reached #400: Rivera (0.67), Billy Wagner (0.75), Lee Smith (0.83), Hoffman (0.84), John Franco (0.88), Kenley Jansen (0.94) and Francisco Rodriguez (1.05).
HARP ON IT: Phils designated hitter Bryce Harper reached 5,000 career at bats Thursday night at ATL … When he reached 5,000, Harper had 614 extra-base hits and 891 walks and he became only the 13th player in the modern era (since 1900) with as many walks and extra-base hits through the first 5,000 at bats of a career … Harper is joined by Babe Ruth (1928), Ted Williams (1951), Mike Schmidt (1982), Barry Bonds (1995), Mark McGwire (1998), Frank Thomas (2000), Jeff Bagwell (2000), Jim Thome (2003), Brian Giles (2006), Lance Berkman (2009), Adam Dunn (2011) and Mike Trout (2022).
TONIGHT’S STARTER – AARON NOLA RHP #27
Height: 6-2 Weight: 200 Age: 29 (born: 6/4/93)
2023: 4-3, 4.59 ERA Career: 82-65, 3.66 ERA
LAST START: 5/25 at ATL: ND, 6.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO, 3 HR (98 p, 68 s) … Nola vs Dodd … The Phillies lost the series opener to the Braves in Atlanta, 8-5 … Nola turned in his 8th consecutive start of at least 6.0 innings … Got a season-high 20 swings and misses … Allowed a career-high-tying 3 HR’s for the first time since 2019 … The Braves plated 3 runs in the 8th inning to break a 5-5 tie and take the game.
TONIGHT’S START:
Gone Streaking: Nola enters tonight’s start at NYM having worked 6.0 or more innings in each of his last 8 starts which is the 2nd longest active streak behind SF’s Logan Webb (9) … In Nola’s last 8 starts (5-3 team record), he has gone 4-1, 3.88 ERA (23 ER, 53.1 IP) with 12 BB and 45 SO … For his career, Nola’s longest streak of 6.0+ inning starts is 14 set last season 2023 SEASON:
Philly Value: Since 2018, Nola is the only pitcher in baseball to accrue more than 20.0 fWAR (22.5) and pitch for only one team … In that span, he ranks 5th overall in fWAR behind only Jacob deGrom (27.1), Max Scherzer (26.0), Gerrit Cole (24.7) and Zack Wheeler (24.4) … His 30.9 fWAR as a Phillie is 8th-most in franchise history among pitchers and he trails Hall-of-Famer Jim Bunning (31.2) for 7th place.
Top of the Class: Since 2018, Nola leads all ML pitchers in starts (154) and ranks 2nd in IP (940.1) and is 3rd in SO (1,067) 2023 NL Ranks: BB/9.0 IP (4th; 1.97), IP (T-6th; 68.2), Quality starts (T-7th; 6), SO/BB (8th; 4.00), BABIP (10th; .270) and WHIP (11th, 1.12)
Caught Lookin’: Entering play today, Nola ranks 3rd among all ML pitchers this year in called strikeouts with 23 (NYY’s G. Cole has 27 and MIN’s M. Keller has 36) … Since the start of the 2018 season, Nola’s 321 backwards K’s are the 2nd most for any pitcher in baseball behind Cole’s 322 … The next closest pitcher on that list is Sonny Gray who has 247 … Since 2018, 30.0% of Nola’s strikeouts have been called (321 of 1,067)
Walk Talk: Nola has not walked a batter in 3 of his 11 starts this season … His 1.97 BB/9.0 IP ranks 7th among NL pitchers … Since the start of last season, Nola’s 4.1% walk rate (44 BB, 1,084 BF) is 2nd lowest among all pitchers (SEA’s Kirby is 1st at 3.5%)
vs NL East: 36-34, 3.53 ERA (249 ER, 634.2 IP) in 105 starts
Recorded the 28th double-digit SO game of his career on 5/20 vs CHI … Needs 1 more 10+ SO game to tie Cole Hamels (29) for the 3rd most in club history
Recorded his 1,400th career strikeout on 4/21 vs COL, the 5thyoungest to reach the mark among the 20 active pitchers to do so at the time
Made his 6th straight Opening Day, extending his MLB-best active streak of Opening Day starts
Was the first pitcher in baseball to make 6 straight Opening Day starts since Julio Teheran in made his 6th consecutive for ATL in 2019, and joins Robin Roberts (12) and Steve Carlton (10) as the only Phillies to do so
ROAD:
2023: 2-2, 5.02 ERA (24 ER, 43.0 IP) in 7 starts
Career: 36-40, 4.11 ERA (294 ER, 643.2 IP) in 109 starts
NEW YORK METS NOTES:
METSCELLANEOUS: The Mets returned home yesterday and defeated the Phillies, 2-0…The Mets are seeking their eighth series win of the season and their fifth series win at home…New York continues a six-game homestand (1-0) against Philadelphia (1-0) and Toronto (three games).
IN THE CITI: The Mets have won six straight home games, the longest streak since winning nine consecutive from May 18-June 14, 2022…The Mets have played 22 games at Citi Field, the fewest home games in the majors this season…The team is 13-9 at Citi Field this year…The team won 54 games at home last year.
DOUBLE DARE: Francisco Lindor drove in his 40th run of the season last night…The Mets feature two players Lindor (40) and Pete Alonso (46)
who have drove in 40 or more runs this season…New York joins the Texas Rangers (Marcus Semien and Adolís García) as one of two teams with two players with 40 or more RBI this season.
ESC KEY: Over his last 13 games, Eduardo Escobar is batting .444 (12-27) with three runs, one double, one home runs, five RBI, two walks with a steal, a .483 OBP and a .593 SLG…In 16 games this month, Escobar is slashing .394/.444/.606.
HOMER HAPPY: After the Mets went five straight games without a home run, the Mets have homered in season-high 13 straight contests, hitting 22 home runs in that span…It is the longest active streak in the majors…The Mets are 23-13 when hitting a home run this season and 9-7 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 2019…From June 20-July 5 the Mets homered in 14 straight games, socking 24 dingers in that span…The 14-game homer streak is tied for the second-longest in franchise history.
SENGA GENESIS: Kodai Senga became the 10th rookie hurler in franchise history and the first since Steven Matz (August 14, 2016) to throw 7.0 or more innings and allow one or zero hits…He joined Jonathon Niese, who tossed a complete game shutout on June 10, 2010, as the only Mets rookie to accomplish the feat without issuing a walk…He has 70 strikeouts through his first 10 major league games, tied with Matt Harvey for the third-most by a Met…Only Dwight Gooden (80) and Nolan Ryan (74) have more in their first 10 career starts…The 70 strikeouts are the third-most by a Japanese-born player in a player’s first 10 starts…Only Hideo Nomo (83) and Masahiro Tanaka (79) recorded more.
FOR PETE’S SAKE: Pete Alonso has hit 20 home runs this year, which leads the majors leagues…His 46 RBI are third in The Show and lead the National League…Alonso ranks 12th in franchise history with 426 career RBI…Next up is Kevin McReynolds (456) and Keith Hernandez (468)…Alonso has appeared in all 54 of the Mets games this year.
Player HR Ballpark
PETE ALONSO 71 CITI FIELD
Paul Goldschmidt 103 ARI
Freddie Freeman 70 ATL
Joey Votto 190 CIN
Miguel Cabrera 188 DET
Mike Trout 183 LAA
Player HR Ballpark
Giancarlo Stanton 112 MIA
Aaron Judge 123 NYY
Andrew McCutchen 96 PIT
Evan Longoria 129 TB
Adolis García 44 TEX
ACTIVE PLAYERS WHO HOLD ACTIVE BALLPARK’S HR RECORD
FIRST IS THE WORST: The Mets have been outscored 43-13 in the first inning this year.
IT’S GONNA BE MAY: Pete Alonso has socked 10 home runs in May, one shy of his career high for any month…Alonso recorded 11 in September of 2019…This is the fifth time Alonso has clubbed at least 10 homers in a single month, the most ever by a Met…Howard Johnson is second with three such months, while Carlos Beltran, Dave Kingman and Darryl Strawberry reached 10 homers in a month twice each…Courtesy Sportradar.
ATTABOY ALVAREZ: Francisco Alvarez is batting .299 (23-77) with six doubles, seven home runs, five walks with a .357 OBP and a .649 SLG against right-handed pitching this year…In 22 games in May, Alvarez is batting .292 (21-72) with 11 runs, six doubles, seven home runs, 17 RBI, six walks with a 1.029 OPS.
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS: Francisco Alvarez has hit eight home runs this season…That puts him tied for the fourth-most by a rookie in the
majors and third in the National League…Only two rookie catchers in Mets history have had more homers in a season…Travis d’Arnaud (13) holds the club mark for home runs by a rookie catcher in 2014…Jason Phillips hit 11 as a rookie in 2003…Alvarez’s nine career homers before turning 22 years old are the most by a catcher since Iván Rodríguez had 21 from 1991-1993.
THE EAST IS A BEAST: The Mets are 10-8 against the division this year… They are 5-5 against the division at Citi Field in 2023…The team went 50- 26 against the East in 2022.
IF YOU START ME OFF: The Mets are 14-0 this season when the starter goes at least 6.0 innings and 5-0 when the starter goes at least 7.0 innings.
FIRST IS THE BEST: The Mets are 17-3 (.850) when scoring first this season… On the other hand, the Mets are 11-24 (.314) when their opponent scores first…Since the start of 2022, the Mets are 98-19 when scoring first…Their .838 winning percentage is the best in the majors.
STEAL THIS BASE: The Mets are tied for the lead in the major leagues with a 86.4% stolen base success rate this season…Starling Marte has swiped 15 bags this year, tied for sixth in the majors and tied for third in the National League…His 329 career stolen bases rank second among active players…Elvis Andrus is the active leader with 340 steals.
EIGHT IS GREAT: The Mets are 25-0 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 120 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 18 errors in 55 games this year, the fewest errors in the majors…That gives the team a .991 fielding percentage….Their .991 fielding percentage also leads the major leagues
STARTING PITCHER – CARLOS CARRASCO RHP #59
2023 STATS: 1-2, 6.75 E R A
CARRASCO’S PITCH ARSENAL
Pitch Type Usage Rate vs. LHB vs. RHB Avg. Velocity
Four-Seam Fastball 33.1% 38.9% 28.0% 91.7 mph
Changeup 28.0% 34.6% 22.2% 86.9 mph
Slider 17.4% 4.8% 28.5% 83.7 mph
Sinker 11.0% 9.1% 12.6% 90.8 mph
Curveball 10.5% 12.6% 8.7% 79.5 mph
LAST TIME OUT: Threw a season-high 6.2 innings against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on May 25…Allowed one run on five hits and two walks while striking out four…Picked up his first win of the season and his first quality start since September 15, 2022 against the Pirates at Citi Field.
FIGHTIN’ THE PHILS: Tonight, Carrasco will face Philadelphia for the fifth time in his career…In his last start against the Phillies on May 27, 2022, he earned the win after throwing 5.2 innings, during which he allowed five earned runs on six hits and one walk while striking out seven batters…Throughout his career, Carrasco has made four appearances (two starts) against Philadelphia, pitching to a 2-1 record with a 4.02 ERA (7 ER/15.2 IP)…Carrasco has only ever faced the Phillies while pitching at home.
HE’S GOT THE MONTH OF MAY: In 40 appearances and 33 starts in the month of May, Carrasco has pitched to an 19-8 record with a 4.22 ERA (103 ER/219.2 IP)…His .704 winning percentage in May is the best mark of any month during the season…In those appearances, Carrasco has thrown three complete games, including one shutout, and has tallied 205 strikeouts compared to 50 walks.
