SAN DIEGO PADRES NOTES:
Padres blanked 5-0 by Scherzer & Mets, drop Game 1 of the 3-game set
• Yu Darvish last night was saddled with the loss after he and Max Scherzer went head-to-head for the 1st time since Game 1 of the 2022 NL Wild Card Series…Darvish was tapped for 5 runs (earned) on 6 hits in his 6.1 innings of work…he walked 1 with 5 punchouts.
• Friar bats were held hitless in their 8 at bats with RISP last night. After logging 7 extra-base hits on Sunday @ ATL, Padres go without one on Monday @ NYM
• San Diego hit a season-high 7 XBH on Sunday night in Atlanta (4 doubles and 3 home runs), and they were held without one last night at Citi Field…on Sunday, the Friars were also 5-for-12 with RISP, while on Monday, they went 0-for-8 with RISP. Padres in a stretch of playing 18 games in 18 days; 21 games in 22 days
• San Diego had their 1st off day on Wednesday and will not enjoy their 2nd one until April 24th, playing 18 games in 18 days from April 6-23…their 3rd off day will be on April 28, and since April 6, their current stretch of games are also 21 games in 22 days.
• San Diego is also starting the regular season with 24 games in 25 days…they had 1 off day on April 5, they will have one in Chicago on April 24th, and they’ll have their 1st off day in San Diego on April 28.
1st roadtrip of 2023
• San Diego split the 1st 2 series they played at home vs. COL (2-2) and vs. ARI (1-1), and they took 3 of 4 games from the Braves in Atlanta in their home opening series…the Braves hadn’t lost 3 straight games at home in all of 2022.
• Despite last night’s loss, the Padres have now won 3 of their last 4 games and 6 of their last 9.
Tatis to return on April 20th
• Fernando Tatis Jr. will be eligible to return to the ML team on April 20 (start of a 4-game series @ ARI).
• He’ll serve the final 20 games of his suspension from MLB’s Joint Prevention and Treatment Program to start the season after serving 60 G from Aug. 12 through the Padres’ 12-game 2022 Postseason run.
No. 1 Ballpark in baseball: 2023 version
• For the second straight year, Petco Park was ranked by USA Today as the No. 1 Ballpark in baseball.
STARTER – RYAN WEATHERS 40
Stormy Weathers in the forecast at Citi Field
23-year-old Ryan Weathers takes the mound for his 2023 road debut in Game 2 of this 3-game set vs. the Mets, in what will be his first career start vs. NYM…he’s made just 5 career appearances (3 starts) vs. NL East opponents, going 1-2 with a 6.50 ERA (13 ER, 18.0 IP) and .315 opp. AVG.
Vs. Mets hitters
He’s faced 3 Mets hitters just once, with all 3 of them (Eduardo Escobar, Tim Locastro and Starling Marte) each going 0-for-1.
Weathers solid in season debut
After making just 1 start/appearance for SD’s big league club in 2022, Weathers cracked the Padres Opening Day roster for the 2nd time in his career this season (also: 2021) and tossed 5.0 innings of 5-hit, 2-run ball last Monday, April 3 vs. ARI in SD’s 5-4 walk-off victory.
A look back at 2022
Spent the majority of his 2022 season with El Paso (AAA), establishing career highs in appearances (31) and innings pitched (123.0) and tying his career high in starts (22, also: 2019 w/ Single-A Fort Wayne). Posted a 6.73 ERA (92 ER, 123.0 IP) and Triple-A opponents hit .328 against him…his 31 home runs allowed were the 3rd-most in all levels of minor league baseball, trailing only Las Vegas’ Parker Dunshee (38) and Greenville/Portland’s Brian Van Belle (32). Recalled by SD from ELP on June 15 for his 19th ML start…allowed 4 ER and 4 BB while striking out 3 across 3.2 IP vs. CHC at Wrigley Field in SD’s 19-5 victory…optioned back to ELP the following day.
Piling up the punchies
Reached the 200 SO mark in his professional career with his 3rd and final strikeout April 22, 2022 @ Las Vegas…he has 207 minor league SO vs. 81 BB for a 2.56 SO/BB ratio in the minors, while he has 77 SO vs. 35 BB in MLB, including this season, for a 2.20 SO/BB ratio.
Great day for a debut
The 7th overall pick in 2018, who hadn’t pitched above A ball, made his ML debut in Game 1 of the NLDS vs. LAD on October 6, 2020 (1.1 IP, 2 BB, SO)…at 20 years and 294 days old, he became the 1st Padre to ever make their ML debut in the Postseason, the 5th player in ML history to debut in the Postseason and the 2nd-youngest to ever debut in the Postseason (KC’s Adalberto Mondesi, 20.095 in ’15).
Tennessee’s finest
The Gatorade Tennessee Baseball High School Player of the Year went 10-0 with a 0.09 ERA and 148 strikeouts in 76.0 innings as a senior in 2018.
Like father, like son
Son of 19-season MLB veteran and 1996 NYY’s World Series Champion, David Weathers.
NEW YORK METS NOTES:
METSCELLANEOUS: The Mets defeated the Padres, 5-0, last night… The Mets are seeking their third series victory of the season…The Mets finish their first homestand of the season, a six-game stand against the Marlins (2-1) and Padres (1-0)…New York is off on Thursday before they head to the West Coast for their second road trip of the season, a 11- day, 10-game trip against the Athletics (three games), Dodgers (three games) and Giants (four games).
ROSTER NOTE: The Mets claimed RHP Seth Elledge from Atlanta and optioned him to Triple-A Syracuse…Elledge, 26, has gone 1-0 with a 4.63 ERA (12 earned runs/23.1 innings) in 23 major league games with St. Louis from 2020-2021…Addionally, New York transferred LHP José Quintana to the 60-Day IL.
SHUT THE DOOR: The Mets earned their first shutout of the season last night when they blanked the Padres, 5-0…The Mets recorded an MLB leading 19 shutouts last season…It was the team’s first shutout first against the Padres since June 5, 2021 in San Diego.
THE LEFTOVERS: The Mets have left 83 men on base this season…That is tied for the fifth-most in the majors and tied for the second-most in the National League.
D-FENCE: The Mets have committed only two errors in 11 games this season…The team’s .995 fielding percentage is the best in the majors… New York has converted 81% of grounders/bunts into outs so far this season, which is the second-highest rate in the majors.
A HIT’S A HIT: The Mets recorded two infield hits in last night’s win…The Mets have collected 12 infield hits this season, which is tied for the sixth-most in the majors…Last year, the Mets collected 186 infield hits, which was the fifth-most in franchise history and the third-most in the majors in 2022.
ENTER STAGE LEFT: David Peterson is set to make his 2023 Citi Field debut tonight…The left-handed pitcher owns a career record of 10-4 with a 3.86 ERA (44 ER/102.0 IP) with 48 walks and 103 strikeouts in 25 games (20 starts) at Citi Field…Tonight marks Peterson’s first career start against the Padres.
TO THE LEFT, TO THE LEFT: As a team, the Mets are batting .250/.331/.425 against left-handed pitchers this season…That compares to a .191/.312/.304 slashline against righties…The Mets are 2-3 when a left-hander starts a game in 2023.
THE LEFT OF US: Brandon Nimmo is batting .333 (4-12) with a double and two walks against left-handed pitchers this year…He hit .264/.358/.428 with 24 walks and a .786 OPS in 234 plate appearances against lefthanded pitchers last season…Since 2022, his 21 extra-base hits as a lefty against left-handed pitchers is tied for the fourth-most in the majors.
SINCE 2022 – MOST XBH BY LEFTY AGAINST LHP
PLAYER TEAM EXTRA-BASE HITS
Yordan Alvarez Astros 23
Corey Seager Rangers 22
Kyle Tucker Astros 21
Brandon Nimmo Mets 21
Shohei Ohtani Angels 21
CANHA GET AN AMEN?: Mark Canha is on a three-game hitting streak, batting .417 (5-12) with two runs and three doubles in that span…Overall, he is reaching base at a .348 rate with a .410 SLG.
CITI SLICKERS: The Mets are now 3-1 at Citi Field this year…The team won 54 games at home last year…That their highest total at Citi Field in franchise history..,The last time the team won more than 50 games in New York was in 2000 when they went 55-26…Overall, the Mets went 54-27 at Citi Field…The team’s .667 winning percentage was the fourth-highest in team history…Only the 1988 (56-24, .700), 2000 and 1986 teams (both 55-26, .679) had a better home winning percentage.
DOCTOR ROBERT-SON: David Robertson tossed 1.0 perfect inning yesterday…Robertson has appeared in five games this season and has allowed only one hit in 5.0 innings with six strikeouts…He has tossed 3.0 consecutive perfect innings.
CURTAINS FROM CURTISS: John Curtiss added 1.0 scoreless inning last night, allowing two walks with one strikeouts…He hasn’t allowed a run in
his last 4.1 innings with five strikeouts and has yielded one run overall in 5.1 innings (1.42 ERA) in five outings.
ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US: The Mets have stolen 10 bases this season, which is third in the National League…Starling Marte is tied for third in the NL with four steals…Brandon Nimmo, who is tied for fifth in the NL, has stolen three bases in 10 games this year…Nimmo stole a total of three bases in 151 games last season.
Rank Player HR GAMES
5th Dave Kingman 154 664
6th Pete Alonso 151 541
7th Carlos Beltrán 149 839
Rank Player RBI GAMES
14th Todd Hundley 397 829
15th Michael Conforto 396 757
16th Pete Alonso 391 541
METS ALL-TIME LEADERS
FOR PETE’S SAKE: Pete Alonso has hit 65 home runs at Citi Field…That is the third-most in the history of the yard…Only Michael Conforto (66) and Lucas Duda (71) have hit more…Overall, Alonso has hit .247/.343/.497 in 265 career games at Citi Field.
OPENING LIN-DOOR: Over the last five games, Francisco Lindor is batting 6-19 (.316) with five runs, three doubles, a home run, six RBI, two walks with a .409 OBP and a .632 SLG.
WALK THE WALK: The Mets rank fifth in the majors and fourth in the National League with 46 free passes this season…Brandon Nimmo is tied for second in the majors with 10 walks…The Mets have recorded two walks with the bases loaded this season, which is tied for the third-most in the majors…In 2022, the team drew 10.
IN THE CITI: Tommy Pham is a .321 (18-56) hitter with eight runs, a double, three home runs, eight RBI, nine walks with a .415 OBP and a .500 SLG in 16 career games at Citi Field…Starling Marte has slashed .292/.351/.486 with 59 runs, 16 doubles, five triple, 12 home runs and 39 RBI in 89 games at Citi Field.
KING OF QUEENS: In four games at home this year, Jeff McNeil is 3-12 with two runs, three doubles, three RBI and five walks…He has hit .311 with 128 runs, 56 doubles, four triples, 25 home runs, 118 RBI and 76 walks in 266 career games at the yard…His .311 batting average is the second-highest by a Met at the ballpark (min. 100 PA)…Only Luis Castillo, .313, has a higher batting average in the history of the ballpark.
TONIGHT’S STARTING PITHCER – AVID PETERSON LHP #23 2023 STATS: 0-1, 6.00 E R A
PETERSON’S PITCH ARSENAL
Pitch Type Usage Rate vs. LHB vs. RHB Avg. Velocity
Four-Seam Fastball 35% 30% 37% 93.1 mph
Slider 24% 36% 19% 85.4 mph
Changeup 22% 4% 29% 85.7 mph
Sinker 15% 28% 10% 93.0 mph
Curveball 4% 2% 5% 78.4 mph
PETERSON NEWS & NOTES
LAST TIME OUT: In his last start, April 5 versus Milwaukee, Peterson pitched 4.0 innings and allowed five runs as the Mets fell to Milwaukee, 7-5…Threw five strikeouts and issued five walks…Three of the five runs were scored on a home run in the second inning.
HOME SWEET HOME: Today is Peterson’s first home start of the season…He is 10-4 lifetime at home…According to sportradar, Peterson’s .714 career winning percentage at Citi Field is second best among all pitchers (Mets and opponents) who’ve made at least 20 starts at Citi Field, trailing only Max Scherzer, who improved to 15-4 (.789) with last night’s victory…Peterson has pitched to a career 3.86 ERA (44 earned runs/102.2 innings) at Citi Field…He has 103 strikeouts and 48 walks at home through 25 games (20 starts) at home.
HIGH RISP, HIGH REWARD: In his last two starts, Peterson held the Marlins and Brewers to three hits in 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position…Since the start of 2022, Peterson ranks 13th in the majors with a .187 (20-107) opponent average with RISP and is 19th with a .580 opponent OPS (min. 100 batters faced with runners in scoring position)…Foes have managed just eight extra-base hits in 122 plate appearances against Peterson in scoring position scenarios since 2022…In his career, Peterson has faced 228 batters with runners in scoring position, holding them to a .226 (43-190) average.
LETHAL LEFTY: Peterson has limited lefties to a .181 (17-94) average since 2022…He whiffed 35 of the 107 left-handed batters he faced last year, a 33 percent strikeout rate that ranked fourth among all left-handed pitchers to face a minimum of 90 LHB in 2022.
SLIP ‘N’ SLIDE: Peterson held batters to a .175 (24-137) average with his slider last season and 78 of his 126 strikeouts came on the pitch…His 52.0 slider-strikeout percentage was the second-highest in MLB (min. 150 PA) behind only teammate Edwin Díaz (54.7) and his 47.9 whiff percentage with the pitch was the third highest in the majors behind only Díaz (54.7) and Seattle’s Andres Muñoz (50.8).
FOUR-HIT WONDER: The southpaw allowed four hits or fewer in 12 of his 19 starts and 21 of his 28 appearances overall last season…He has held the opposition to four hits or fewer in 39 of his 54 career games.
STRIKE ‘EM OUT, STRIKE ‘EM OUT: Peterson struck out at least five batters in 11 straight starts from June 20-September 9 last season, the second-longest streak by a left-handed starter last season…It was the sixth-longest streak by a Mets left-handed starter in franchise history…Peterson had 82 strikeouts across 58.2 innings during that span (13 G/11 GS) good for a 12.58 K/9 ratio.
HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL: Peterson made four appearances (three starts) during spring training…He threw 12.0 scoreless innings and allowed just one hit over those four outings…Struck out 13 and walked eight…Peterson last pitched in a minor league game on March 25…In his last Grapefruit League appearance of the spring, allowed one hit, struck out four and walked four over 4.0 scoreless frames vs. the Cardinals on March 19.
2022 RECAP: Set career-high marks in wins (seven), games (28), starts (19), innings (105.2), and strikeouts (126) last season…Went 7-5 with a 3.83 ERA for New York…Appeared mostly as a starter until mid-September…His final five appearances of the season came out of the bullpen…Went 6-5 with a 3.86 ERA (39 ER/91.0 IP) as a starter…In nine relief appearances, Peterson went 1-0 with a 3.68 ERA (6 ER/14.2 IP).
