Mets start west coast swing with four against Dodgers

The Mets (35-17), who grew their NL East lead to 10.5 games following a perfect home stand and took over the top spot record-wise among all National League squads, will prepare for a big litmus test as they play the first-place Dodgers (33-17) in Los Angeles. The Dodgers easily handled the Mets last year, handing them six losses in seven contests.

The Mets followed up a sweep of the Phillies with another sweep of the Nationals at home. They kicked things off with a Memorial Day romp as they routed Washington 13-5. New York collected 16 hits in the victory, including three from Starling Marte, Francisco Lindor, and newcomer Nick Plummer, and two apiece from Luis Guillorme and Mark Canha. In the win, the Mets got homers from Plummer—his second in three at-bats—Marte, and Pete Alonso.

The Mets again blew out the Nationals on Tuesday, pitching a 10-0 shutout on the day the team honored the 10th anniversary of Johan Santana’s no-hitter. The Mets topped their 16 hits from the previous evening by collecting 17 hits, including four from Canha and three from Jeff McNeil. Every starter collected a hit in this win, while Marte and Eduardo Escobar both hit home runs in the victory.

The Mets completed the sweep with a 5-0 win on Wednesday afternoon. Following Canha’s four-hit game, Tomás Nido had four hits of his own, including a run-scoring single in the fourth—he was only credited with one run batted in due to an error—and a two run-scoring double in the eighth. Meanwhile, Lindor extended his RBI streak to ten games, putting him in rarefied air alongside Mike Piazza as the only Mets to have streaks of 10 or more runs batted in. Carlos Carrasco tossed five shutout innings to pick up his sixth win of the year.

With six wins in six games, the Mets completed a perfect home stand of at least six games for the first time since they went 10-0 in April 2015. At the same time, the Mets built the largest lead they have ever had coming into June at 10.5 games, which also happens to be tied for the largest lead any NL club has ever had going into June. All of that is incredibly impressive, as the Mets have established themselves as one of the teams to beat in the NL and in MLB. At the same time, this upcoming road trip against three teams with a combined .600 winning percentage will be a great time to prove they are for real, and it could go a long way towards silencing any doubters and quelling any fears that this may be a fluke.

Lindor, who extended his RBI streak to 10 games, was recently named NL Player of the Week, and he deserved it following a stellar run. Over his past 10 games, Lindor has hit .375/.400/.675 with two home runs, a 195 wRC+, and 0.8 fWAR. He’s somehow not as hot as Guillorme, who is hitting .500/.590/.563 with a 237 wRC+ over his last 32 at-bats as he continues to capitalize on his expanded playing time.

The Dodgers, inexplicably, were swept by the Pirates at home, and ended up dropping five of six to Pittsburgh on the year. Before that, they had swept Arizona and won two of three at Washington.

Trea Turner will be a player to watch in this series, as he enters on a 24-game hitting streak, which is the longest active streak in the majors. During that span, which began on May 9, the shortstop is slashing .347/.406/.579 with four homers, 21 runs batted in, 13 runs scored, a 177 wRC+ and a 1.3 fWAR. On the season, he’s hitting .297/.355/.462 with five homers, a 131 wRC+ and a 1.4 fWAR in 50 games.

That nice run during his hitting streak would be the best on the team, if Mookie Betts didn’t exist. But he does, and he’s having a remarkable season after a slow start. Since May 9, the outfielder is hitting .351/.430/.798 with a team-leading 11 homers, a 237 wRC+, and a 2.4 fWAR. He led the majors with 12 homers in the month of May and is tops on the team with a 182 wRC+, 16 homers, 51 runs scored, and a 1.008 OPS.

This will be New York’s first chance to see old friend/foe Freddie Freeman in a Dodgers’ uniform. The former Braves’ first baseman has gotten off to an uncharacteristically slow start in terms of hitting homers, as he has only four on the year. His other numbers, however, are up to par, as he’s hitting .295/.397/.466 with a 141 wRC+ and a 2.1 fWAR in 50 games. Speaking of power outage, Max Muncy only has three in 41 games this year, while posting an abysmal .150/.327/.263 slash line and an 83 wRC+.

Thursday, June 2: Taijuan Walker vs. Tony Gonsolin, 10:10 p.m. on SNY

Walker (2022): 35.0 IP, 19 K, 12 BB, 2 HR, 2.83 ERA, 3.83 FIP, 1.26 WHIP, 1.0 bWAR

Walker picked up his third victory in four starts his last time out against Philadelphia. The right-hander was solid over five innings and really only had one truly bad inning. He surrendered three hits and two walks in the fourth, ultimately allowing all of the damage in that one inning. He was charged with just the two earned runs on six hits, with three hits and one strikeout over five innings.

Gonsolin (2022): 45.0 IP, 44 K, 16 BB, 3 HR, 1.80 ERA, 3.19 FIP, 0.93 WHIP, 1.7 bWAR

Gonsolin has gotten off to a ridiculous start to his 2022 season and is working on a career year. His 1.80 ERA is currently the best among all NL starting pitchers who’ve registered at least 45.0 innings, and he has yet to lose in nine starts this year. He’s gone at least six innings in each of his last three starts and, in his last outing against the Diamondbacks, allowed two earned runs on four hits with seven strikeouts in the victory. He finished May with four wins with a 1.93 ERA, a 3.18 FIP, and a 0.79 WHIP in 28.0 innings.

Friday, June 3: Chris Bassitt vs. Tyler Anderson, 10:10 p.m. on SNY

Bassitt (2022): 59.0 IP, 60 K, 19 BB, 9 HR, 3.66 ERA, 4.31 FIP, 1.17 WHIP, 1.0 bWAR

Bassitt rebounded but a rough start in Giants (eight earned runs in 4.1 innings) and a subpar outing against the Cardinals (four earned runs in 6.1 innings) with a much better effort on Sunday night against Philadelphia. He was in command, throwing 68 of his 100 pitches (68%) for strikes as he allowed just one earned run on two hits over 6.0 innings. He struck out seven and walked three as he settled for a no decision.

Anderson (2022): 49.2 IP, 48 K, 6 BB, 6 HR, 2.90 ERA, 3.26 FIP, 1.01 WHIP, 1.2 bWAR

After splitting time between the Mariners and Pirates last year and pitching to a combined 4.53 ERA, Anderson has broken out this year. The 32-year-old, who has not posted an ERA under 4.00 since his 2016 rookie season with the Rockies (3.54), owns a 2.90 ERA this year and leads all NL starters in wins (six) and BB/9 (1.1). After allowing seven runs to Philadelphia on May 12, Anderson has pitched to a 0.86 ERA over his last three outings. He comes into this start on a 20.0 inning scoreless streak and has not given up a run since the first inning of his May 17 outing against the Diamondbacks. In his last two appearances, he tossed 8.0 shutout frames against the Nationals and 6.0 shutout inning against Arizona.

Saturday, June 4: David Peterson vs. Walker Buehler, 10:10 p.m. on SNY

Peterson (2022): 29.2 IP, 23 K, 13 BB, 2 HR, 3.03 ERA, 3.98 FIP, 1.18 WHIP, 0.6 bWAR

Peterson struggled his last time out, which cost him what could have been his third victory in three starts. He allowed three earned runs in the first, but the Mets responded with 12 runs over the next four innings. With the chance to pick up the win, he allowed a run in the fifth and could not escape the inning. In all, he was tagged for four earned runs on six hits, with four walks and one strikeout in 4.2 innings.

Buehler (2022): 58.2 IP, 49 K, 15 BB, 5 HR, 3.22 ERA, 3.45 FIP, 1.24 WHIP, 1.1 bWAR

Buehler is having another solid season for Los Angeles, though not quite as good as the year he had last year—he ended up finishing fourth in NL Cy Young voting in 2022. His last four starts have been especially uneven, as he’s pitched to a 5.32 ERA, a 4.19 FIP, and a 1.55 WHIP in 22.0 innings. His last time on the mound, he allowed four earned runs on seven hits in 6.0 innings against Pittsburgh, though he settled for a no decision.

Sunday, June 5: Trevor Williams vs. Julio Urías, 4:10 p.m. on SNY

Williams (2022): 27.2 IP, 23 K, 6BB, 3 HR, 3.58 ERA, 3.65 FIP, 1.19 WHIP, 0.3 bWAR

Williams is not confirmed yet for Sunday, though with limited options, it’s hard to see where the Mets go as Tylor Megill continues to rehab. Williams is coming off his best start of the year, as he shut out Washington over 5.0 innings to earn his first victory of 2022. It comes after he shut out San Francisco over 3.2 innings in relief on May 25 on the road. The Dodgers will present a real test for Williams, and how he responds could go a long way towards building trust with his team in putting him in big spots.

Urías (2022): 53.0 IP, 42 K, 12 BB, 9 HR, 2.89 ERA, 4.50 FIP, 1.11 WHIP, 0.7 bWAR

Urías, who led the NL with 20 wins last year and finished seventh in NL Cy Young voting, had a couple of rough outings this year, including his last start. Against Pittsburgh on May 31, he allowed four earned runs on eight hits, with a season-high eight strikeouts over 6.0 innings. Prior to that, he combined to allow one earned run over 11.0 innings against the Nationals and Phillies. The Mets could be just what the doctor ordered for the left-hander, as the Mets struggle against southpaws.

Prediction: The Mets go toe to toe with the Dodgers and end up splitting four games.