Ahead of the ultimate early-season litmus test, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza expressed confidence in his club.
After back-to-back wins in St. Louis this week evened their record at 18-18, the Mets return to the East Coast for a seven-game gauntlet against two National League juggernauts in the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies.
The demanding stretch against NL East rivals begins Friday night, when the Mets kick off a three-game series against the Braves (22-12) at Citi Field. They’re then scheduled to host the Phillies (26-12) for two games on Monday and Tuesday before traveling to Philly for two more games on Wednesday and Thursday.
“We know they’re good teams, but we’re a good team, too,” Mendoza said Wednesday. “We’ll be up for the challenge. The guys will be ready to go.”
The Mets are set to face two of the best pitchers on an Atlanta staff that lost ace Spencer Strider to season-ending elbow surgery.
Friday’s matchup features Braves veteran Charlie Morton (2-0, 3.50 ERA) against the Mets’ Jose Quintana (1-3, 5.20 ERA), who is coming off a season-worst start against the Rays in which he surrendered eight runs on 10 hits over 2.2 innings.
Saturday afternoon, meanwhile, is set to be the Citi Field debut of Christian Scott, the Mets’ prized pitching prospect who dazzled with six strikeouts while limiting the Rays to one run over 6.2 innings in his MLB debut last weekend.
“It’ll be electric,” Mendoza predicted of Scott’s first home game. “Just watching our fans here in St. Louis and Tampa, how much they would cheer for him, I’m pretty sure there’s going to be a lot of people looking forward to watch Scotty pitch at Citi Field. I’m expecting a big-time crowd and a lot of support.”
Left-hander Max Fried, a 2022 All-Star who is 2-1 with a 4.23 ERA this season, is scheduled to pitch for Atlanta on Saturday.
The Mets then expect to turn to Luis Severino (2-2, 2.93 ERA) for Sunday night’s series finale, while the Braves plan to go with Bryce Elder (1-1, 5.28 ERA). In his last start at Citi Field, Severino took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Cubs on April 29.
In their first meeting of the season last month, the Mets took two out of three from the Braves in Atlanta. The Braves, who boast back-to-back seasons with at least 101 wins, are averaging 5.0 runs per game on offense, even with several of their star players off to uncharacteristically slow starts.
Reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr., who last year became the first MLB player with at least 40 home runs and 70 stolen bases in a single season, enters the weekend with only two home runs and eight RBI. His .261 average is well below last season’s .337, while his .720 OPS is a far cry from last year’s 1.012.
Matt Olson, who led MLB hitters with 54 home runs and 139 RBI in 2023, has only three homers and 16 RBI this year. Ozzie Albies, whose 33 home runs last year were the most by a second baseman, has just two thus far.
Leading the Atlanta offense is Marcell Ozuna, whose 12 home runs and 38 RBI to begin Thursday both led the majors. Ozuna recorded exactly 40 home runs and 100 RBI last year.
The Mets, too, have endured early-season slumps from several of their top players, including Francisco Lindor, who is hitting .211, and Pete Alonso, who broke out of a 1-for-32 slide with a double and a home run in Tuesday’s win over the Cardinals.
“It was really nice to have a positive impact on the game,” Alonso said afterward. “I’m just really happy to contribute.”
Next week’s home-and-home sets with the Phillies mark the Mets’ first time seeing Philadelphia in 2024.
The Philles, who own baseball’s best record, are one of two teams to rank within the top five in runs scored (191) and team ERA (3.26). The other, the Los Angeles Dodgers, have the NL’s second-best record of 26-13.
Bryce Harper, the former outfielder who converted to a full-time first baseman this season, has nine home runs for Philadelphia, as does Kyle Schwarber. Alec Bohm’s .346 average is the fourth-best in the majors — and one spot ahead of teammate Trea Turner’s .343.
The Mets will likely avoid Phillies ace — and old friend — Zack Wheeler (4-3, 1.64 ERA), who is scheduled to pitch Sunday against the Marlins.
Wheeler dealt with injuries during much of his seven-year Mets career but has been a model of durability and dominance since signing with Philadelphia before the 2020 season. He signed a three-year, $126 million extension in March.
The Mets are expected to see Philadelphia’s other All-Star arm, right-hander Aaron Nola (4-2, 3.67 ERA), on Tuesday. New York has not announced its pitching plans for the games against the Phillies, who advanced to the World Series in 2022 and to a Game 7 in the NLCS last year.
The series against the Braves and Phillies should show the Mets how they currently stack up against baseball’s best teams. They rebounded from last weekend’s three-game sweep by the Rays (19-19) in Tampa by going undefeated in St. Louis, where Wednesday’s series finale was postponed due to rain.
After an 0-5 start, the Mets are 18-13 and have won seven of 10 series, including taking two of three from the Dodgers in Los Angeles last month.
“We can definitely play with anybody,” Mendoza said Wednesday, “and the guys know that.”
