D-backs Look to Stay Hot against Mets in Game Two of Four
The Arizona Diamondbacks had a come-back win last night against the New York Mets when they won 4-3 thanks to some extremely clutch hitting by Tommy Pham and Ketel Marte. Now, they look to win their sixth game out of seven. They're 7-4 so far in September as they battle for the important Wild Card playoff spot. Since September 4th, they are 6-2. They hold a 1.5-game lead on Miami and San Francisco for the 3rd NL Wild Card spot. Tonight's opening pitch is 4:10 PM and takes place in New York.
Pitching Matchup
Ryne Nelson is on the bump for the D-backs. He's making his second start since being recalled last week to start on Thursday against the Cubs. It was a strong return as he went 5.2 innings and allowed just two hits, one run, two walks, and struck out three. The strikeout issues remained a problem, but the bottom-line results were great against a strong team. He's made one start against the Mets this year back on July 6th at home where he lasted just three innings and allowed nine hits, seven runs, and had just one strikeout. However, Nelson has extreme splits when it comes to where he pitches.
He's been a bad pitcher at home with an 8.59 ERA in 11 games. However, on the road, he had a sparkling 3.18 ERA with a 5-2 record over 79.1 innings and 14 starts. He's struck out 58 and walked just 19 during that span. On the season, Nelson has a 7-7 record with a 5.30 ERA over 130.2 innings and 25 games started. He's allowed 147 hits, 39 walks, and struck out 85 batters. His FIP is a 5.07 perhaps indicating that the results do fit how he's been pitching. He throws a 4-seam fastball 53.8% of the time with a cutter 15.2%, a changeup 13.9%, a slider 11.4%, and a curveball 5.7% of the time. His changeup and slider have been his best pitches with the former having an xBA of .204 and the latter having a .197 xBA (expected batting average).
Meanwhile, for the Mets, Jose Butto is pitching tonight. Butto is a rookie pitcher who has appeared in five games with three starts. He's thrown 21 innings and has a 3.86 ERA and 0-2 record with 18 hits, an eye-popping 15 walks, and 16 strikeouts. His FIP is 4.50 indicating that he has been lucky to some degree so far in his short MLB career. Although it's a short sample, he's been not good at home. He has a 6.14 ERA at home over two games and one start. He's thrown just 7.1 innings but has given up five runs, six hits, nine walks, and struck out just six.
Butto throws five pitches. Those five are a 4-seam fastball, changeup, slider, curveball, and sinker. He throws his 4-seam the most at 51.4%. His changeup is used 24% of the time and his slider is just 17.1%. Keep an eye out for the curveball and sinker as they are hardly thrown, just 5.2% and 2.2% of the time respectively.
Lineups
Jake Oliver
The Mets are struggling with their hitting of late or all season. However, they do have some history against Ryne Nelson. Pete Alonso and Francisco Alvarez each homered off of him. McNeil and Lindor each have hits off of him. Although, Brandon Nimmo is 0-2.
The D-backs have yet to face Butto due to his limited time in the MLB. Jace Peterson is 0-2 as the only Diamondback with any experience. However, their bats have been very cold since their run outburst against the Rockies last Wednesday. Some of those cold bats belong to Geraldo Perdomo and Christian Walker. Since Sept 1st, Perdomo has hit just .125/.300/.125 over 11 games and 31 plate appearances. Walker is even worse as he's in a 0-for-17 slump at the plate.
Although, the Arizona Diamondbacks do have some extremely hot hitters. Since September 6th, Alek Thomas has hit a scorching hot .313/.333/.500 with six RBI in that time frame. Ketel Marte, Tommy Pham, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and Corbin Carroll have had a great September too. Since Sept. 1st, Marte has hit .343/.395/.600/.995 with six extra-base hits and six RBI in that time. Pham has hit .302/.318/.628/.946 with eight extra-base hits, three home runs, and eight RBI since the first. Gurriel Jr. has hit a strong .278/.350/.639/.989 with seven extra-base hits, three home runs, five RBI, and four walks since the first. Carroll is putting the cherry on top of his Rookie of the Year award with a fantastic September. He's hitting .310/.362/.452/.814 with 13 hits, four RBI, and six stolen bases so far.
Bullpens
There's no mistaking this. The D-backs bullpen has to be tired after 14 games in a row. However, their most important arms are fresh. Kevin Ginkel and Paul Sewald have just pitched twice over the four days. Kyle Nelson might be shut down after throwing two innings last night. The rest of the bullpen should be ready to go again if needed. The Mets bullpen should all be available if needed.
