Series Preview: Phillies Try to Gain NL East Ground Against Mets

The red hot Philadelphia Phillies, fresh off of a four-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies, head up to Citi Field for the weekend for a three-game set against their division rival the New York Mets.

The Mets, with a 7-3 record in their last 10 games, sit atop the National League East with a MLB-best 14-6 record; Philadelphia is currently four games back of New York at 10-10. The weekend series between the two teams could allow the Phillies to gain some major ground in the division should they win.

A formidable opponent in the Mets is a perfect test of the Phillies' current momentum. The offense has begun to heat up, as exemplified by outscoring Colorado 32-9 in their previous series. Meanwhile, New York is traveling home from St. Louis after taking two of three games from the Cardinals.

The Mets currently hold the second-highest league batting average at .259, while the Phillies come in fourth-best at .256. Probably the most threatening factor of this Mets team, though, is their pitching staff, who are touting a 2.93 ERA, fourth-lowest in MLB. Philadelphia's starting staff and bullpen have started to settle in, but they'll have to be on their game in order to compete this weekend.

Let's take a look at the pitching match-ups:

Game 1:

Phillies Starter: Aaron Nola (1-2, 3.74 ERA)

Mets Starter: Tylor Megill (3-0, 2.35 ERA)

Nola is coming off of a superb outing against the Brewers on Sunday, in which he tossed seven innings of shutout ball, while striking out nine and walking one. The performance resembled that of what some have dubbed as "vintage Nola," and marked the first start of the season where the right-hander did not allow a home run. However, in his last outing against the Mets, Nola struggled—pitching only 3.1 innings, allowing three runs on three hits, including a home run to Brandon Nimmo. Let's hope the Phillies receive the former on Friday.

Megill has been quite effective for the Mets this season, pitching to a 2.35 ERA while striking out 22 batters in 23 innings pitched. In his last outing on April 24, the right-hander allowed two runs on five hits and struck out seven through 6.2 innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The last time the 26-year-old faced the Phillies, he was dominant—he held Philadelphia to no runs and just three hits while fanning five in 5.1 innings on April 12.

First pitch: Friday, 7:10 p.m. EST

Game 2:

Phillies Starter: Kyle Gibson (2-1, 3.47 ERA)

Mets Starter: Taijuan Walker (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Gibson has arguably been the Phillies' best starter this season. His last start against the Rockies saw him throw 5.2 innings of two-run ball, and striking out four on 97 pitches. He avoided facing the Mets last time they came to town, but the notorious ground ball pitcher will have his work cut out for him on Saturday against a tough New York lineup.

The Phillies will be facing Walker, who hasn't pitched in a game since April 11 due to a shoulder injury which placed him on the injured list. Walker's first and only outing of the 2022 season came against Philadelphia where he struck out four across two innings. The 29-year-old has fantastic career numbers against the Phillies, sporting a 3.15 ERA with 33 strikeouts in 34.1 innings pitched across seven starts.

First pitch: Saturday, 7:10 p.m. EST

Game 3:

Phillies Starter: Zach Eflin (0-1, 3.45 ERA)

Mets Starter: Max Scherzer (3-0, 1.80 ERA)

Per his last outing, Zach Eflin has seemed to finally arrive to the 2022 season. On April 26, the right-hander looked much more like what the Phillies were hoping to see from him this season—holding the Rockies to just one run on two hits over six innings. Eflin worked up to 91 pitches, the most he's thrown so far this season. It was a promising outing to have ahead of a crucial series against the team's biggest division rival. Let's hope he can continue to bring the heat on Sunday Night Baseball.

Every team probably wishes they could avoid facing Mad Max, but unfortunately, the Phillies will meet Scherzer on Sunday night. 2022 has been much of the same for the three-time Cy Young Award winner, he's 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 25 innings pitched. Last time Philadelphia faced the veteran on April 13, he uncharacteristically walked three batters in the first inning alone, but the Phillies failed to capitalize. Should they find themselves in a similar situation this time, they can not fumble the scoring opportunity. In Scherzer's career against the Phillies, he's 15-4 in 26 starts while fanning 208 batters in 163.2 innings.

First pitch: 7:08 p.m. EST

Storyline to Watch:

Series between the Mets and Phillies always bring something interesting, but something to follow this weekend is a factoid brought you by The Athletic's Matt Gelb:

Looking forward to a totally normal weekend series between the Phillies (whose pitchers have hit the most batters in baseball) and Mets (whose hitters have been hit by the most pitches in baseball).
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) April 29, 2022

Indeed, the Mets have been plunked a league-leading 19 times thus far this season, while Phillies' pitching has hit a league-leading 15 batters. That doesn't seem like a good mix.

Furthermore, a pitch that was thrown up and in on Cardinals' third baseman Nolan Arenado by Mets reliever Yoan López caused the benches to clear on April 27. This led to Mets' first baseman Pete Alonso claiming that he could "easily put someone in the hospital."

The Phillies and Mets' rivalry has been heating up again over the last few seasons, and the two teams were involved in their own brawl in 2021 when reliever Jose Alvarado and Dominic Smith exchanged words that led to a suspension of Alvarado. With tensions high and some NL East ground on the line, it wouldn't be too surprising to see the two teams get into it this weekend.

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