Team News and Notes:
Philadelphia Phillies (23-16)
After losing a series to the Mets in the end of April, the Phillies have caught fire. Philadelphia is arguably playing their best baseball of the season and have now won 10 of their last 13 games.
Pitching:
Despite going 16-14 in the opening month of the season, the Phillies recent streak has gotten them up to seven games over .500 and back into first place with a three game lead. This successful stretch can mainly be credited to their starting pitching, who have posted a dazzling 3.11 ERA in their last 71.6 innings (12 starts).
More than half of these runs have come from rough outings by Vince Velasquez and Jake Arrieta. As for the rest of the staff, Jerad Eickhoff, Zach Eflin, and Aaron Nola only surrendered a combined nine runs in their last 54.2 innings between the three of them.
Offense:
The offense on the other hand, has scored enough to support their staff during this run. They are also doing it with an ice cold Bryce Harper, who is slashing .157/.295/.353 over his last 15 games with 20 strikeouts in 51 at-bats. Andrew McCutcheon and Odubel Herrera are slumping, as well with a 23-for-110 skid between the two.
As for the Phillies infield, they’ve been a different story as of late. Besides Maikel Franco, the Phils are receiving major production from the hot bats of Rhys Hoskins, Cesar Hernandez, Jean Segura, and newly acquired All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto. Since Hoskins’ dust up with Mets reliever Jacob Rhame, he is batting .347/.444/.808 to go along with six homers and 15 RBI.
Realmuto has turned things up offensively slugging .288/.345/.404 in the last two weeks. Segura (.306/.348/.500) and Hernandez (.385/.421/.558) have also provided more than solid support over this stretch.
Atlanta Braves (21-20)
Despite dropping two games below .500 after losing four straight to open up their west coast road trip, the Atlanta Braves have now won three games in a row against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
After stumbling to a 15-17 record in April, the Braves have now won six of their last nine games. The team is currently sitting in second place and are only three games back of the first place Phillies.
Offense:
First baseman and Met killer Freddie Freeman (.308/.403/.526, seven home runs, 27 RBI) and outfielder Nick Markakis (.299/.388/.465, four homers, 23 RBI) have led the charge offensively for the Bravos. Second year sensations Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies have also had nice sophomore campaigns at the plate, as well. Acuna is slashing .279/.369/.483 to go along with eight home runs and 23 RBI, while Albies is slugging .269/.316/.451 with six homers and 20 RBIs’ of his own.
Pitching:
As for the Braves pitching, their starting staff has been pretty iffy past Max Fried and Mike Soroka. The left-handed Fried has hands down been the team’s most effective starter posting a 3.25 ERA, 3.71 FIP, and 1.20 WHIP with his 5-2 record. Soroka has surprised in five starts with a 3-1 record, 1.21 ERA, 2.63 FIP, 1.05 WHIP and 9.4 K/9.
Julio Teheran (2-4, 4.26 ERA, 4.52 FIP, 1.283, 9.2 K/9, 3.9 BB/9) and Kevin Gausman (2-3, 4.50 ERA, 3.81 FIP, 1.238, 9.9 K/9, 3.6 BB/9) have both pitched to almost identical mediocre ERAs and have high walk rates of around 4 BB/9, so far this season. Despite their struggles, Teheran is coming off a solid start against the Diamondbacks on Friday, where he allowed one run on three hits in six innings. Guasman on the other hand, leads the team with an impressive 9.9 K/9 ratio.
In the bullpen, right-hander Luke Jackson has emerged as the team’s most effective reliever. Jackson was officially awarded the closers role as a result of his three saves, 2.5o ERA, 3.5 FIP, and 1.222 WHIP. Dan Winkler has also pitched well posting 13 strikeouts in 11 innings, to go along with a 0.4 WAR, 1.54 ERA, 4.13 FIP, and 0.857 WHIP.
New York Mets (19-20)
While the New York Mets started out 13-10 over the first three weeks of the season, they have stumbled to a 6-10 record since. The team is 2-5-1 in their last eight series and were coming off a 1-5 west coast trip before returning home over the weekend.
Despite the postponement of the rubber game on Sunday, the Mets took two of three from the Miami Marlins on a short three game home stand. They now travel down to D.C to face the ailing Washington Nationals on Tuesday night for a three game set.
The Mets have arguably had one of the most difficult schedules in baseball thus far in this early season due to the fact that they played 22 of their first 37 games on the road. Luckily their next 13 games are against the Nats, Marlins, and Detroit Tigers.
Offense:
The offense has struggled to score runs as of late due to several cold stretches by the heart of the order. Despite their anemic bats, it seems they are starting to come out of it after their dramatic comeback win in San Diego last week, which they followed up with two strong performances against the Marlins over the weekend.
The lineup is led by Jeff McNeil whose among the league leaders in batting with an astonishing .360/.440/.496 slash line. Although Amed Rosario been a nightmare in the field so far (10 errors), the shortstop has produced with his bat and is second on the team with 24 RBI and a .278/.316/.424 line.
Third basemen J.D. Davis has been a nice surprise this season batting .276/.357/.425 with three home runs. Rookie of the year candidate Pete Alonso is also living up to the hype slugging 12 homers and driving in 32 runs to go along with a .271/.358/.590 line.
Despite a recent slump, Michael Conforto is starting to heat up again. Conforto has quietly had a nice season, where he’s hit a solid .274/.412/.519 with 8 homers and 18 RBI. Catcher Wilson Ramos has also been in a three week slump, dropping his slash line down to .235/.299/.287, but he has still driven in 19 runs to begin his Mets’ career.
Pitching:
The pitching was surprisingly disappointing for the team over the first month, but has recently started to get things going. Minus a rough outing in Philadelphia, Steven Matz has been the team’s most consistent starter posting a 3.86 ERA, 5.11 FIP, 1.20 WHIP, and 8.2 K/9. Matz was recently placed on the IL with a forearm issue but is expected to return sometime later in the week.
Although the reigning Cy Young award winner Jacob deGrom had an elbow scare and stumbled in the month of April, he has bounced back over his last three starts. DeGrom looks to be back to his old self lowering his ERA from 4.85 to 3.26 to go along with a 3.12 FIP, 1.06 WHIP, and league leading 12.3 K/9.
Zack Wheeler has also had a good year thus far pitching to a 3-2 record with a 4.35 ERA, 2.7 FIP, 1.349 WHIP, and 10.5 K/9. Aside from tossing a complete game shutout against the Cincinnati Reds, Noah Syndergaard has had a rough season so far posting a 5.14 ERA, 3.56 FIP, and 1.32 WHIP.
The Mets bullpen was shaky to start the year, but it is starting to perform as of late. Closer Edwin Diaz leads the pack with his 2.30 ERA and 1.09 WHIP and is 10-for-10 in save chances. Seth Lugo (3.00 ERA, 2.79 FIP, 1.00 WHIP, and 10.9 K/9) and Robert Gsellman (2.88 ERA, 2.83 FIP, 1.2 WHIP, 9.7 K/9) struggled out of the gate, but have both seemed to have figured things out.
Washington Nationals (16-24)
Despite losing Bryce Harper to the division rival Phillies in the offseason, the Nats came into 2019 with a talented young group. Unfortunately, the team has been hit hard by the injury bug and find themselves eight games below .500 and in fourth place.
First, they lost star shortstop Trea Turner to a broken finger after only four games, which has kept him out for the last six weeks. Next, Anthony Rendon was placed on the I.L with an elbow contusion, although he returned to the lineup on May 7th.
The bug continued to spread, as First basemen Matt Adams hit the IL with a shoulder injury and Ryan Zimmerman went out with a foot injury. Second year sensation Juan Soto also missed 10 days with back spasms and newly acquired left-handed reliever Tony Sipp missed time with an oblique injury.
Offense:
This tall list of injuries has been crippling for the Nats so far this season, but luckily guys are beginning to get healthy again, which could put them back in the race. The offense is led by Howie Kendrick, who is batting .306/.354/.553 along with 6 home runs and 21 RBI. Adam Eaton (.280/.339/.391, 6 home runs 19 RBI) and Anthony Rendon‘s .305/.391/.621 slash line round out the top three contributors in the lineup.
Pitching:
On the pitching side, left-hander Patrick Corbin has been their best starter with a 3-1 record, 3.20 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and 58 strikeouts in 50 innings pitched. Stephen Strasburg has been solid with a 3-3 record, 3.54 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and an impressive 75 punch outs in 58 innings. Max Scherzer on the other hand hasn’t quite been himself so far this season. Scherzer has a 2-4 record with a 3.64 ERA, and 1.15 WHIP, but does have 79 strikeouts in 59.1 innings, so it can be expected he will breakout soon.
As for the bullpen, it has been a similar story for the Nats as they are last in the league with a 6.41 ERA. Closer Sean Doolittle is 6-for-7 in save chances and is having a fine season with a 3.20 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and 58 strikeouts in 50 innings. Kyle Barraclough is currently the second best reliever on the squad pitching to a 3.52 ERA, and 1.57 WHIP. Past these top two relievers they have not gotten much help from the rest of the group.
Miami Marlins (10-29)
Last but not least, the last place Miami Marlins as expected are certainly not ready to compete in the 2019 season. When Derek Jeter took over in the 2017 offseason he tore down the Marlins roster and began another total rebuild for the franchise shipping off all of their big name players.
The last man left from the old regime was All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto, whom Jeter dealt to the rival Phillies in February for top pitching prospect Sixto Sanchez and young catcher Jorge Alfaro as the headlining pieces of the trade.
As a result, the Marlins hold the worst record in baseball having lost 29 of their first 39 contests and sit 13 games back in the division already. The fish are currently on a five game losing streak and have lost eight of their last 10.
Offense:
The team has a mixture of young guys, cast-offs, and veterans put together on their roster while their young prospects continue to develop in the minors during this rebuild. The offense is anchored by veterans Neil Walker, Curtis Granderson, Martin Prado, and Starlin Castro. Jorge Alfaro and Miguel Rojas have also been regulars in the lineup, as well.
Both Walker (.287/.379/.436) and Prado (.276/.298/.357) lead the fish in hitting. Besides these two vets, the Marlin’s offense is hitting a mere .219/.283/.310 as a club, which is the main reason behind their struggles to win ball games.
Pitching:
Unfortunately, their pitching hasn’t been much better past left-handed starter Caleb Smith. Smith has a 3-0 record with a 2.11 ERA, 2.85 FIP, 0.891 WHIP and an impressive 11.8 K/9. After Smith, the entire pitching staff as a whole is collectively allowing close to five runs per game (4.85 ERA) and only have 342 strikeouts in 346 innings.
Injury Report:
Phillies: Shortstop Scott Kingery is expected to at least miss a week, after pulling his hamstring on Thursday. Relief pitcher Victor Arano has an elbow issue and will be out until May 13th at the earliest. As of May 1st, it was reported that setup man David Robertson won’t be back before May 15 with an elbow injury.
Braves: Freddie Freeman was scratched from the lineup with a head cold on Sunday, but is expected to be back on Tuesday night when the Braves open up a series with the St.Louis Cardinals. Starter Kevin Gausman is suspended until May 18th for throwing behind a batter. Relievers Jacob Lindgren (elbow) and Chad Sobotka (abdomen) are both expected to return sometime this week.
Mets: Steven Matz (forearm) is expected to be out until at least May 16th. Third Basemen Jed Lowrie (knee) was expected to come off the IL over the weekend, but has struggled at the plate so the team has opted to continue his rehab assignment to get him extra at-bats. Setup man Jeurys Familia (shoulder) is expected to come off the IL on May 14th. After coming off the IL on the Mets recent west coast road trip, relief pitcher Justin Wilson is out again as his elbow continues to bother him. Jason Vargas (hamstring) will also be out until at least Thursday.
Nationals: Howie Kendrick (neck) should be back in the lineup on Tuesday. Matt Adams (shoulder) is expected back Wednesday. Trea Turner (finger) will be out until at least May 18. Tony Sipp (oblique) is out until May 17th. Trevor Rosenthal has an infection that will keep him out until Friday at the earliest.
Marlins: Peter O’Brien (ribs) is expected to be out until May 21st at the earliest. Pitcher Drew Steckenrider (elbow) is out until at least June 5th. Reliever Riley Ferrell is out until May 31st with a biceps injury.
Upcoming Schedules: 5/13-19
Phillies: (Brewers, 5/13-5/16), (Rockies, 5/17-19)
Braves: (Cardinals, 5/14-16), (Brewers, 5/17-19)
Mets: (@Nationals, 5/14-16), (@Marlins, 5/17-19)
Nationals: (Mets, 5/14-16), (Cubs, 5/17-19)
Marlins: (Rays, 5/14-16), (Mets, 5/17-19)
