The Mets are heading to San Francisco to face the Giants for the final leg of their 10-game road trip. Sticky stuff drama and possums notwithstanding, it’s been a successful one for New York.
They swept the A’s in Oakland and followed that up by taking two of three from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now, all the Amazins have to do to secure a 7-3 road trip is split the next four games at Oracle Park.
They’ll be looking for more, though. Here’s what the probable pitching matchups look like at the moment.
Thursday at 9:45 p.m. ET: Kodai Senga vs. Sean Manea
Kodai Senga was the beneficiary of the Mets’ offense exploding in Oakland. He was on the mound when New York scored 17 runs on 17 walks in the series opener. Unfortunately, all that standing around led to him having his first subpar outing as a big leaguer. He allowed four runs on seven hits (two homers), four walks, and seven strikeouts in 4.2 innings.
Sean Manaea has allowed six runs on nine hits (nice) through his first 11.1 innings as a member of the Giants. The southpaw has faced the Mets twice in his career: once in 2017 and once in 2022. His most recent outing was a good one. He allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits, three walks, and three strikeouts in seven innings.
Friday at 10:15 p.m. ET: Joey Lucchesi (probably) vs. Anthony DeSclafani
This spot in the rotation was supposed to be for Carlos Carrasco. But he’s on the injured list now. Joey Lucchesi was supposed to start for Triple-A Syracuse on Wednesday night but got scratched. In his first year back from Tommy John surgery, he’s posted a 2.30 ERA through three starts. Lucchesi used to pitch in the NL West, so he’s racked up seven starts and 38.1 innings in his career against the Giants. It comes with a 3.52 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, and 45 strikeouts.
Anthony DeSclafani has just one decision in three starts so far this year (a win), but he’s looked good through 19 frames. The right-hander owns a 1.42 ERA and 0.63 WHIP with 16 strikeouts. He’s lasted at least six innings each time, as well. DeSclafani hasn’t performed well against the Mets in eight appearances (seven starts). He’s 0-4 with a 5.91 ERA and 1.43 WHIP. Most of that came during his time with the Cincinnati Reds, but one of those losses happened in 2022.
Saturday at 4:05 p.m. ET: David Peterson vs. Logan Webb
If we take out what Met killer Freddie Freeman did against him, David Peterson had a decent start in Los Angeles. That’s not how baseball works, though. It was his longest outing of the year (six innings), but it was accompanied by six runs allowed on seven hits (three homers). His season-long ERA is now up to 6.10.
Logan Webb is the Giants’ ace, and he just signed a $90 million extension. However, his 2023 has started rough. He’s 0-4 with a 4.94 ERA and 1.23 WHIP. Part of the problem is keeping the baseball in the yard. Webb’s 1.9 homers allowed per nine innings is much higher than what he’s allowed the past two years (0.5 in ’21 and ’22).
The right-hander faced New York twice in 2022. No homers were hit, but he did allow five runs on 11 hits, four walks, and seven strikeouts in 8.2 innings.
Sunday at 7:00 p.m. ET: Tylor Megill vs. TBA
Tylor “Big Drip” Megill goes from being the odd man out of the rotation at the start of the year, to the most consistent contributor in just a matter of a few weeks. He gets rewarded by taking the ball during ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball to finish out the series. Megill is 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA through his first 21 innings for New York this season.
He’ll also be looking to exorcise some Giants demons in this appearance. Megill currently owns a 6.89 ERA and 1.72 WHIP across 15.2 innings in his career against San Francisco.
At the time of this writing, the Giants hadn’t officially announced a probable pitcher for the finale. Once that happens, we’ll update it here.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
