Mets vs Tigers Series Preview: Trying to Get Into the Win Column
The New York Mets will kick off their second series of the year on Monday night as they look to get into the win column against the Detroit Tigers. It was a wild opening series for the Mets as the benches cleared over a Rhys Hoskins slide, the Mets threw at him the next game causing Carlos Mendoza and Yohan Ramirez to receive suspensions. The Mets have also lost starter Tylor Megill to a shoulder strain as the team put him on the 15-day injured list.
The Mets will send off-season acquisitions Sean Manaea and Adrian Houser to the mound before the rotation turns over in game three where Jose Quintana will pitch. The Tigers will send Reese Olson, Casey Mize, and Tarik Skubal to the mound. Skubal looked unhittable in his first start for the team pitching six scoreless innings with six strikeouts.
If the Mets want to get into the win column and even want to win the series they'll need a better effort from their offense as they were held to one run in two of the three games. Francisco Alvarez will look to remain hot after opening the year batting .500 with 5 hits, a walk, a home run, and two RBIs. Pete Alonso and Starling Marte will look to remain hot as both are batting above .300 with a home run a piece.
The team will need some of its veterans to bounce back fast in order to kick the offense into full gear. Francisco Lindor went 1 for 12, Brandon Nimmo went 1 for 13, and Jeff McNeil went 1 for 11 leading to the Mets' offensive struggles.
The Mets will face off against former Met Mark Canha, who is batting .364 with four hits, two walks, three RBIs, and a Home Run. Kerry Carpenter is red hot to start the year with four hits in nine at-bats. After facing potential National League Rookie of the Year Jackson Chourio, the Mets will face potential Rookie of the Year Colt Keith who has started the year in a slump.
Mets Have to Get Off to Positive Start
Everything surrounding the Mets right now is negative as the team is 0-3 while the crosstown Yankees rule the headlines. The Mets need to jump on the Tigers in game one in order to win this series. Opening Series mean as much a series later in the year however with teams like the Braves and Phillies in the division the Mets can ill afford to find themselves in a deep hole early on. The rotation hasn't been as bad as expected to start the year so the offense needs to step their game up to get the team out of its early hole.