Phillies Series Preview: at New York Mets
By Matt Veasey
The Philadelphia Phillies will play a 3-game weekend series in New York against the defending NL champion Mets.
Fresh off a 3-game season-opening sweep on the road to the Cincinnati Reds, the Phillies will now take part in the second Opening Day of the week as the club heads to Citi Field and the home opener of the defending National League champion New York Mets.
The Mets took off last season following the trade deadline acquisition of slugging outfielder Yoenis Cespedes. On the day of the trade, New York was just 52-50 and sitting in 2nd place in the NL East Division race, three games behind the Washington Nationals.
From that point on, the Mets went 38-22, a .633 pace that was enough to pull away to a 9.5 game lead at one point. They won the division by a comfortable 7 games, their first NL East title in a decade, and advanced past the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs, reaching the World Series for the first time since the 2000 season.
In that World Series, the Mets were simply outplayed over five tough games by an extremely disciplined and dynamic Kansas City Royals club. But the New Yorkers were able to keep Cespedes from walking via free agency this past off-season, and return as one of the NL favorites once again.
In what was hyped by MLB as the first-ever season-opening World Series rematch, the Mets split a paid of games with the Royals early this week. Kansas City won the first game by a 4-3 score, and New York took the second in a 2-0 shutout.
Cespedes leads the Mets offensive attack. He clubbed 35 homers a year ago, 17 of those after arriving in New York on August 1st. New York also draws power in their attack from Lucas Duda (27) and Curtis Granderson (26), and 23-year old Michael Conforto is an emerging star in left field.
But the major reason that the Mets are again a favorite is a dynamic pitching staff that includes their young leader Matt Harvey and talented kid starters Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. The Phillies are likely to see two of them this weekend in deGrom and Harvey. New York also has a shutdown closer in Jeurys Familia.
PITCHING MATCHUPS
FRIDAY: Jerad Eickhoff vs. Jacob deGrom: the 25-year old Eickhoff surprised everyone with his performance after getting called up a few weeks after coming over from Texas as part of the Hamels deal last summer. The righty went 3-3 with a 2.65 ERA and allowed just 40 hits in 51 innings with a 49/13 K:BB ratio in eight starts. He registered 10 K’s in each of his final two starts. This spring, Eickhoff was slowed by a fractured thumb suffered at the beginning of spring training, and may not have yet built the stamina to go deep into a game. Meanwhile, the 27-year old righty deGrom has compiled a 23-14 record over his first 52 career starts the last two seasons. He has a career 2.61 ERA, has allowed 266 hits in 331.1 innings, and has a 349/81 career K:BB ratio.
SATURDAY: Vincent Velasquez vs. Bartolo Colon: the 23-year old Velasquez was the breakout player of the Grapefruit League for the Phillies. After coming over in the off-season trade with Houston, most thought him ticketed for AAA, possibly the bullpen if he made the team. Instead he seized a role in the starting rotation. Velasquez made his big league debut with the Astros a year ago, appearing in 19 games, 7 of them starts. He had a 4.37 ERA and allowed 50 hits in 55.2 innings with a 58/21 K:BB ratio. Colon is a well-known commodity, one of the game’s true ageless wonders who will turn 43 years old next month. A year ago he turned in a 14-13 season, appearing in 33 games and making 31 starts.
SUNDAY: Jeremy Hellickson vs. Matt Harvey: the former American League Rookie of the Year and Gold Glove winning Hellickson came to the Phillies in a November trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He went 6 strong innings on Opening Day at Great American Ballpark against the Reds, allowing just an unearned run on three hits, striking out six and walking none, but was let down by a late bullpen collapse. The ‘Dark Knight of Gotham’ and the Mets’ staff leader, the 27-year old Harvey yielded three earned runs and eight hits over 5.2 innings in the season-opening World Series rematch at Kansas City. When on, he is one of the righty is one of the top starting pitchers in all of baseball.
KEYS TO PHILLIES VICTORY
EFFECTIVE RELIEF: this is going to remain a key all season long for the Fightin’ Phils. The bullpen blew each of the first two games in Cincinnati, and allowed 11 earned runs and 14 hits over 7.2 innings during the series with the Reds. That isn’t just bad, that is putrid, wholly unacceptable, totally unprofessional and non-competitive. It must stop to have any shot with these Mets.
THE BIG PIECE: with three right-handers starting on the hill for the Mets, it will be up to Ryan Howard to provide offensive production in the middle of the order. If he gets shut down, the entire Phillies offense is likely to suffer a weekend power outage. Howard went 3-9 and cranked his first home run in the Reds series, so he is coming in swinging an effective bat in the opening days.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
| Friday, April 8th | @NY Mets | 1:10 PM | CSN, MLBN | 94 WIP FM radio |
| Saturday, April 9th | @NY Mets | 7:10 PM | CSN, MLBN | 94 WIP FM radio |
| Sunday, April 10th | @NY Mets | 1:10 PM | TCN | 94 WIP FM radio |
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE forecast for Citi Field in the Borough of Queens, New York City
Tonight
Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37. Northwest wind 7 to 11 mph becoming north after midnight.
Saturday
A chance of rain and snow before 11am, then rain. High near 42. Wind chill values between 30 and 35. Northeast wind 14 to 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of less than a half-inch possible.
Saturday Night
A chance of snow before midnight. Cloudy, then gradually becoming partly cloudy, with a low around 30. Wind chill values between 20 and 25. Blustery, with a north wind 14 to 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Sunday
Sunny, with a high near 46. Wind chill values between 20 and 30 early. Northwest wind 11 to 14 mph.
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INJURIES / DISABLED LIST
Mets
Updated
Status
Due Back
Injury
Notes
Edgin, Josh (P)04/03
15-day DL
Possibly May
Recovering from March 2015 Tommy John surgery
Placed on 15-day DL on April 1.
Wheeler, Zack (P)04/08
15-day DL
Possibly July 1
Recovering from March 2015 Tommy John surgery
Expected to undergo procedure to have suture knot removed from right arm as of April 8 update.
Phillies
Updated
Status
Due Back
Injury
Notes
Altherr, Aaron (CF)04/03
60-day DL
Possibly July
Recovering from March 2016 left wrist surgery
Underwent surgery March 9; placed on 60-day DL on April 2.
Asche, Cody (LF)04/03
15-day DL
TBD
Right oblique strain
Placed on 15-day DL on April 2, retroactive to March 25.
Harrison, Matt (P)04/02
60-day DL
Possibly 2017
Lower back inflammation
Not expected to pitch in 2016 as of Feb. 17 update.
Hollands, Mario (P)04/02
60-day DL
Possibly early 2016
Recovering from April 2015 Tommy John surgery
Still rehabbing from surgery as of Jan. 22 update; placed on 60-day DL on April 2.
Mariot, Michael (P)04/03
15-day DL
TBD
Right ankle strain
Placed on 15-day DL on April 2, retroactive to March 25.