Phillies Series Preview: vs New York Mets

The Philadelphia Phillies open up the second half of the MLB season with an important seven game homestand against the division rival New York Mets and Miami Marlins.

The Phillies welcome in the NL East Division rival New York Mets for a weekend series at Citizens Bank Park that begins the traditional second half of the MLB season.

This series will also mark the beginning of an extremely important stretch of the season for the Fightin’ Phils, who currently sit just on the outskirts of the National League Wildcard playoff race.

The Phillies find themselves a half-dozen games back of the Mets and the Miami Marlins. It will be those two clubs who provide the opposition over these next seven games at home.

In fact, over the next 13 games, the Phils face off against the Mets, Marlins, and the Pittsburgh Pirates, two of the three clubs ahead of them in that race for the final postseason berth.

Are the Phillies really a playoff contender in the 2016 season? Probably not. But in what has already been a surprisingly competitive year, anything is possible. If that least likely of possibilities is to continue, then the Phils need to find a way to come out winners over these next two weeks.

Related Story: Frank Sinatra Bobbleheads on Italian Heritage Night

Also highlighting the next two weeks will be the approach of the MLB non-waiver trade deadline. The Phillies have a number of players who could be moved, even if they remain in contention.

These players include Ryan Howard, Carlos Ruiz, Jeremy Hellickson, Cameron Rupp, Peter Bourjos, Cody Asche, Jeanmar Gomez, and Hector Neris, and possibly a handful of others as well.

For the Mets, the defending National League champions who entered the season with high hopes of their own, it has been a season of injury and disappointment.

Veteran leader and 3rd baseman David Wright has been lost, perhaps for his career, to injury. Starting pitcher Matt Harvey is also on the DL with an injury that has ended his 2016 season.

New York recently welcomed back longtime shortstop Jose Reyes to the team. Reyes had been serving an MLB suspension due to a high-profile domestic violence incident during the off-season while he was still with the Colorado Rockies.

Following his reinstatement by Major League Baseball on June 23rd, the Rockies released him, and New York signed him as a free agent just two days later. He has been inserted into manager Terry Collins‘ lineup at 3rd base in Wright’s place.

Featured in the Mets’ offensive attack is NL All-Star center fielder Yoenis Cespedes, who leads the team with 21 homers, 52 RBI, 47 runs and a .302/.372/.583 slash line.

2nd baseman Neil Walker began the season hot, and his season numbers look strong. But he has cooled considerably over the last month, hitting for just a .197/.264/.250 slash line since June 18th with one homer and 9 RBI over that span.

The new 1st baseman is veteran James Loney, who was purchased from San Diego at the end of May. Loney is replacing Lucas Duda, who is another of the many Mets players on the disabled list.

The bottom line is that, as currently constructed, this New York lineup is a far cry from the one that stormed to the NL East crown over the last two months of the 2015 season, then fought all the way to the World Series before losing out to Kansas City.

The Mets lengthy list of wounded and missing for this series is fully covered in the “Injuries” page of the below slide show, but includes key performers Wright, Duda, Harvey, and Zack Wheeler. The Phils need to take advantage and win this series.

Next: PITCHING MATCHUPS: METS AT PHILLIES

PITCHING MATCHUPS

FRIDAY: Jeremy Hellickson (6-6, 3.92 ERA) vs Bartolo Colon (7-4, 3.28 ERA): Everyone knows Bartolo. Everyone loves Bartolo, baseball’s rolly-polly, cuddly, aged All-Star. Everyone loves Bartolo – except Phillies fans this weekend. Colon has been a savior for the injury-ravaged Mets pitching rotation. He has allowed 103 hits over 98.2 innings with a 65/17 K:BB ratio. 10 of his 18 outings have been Quality Starts. Just before the break, however, Colon was ravaged by the Nationals. A sign that he is ready to collapse in the 2nd half at 43 years of age? The 19-year veteran who has won 225 career games is pivotal if New York wants to reach the postseason again, let alone return to the World Series. For the Phils, there is perhaps no more important starting pitcher over the next two weeks than Hellickson, the club’s primary trade chip as the MLB non-waiver trade deadline approaches.

SATURDAY: Jerad Eickhoff (6-10, 3.80 ERA) vs Logan Verrett (3-6, 4.34 ERA): Verrett is a 26-year old righty in his third big league season, but receiving easily his most exposure in MLB. Another key with all the front-line rotation injuries, he has delivered six starts among his two dozen total pitching appearances. However, only two of those starts proved to be of the QS variety, and those were his first two, all the way back in April. Over his last six appearances, three as a starter and three in relief, he has allowed 20 hits over 19.2 innings with an 11/13 K:BB ratio. This is a guy that the Phillies should pound, especially in the warm summer South Philly heat. Eickhoff was the Phillies best pitcher in June, began July with another strong outing, but was pounded out in Coors Field just before the break. That can happen to anyone, so here’s hoping it didn’t damge his psyche.

SUNDAY: Zach Eflin (2-2, 4.08 ERA) vs Jacob deGrom (5-4, 2.61 ERA): deGrom was the Mets’ 9th round pick in the 2010 MLB Amateur Draft out of Stetson University who became the 2014 NL Rookie of the Year. The 28-year old righty followed that up with a 14-win season a year ago. This year he has allowed 81 hits over 93 innings with a 91/22 K:BB ratio, establishing himself as one of the top starters in the National League. 11 of his 15 outings have been Quality Starts, and a couple others were just short of that official stat, so he is likely to keep the Mets in the game. Eflin needs to do the same. The 22-year old rookie right-hander has been impressive, and has recorded four consecutive Quality Starts coming in to this big test of a matchup.

Next: PHILLIES KEYS TO VICTORY OVER THE METS

KEYS TO VICTORY

KEEP THE HITS COMIN’: the Phillies offense was on fire heading into the MLB All-Star Game break, recording the top batting average in baseball over the previous month. After scoring as many as four runs in a game just 17 times over the season’s first two months, the Phillies have now reached that mark 15 over the last 19 games. Score four runs a game every night, and you will be a winning ball club. The Phillies need to keep the hits comin’ at home, especially from the key bats of Maikel Franco, Odubel Herrera, and Tommy Joseph.

PEN-MANSHIP: the bullpen needs to start producing, especially veteran right-handers David Hernandez and Andrew Bailey, and lefties Brett Oberholtzer and Daniel Stumpf. There is no doubt that manager Peter Mackanin would love to rest his two workhorse, end-game righties, Jeanmar Gomez and Hector Neris, with more frequency over the second half. However, both could be featured as possible trade chips over the next couple of weeks as well.

FAN-DEMONIUM: the team is playing well, winning, and has actually crept back into the NL Wildcard race. That is not an exaggeration. Now, can they push fully back into that discussion, winning big in their home ballpark against the two teams they are trying to catch, the Mets and Marlins, over the next week? If they can stay on a roll here at home, the Phillies have a chance to spark fan interest that could still turn the Dog Days of Summer into a real joyride. Get the fan base involved again. That base is dying for a return of good baseball.

Next: PHILLIES WEEKEND TV & RADIO MEDIA COVERAGE

TV & RADIO LOCAL PHILLY BROADCAST SCHEDULE

Next: WEEKEND WEATHER FOR SOUTH PHILLY

INJURIES / DISABLED LISTS

New York Mets

Philadelphia Phillies

Next: Phillies Pheatured Player: Maikel Franco