Series Preview: Mets at Pirates

The Mets are all hurt. The organization is apparently dysfunctional from top to bottom, and don’t expect their manager to shed any light on the team’s ailments. If we didn’t know better first-hand, we could call them the unluckiest bunch in the league.

The Mets have lost two in a row, dropping a home series to the Padres this week. The Mets were on a seven-game losing streak before taking two of three from the Angels last weekend. The Pirates (22-26) came alive offensively and forged a 2-2 split in Atlanta this week, which wasn’t bad, all things considered.

Schedule

Friday, 7:05 p.m. - Jacob deGrom (3-1, 3.56 ERA) vs. Chad Kuhl (1-4, 5.85), TV: Root

Saturday, 7:15 p.m. - Zack Wheeler (3-2, 3.74) vs. Gerrit Cole (2-5, 3.36), TV: Fox

Sunday, 8 p.m. - Matt Harvey (3-3, 5.36) vs. Tyler Glasnow (2-3, 6.69), TV: ESPN

Mets

19-26 (21-24 Pythag, 5.04 RS/G, 5.56 RA/G)

Offense

Asdrubal Cabrera, Yoenis Cespedes and David Wright are all out, and Terry Collins can’t tell us about Jay Bruce’s status. Michael Conforto has benefited from some job openings, hitting .341/.437/.712 with 13 home runs (and a .386 BABIP), pacing the team with 2.1 fWAR. The team’s next top-producing position players, Neil Walker and Bruce, though, are at 0.6 fWAR. Jose Reyes is playing regularly. Curtis Granderson is below the Mendoza Line. In case being a Mets fan didn’t look like a boatload of fun already, be aware Amed Rosario is in super-two purgatory.

Pitching

Jeurys Familia, Seth Lugo, Steven Matz, Tommy Milone and, oh, Noah Syndergaard are all out. deGrom’s start was pushed to Friday due to an iffy forecast in New York on Thursday. He’s doing well (12.29 K%) even if his walks are also up. Wheeler is coming off of two years of Tommy John surgery rehab. Harvey has had a bit of drama this year. Addison Reed is handling the closer duties, and he isn’t walking anybody. Jerry Blevins (13.21 K%, 3.45 BB%, 1.72 ERA) looks to have been a plus out of the bullpen, too.

Outlook

This could be just the series one of these teams needs; it’s just not clear which one. It’s baseball, you know, but this series represents a chance for each team to make up some ground. One thing’s for sure: the national TV commentators won’t be wanting for juicy stories to fill the time.