Mets have four All-Stars but head to a showdown series in Atlanta with slim NL East lead

New York settles for a split of their series vs Miami after their offense struggled in a shutout loss on Sunday, now sit just 1.5 games ahead of the Braves in the NL East

Jul 11, 2022

Just Mets on Playback 📺

Our next live watch-along will take place tonight as Max Scherzer and the Mets clash with the Braves at 7:20 PM EST! Watch the game and interact with hosts Rich MacLeod and Andrew Claudio live on Playback!

Be sure to sign up for Playback (it’s free!) and join us here tonight:

getplayback.com/room/justmets 🍎

What’s Up with the Mets? ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Mets lost to the Marlins in 10 innings by a score of 2-0 on Sunday afternoon (box)
The Mets lost for the first time in extras this season which snapped a streak of eight straight extra-inning wins
RHP Taijuan Walker was again incredible on the mound, pitching seven shutout innings. It was his sixth straight quality start which is the second longest of his career
Walker is tied for second in the majors with the most scoreless starts of at least seven innings pitched with four
RHP Edwin Díaz pitched another scoreless inning while picking up two more strikeouts. He is the first reliever to reach the 70 strikeout mark this season
Luis Guillorme went 3-for-4 at the plate which was his sixteenth multi-hit game this season. He is now one shy from matching his total of multi-hit games from the last four seasons combined and is only one of two players (JT Realmuto) to have a three-hit game against Sandy Alcantara this season
The Mets went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, leaving ten runners on-base. It was the sixth time they’ve been shutout in 2022
After the game, it was announced that Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Starling Marte and Edwin Díaz were all selected to the All-Star team
Former Mets 2B/DH Robinson Canó was acquired by the Braves from the Padres in exchange for cash considerations - he might be available for tonight’s game against the Mets in Atlanta

Injury Updates 🏥

Starling Marte remains day-to-day after leaving Saturday’s game with left groin tightness

Roster Moves 📰

James McCann (oblique strain) placed on the 10-day injured list
Patrick Mazeika recalled from Triple-A Syracuse
Mets claimed LHP Sam Clay off waivers from Phillies - optioned to Triple-A Syracuse
Jake Reed designated for assignment

Who’s Hot 🔥

Edwin Díaz has allowed only one earned run in his last 17 games which is good for a 0.54 ERA over that span
After his outing on Sunday, Taijuan Walker lowered his ERA to 2.63 - he has allowed three earned runs or less in 13 of his 15 starts this season
Mark Canha went 1-for-3 with two walks. Canha is hitting .350/.519/.450 over his last seven games

Today’s Game 🗓

Match-up: Mets (53-33) vs. Braves (52-25)

Where: Truist Park — Atlanta, GA

Starters: RHP Max Scherzer (5-1, 2.26 ERA) vs LHP Max Fried (9-2, 2.52 ERA)

When: 7:20 PM EDT

Where to Watch: SNY

Taijuan Walker deserves to be an All-Star📝

Taijuan Walker had yet another impressive outing against the Marlins to lower his ERA to 2.63. With all the hype surrounding Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom in the offseason, it was easy to overlook Walker especially after he struggled in the second half of last season.

There’s no question Walker has been their most consistent pitcher so far in 2022. He is on a streak of six straight quality starts and he is only one behind Sandy Alcantara for most starts of seven or more scoreless innings pitched. While his strikeout numbers and swing and miss rates have been up and down throughout the course of the season, his splitter has put him in the 80th percentile in chase rate and in the 73rd percentile in barrel percentage, helping to create the best ground ball rate of his career at 49.8 percent.

When he was named to the All-Star team last season he had a 2.50 ERA which was good for eighth in the National League. His ERA this season would again put him in the top ten in the league for ERA and puts him just behind Max Scherzer for best in the Mets rotation. Walker did miss some time with injury earlier in the season but for the most part has been a stabilizing force in an otherwise tumultuous rotation. Max Scherzer and Tylor Megill both suffered injuries and missed significant time, Carlos Carrasco and Chris Bassitt have both been volatile on the mound, and Trevor Williams and David Peterson have been admirable filling in but can’t reliably be counted on a consistent basis.

The Mets will certainly be well represented in Los Angeles but Walker had a solid case for the nod for a second year in a row. The rosters usually aren’t final until the teams actually play the game so there is a pretty good chance Walker will join his teammates when others named to the National League team drop out.

While the honor was deserved, the key for Walker is in his ability to maintain this performance in the second half of the season, which he was unable to do last year and help lead the Mets to the playoffs. Walker allowed a home run to Mike Zunino in last year’s mid-summer classic and from there, it was all downhill for him He posted a 7.13 ERA in the second half and looked like a shell of the player that made him an All-Star.

Of course, stamina was a very big question for Walker last year, having not thrown more than 53 innings in any of his three previous seasons due to a variety of injuries. But stamina shouldn’t be too much of an issue for Walker this year, he’s healthy and arguably pitching the best baseball of his career thanks to that refined splitter, which has produced a -11 run value this season and has unquestionably stepped his game up over the course of the season.

Down on the Farm 🌾

Daniel Palka (RF, Triple-A): 1-for-4, 2 RBI
Gosuke Katoh (2B, Triple-A): 2-for-3, BB, 2 RBI
Luke Ritter (2B, Double-A): 2-for-4, RBI

Box Scores: Triple-A | Double-A | Single-A | Low-A

Around the League 🚩

The full 2022 All-Star Teams were announced with former Met Andrés Giménez making the American League team
The Yankees had the most All-Stars named to the team with six players heading to Los Angeles for the festivities
Angels star Shohei Ohtani made the All-Star team as both a hitter and a pitcher
The Braves finished off a sweep of the lowly Nationals with some heroics by Austin Riley to pull within 1.5 games of the Mets in the NL East
The Dodgers finished off a sweep of the Cubs to go 10-1 on their homestand
The Orioles swept the Angels to win their eighth straight
The Astros placed Yordan Álvarez on the injured list with inflammation in his right hand