Just Mets

The Mets open their home schedule with the first of a three-game series against the Phillies today at Citi Field at 1:10 PM.

Here is today’s starting lineup:

1) Curtis Granderson – RF
2) David Wright – 3B
3) Lucas Duda – 1B
4) Michael Cuddyer – LF
5) Daniel Murphy – 2B
6) Travis d’Arnaud – C
7) Juan Lagares – CF
8) Wilmer Flores – SS
9) Jacob deGrom – RHP

Here are today’s pitching matchups:

Jacob deGrom (0-1, 3.00 ERA) will start for the Mets. DeGrom is coming off his first loss of the season when he allowed two runs in six innings with six strikeouts against the Nationals last Wednesday. During that start, he had a streak of 35 2/3 innings without allowing a home run snapped when he allowed a two-run home run to Ryan Zimmerman in the first inning. DeGrom is making his third career start against the Phillies – he is 1-0 with a 2.03 ERA in 13 1/3 innings against them.

Key matchups against deGrom:

Ryan Howard: 1-for-6, HR, 2 K
Chase Utley: 2-for-5, BB, K
Ben Revere: 0-for-6, K

Aaron Harang (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will start for the Phillies. Sarang is coming off a stellar start against the Red Sox during which he didn’t allow a run on only two hits in 6 1/3 innings at Citizens Bank Park. He was a workhorse for the Braves last year and pitched well, going 12-12 with a 3.57 ERA in 202 innings. Harang made three starts in 2014 against the Mets and was stellar, going 2-1 with a 0.90 ERA in 20 1/3 innings. He is 6-5 with a 4.28 ERA in 13 career starts against the Mets.

Key matchups against Harang:

Daniel Murphy: 7-for-20, 4 2B, HR
Ruben Tejada: 6-for-20, 2 2B
David Wright: 12-for-28, 4 2B, HR, 8 RBI
Curtis Granderson: 1-for-12, 2B

Here’s what I am looking for this afternoon from the Mets…

Wilmer Flores needs to turn the page.

He’s at home, and the home crowd will be on his side, so hopefully Flores has a big day and turns himself around on both sides of the ball today. As I wrote earlier, Flores has looked overanxious at the plate, and it seemed as though each defensive miscue compounded one another. He’s better than what he showed, and hopefully the player everyone expects him today starts to be on display this afternoon.

Curtis Granderson and some hits.

He’s getting on-base, drawing seven walks in the season’s first six games. But, he hasn’t hit a lick. He isn’t striking out that much, but he hasn’t made good contact to date. Eventually, he’s not going to walk at this rate, so it’s important he start swinging the bat and with authority.

Juan Lagares is down in the order, and that could be good for him.

Lagares has slumped in the early part of the season, so Terry Collins decided to drop him down to the seventh spot in the lineup today. That might not be a bad thing for him – he’s a career .328 hitter with an .803 OPS while hitting seventh. He could be in a position to see more fastballs, which is good because he’s chasing a lot and way too many pitches outside the strike zone (55 percent).

How will the new dimensions play?

The Mets brought in the right and right-centerfield fences for this season in an attempt to make the park fairer. I’m curious to see if the Mets will immediately benefit from these changes offensively, and how much it will hurt them on the other side of the ball. The dimensions are much like the old Shea Stadium dimensions, although they’re a tad deeper in the right-center field gap. But, will this be a benefit, a detriment, or a little bit of both for the Mets?