Just Mets

The Mets will look for their 10th win in a row and a 9-0 start at home as continue a three-game series with the Braves at Citi Field tonight at 7:40 PM.

Here is today’s starting lineup for New York:

1) John Mayberry Jr. – RF
2) Juan Lagares – CF
3) Lucas Duda – 1B
4) Michael Cuddyer – LF
5) Eric Campbell – 3B
6) Kevin Plawecki – C
7) Wilmer Flores – SS
8) Ruben Tejada – 2B
9) Dillon Gee – RHP

Here are today’s pitching match-ups:

Dillon Gee (0-1, 7.59 ERA) will start for the Mets. 14 games into the season and Gee is still the only Mets starter who has yet to pitch a quality start. Granted, Gee looked a bit better against the Marlins last week, as he struck out seven, but we still saw struggles we’ve seen from him before. Gee made a pair of big mistakes to Giancarlo Stanton and Martin Prado, both of which resulted in home runs, and was unable to finish off the 6th inning after allowing two walks and a hit with two out and nobody on.

Key match-ups vs. Gee:

Freddie Freeman: 8-for-32, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI
Kelly Johnson: 2-for-9, 4 K
Andrelton Simmons: 4-for-17, 4 2B, 1 RBI

Eric Stults (0-1, 6.30 ERA) will start for the Braves. Stults is making his 3rd start of the season and 2nd against the Mets on Wednesday night. In his 1st start vs. New York, Stults was okay, allowing three earned runs on seven hits and a walk in five innings, striking out just three. Lefties are hitting .250 against Stults early on this season, while right-handers are hitting .360.

Key match-ups vs. Stults:

John Mayberry Jr.: 5-for-11, 3 2B, HR, 1 RBI
Michael Cuddyer: 1-for-8, 4 BB, 2 K
Juan Lagares: 1-for-5, 1 K

Here’s what I am looking for from the Mets on Wednesday…

Can John Mayberry Jr. make an impact?

While Curtis Granderson gets a scheduled off day, John Mayberry Jr. is in the starting line-up against the left-handed Eric Stults. Mayberry Jr. was signed to provide power off the bench and hit left-handed pitching, and he’ll get another chance to do that today. Mayberry Jr. has his Stults well before in his career, and homered off of him the last time he faced him less than two weeks ago.

Dillon Gee’s final stand?

In two starts this season, Dillon Gee has struggled. As the Mets prepare to expand to a six-man rotation for a turn next week with Rafael Montero returning to the ball club, you wonder if this could be one of Gee’s last chances to prove himself. You would like to see him finally get a quality start under his belt and quiet these types of questions with a good start today. In his career vs. the Braves, Gee is 6-5 with a 3.13 ERA in 15 starts.

Juan Lagares is heating up.

Juan Lagares started off the season a bit slow at the plate, but he’s really turned it on over the last week. In the last seven days, Lagares 9-for-23 (.391) with a double, a walk and 5 RBI. Now hitting in the number two spot with David Wright and Travis d’Arnaud down with injuries, Lagares is getting the chance to contribute to this team offensively, in addition to his already stellar defense. If he keeps on hitting the way he has this past week, the Mets should keep on performing at a high level.