The Mets travel to Wrigley Field to open a four-game series with the Cubs on Monday. Here’s what I’m looking for tonight…
Here is tonight’s starting lineup for New York:
1) Juan Lagares – CF
2) John Mayberry Jr. – LF
3) Daniel Murphy – 3B
4) Michael Cuddyer – 1B
5) Lucas Duda – 1B
6) Wilmer Flores – SS
7) Kevin Plawecki – C
8) Dilson Herrera – 2B
9) Jacob deGrom – RHP
Jacob deGrom (3-3, 2.95 ERA) will start for the Mets.
Key matchups vs. deGrom:
Anthony Rizzo: 1-for-3, K
Starlin Castro: 0-for-2, BB
Jon Lester (2-2, 4.04 ERA) will start for the Cubs.
Key matchups vs. Lester:
Michael Cuddyer: 5-for-17, 2 2B, 2 RBI
Curtis Granderson: 11-for-40, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 15 K
John Mayberry Jr: 2-for-3
Here are three things I’m looking for tonight:
Stave off the lefties, Jake.
A lot was made early this season about Jacob deGrom and his struggles vs. left-handed batters. On the year as a whole, lefties have hit .342 with three home runs against deGrom–although those three longballs all came in just one start. Opponents have noted Jacob’s early struggles vs. left-handers as well, as they’ve stacked lefty-laden lineups against him so much to the point where deGrom has actually faced more lefties (76) than righties (66).
In his last start, however, lefties went 4-for-17 at the plate against Jacob. With Anthony Rizzo, Dexter Fowler and Chris Coughlin, all batting from the left-handed side, in the lineup, deGrom will get another test to prove that he can shut down batters on both sides of the plate.
He’s Daniel Murphy, and he hits third.
On Sunday vs. the Phillies, Terry Collins played with his lineup a bit, shifting Daniel Murphy to the #3 spot in the order–a spot that’s been occupied by Lucas Duda for most of the season. The move to the third spot agreed with Murph, at least for one day, as the Mets second baseman went 3-for-5 at the plate. Murphy will get another chance from that spot tonight as Duda will hit fifth in the order. I’m not one to think where you hit in the lineup is very important, but as Murphy’s bat continues to heat up in May, we’ll see how much he can produce from that spot.
Can Lucas Duda get it going?
The Mets first baseman has quietly struggled at the plate lately. In the last two weeks, Duda is 9-for-43 (.209) with .292 on-base percentage, .279 slugging percentage, three doubles, no home runs and just one RBI. This team has kept on winning despite that, as they’re 20-11 on the season and lead the National League East by 3.5 games, but at some point they’re going to need their power hitting left-hander to start producing at the plate. Overall on the season, Duda is batting .279/.362/.423 with 10 doubles, two home runs and 12 RBI.
Just Mets 