Mets (Manaea) vs Pirates (Jones): 08/09/26, 1:35 PM

[Brock Beauchamp]

The Mets visit the Pirates as Manaea takes on Jones at PNC Park.

[Brock Beauchamp]

	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	TOT
Xzavion Curry	0	0	28	0	55	83
Nate Lavender	19	0	15	0	0	34
Kodai Senga	18	0	14	0	0	32
Jefry Yan	0	22	0	15	0	37
Devin Williams	0	0	0	21	0	21
Dedniel Núñez	0	20	0	14	0	34
Daniel Duarte	16	14	0	18	0	48
Chayce McDermott	0	39	0	0	0	39

[Frayed Knot]

When I look at those bullpen names I feel like Butch and Sundance

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Edgy MD]

A standard lineup apart from Baty at DH.

Also, with Torrens catching so much of late, it's an odd Sunday not to see him in the lineup.

Chucker

Sean Manaea LHP 3-5, 4.33 ERA, 95 SO

Lineup

1. A.J. Ewing (L) LF
2. Francisco Lindor (S) SS
3. Bo Bichette (R) 3B
4. Carson Benge (L) RF
5. Luis Robert Jr. (R) CF
6. Jared Young (L) 1B
7. Marcus Semien (R) 2B
8. Brett Baty (L) DH
9. Francisco Alvarez (R) C

 

Slinger

Jared Jones RHP 2-3, 4.02 ERA, 62 SO

Lineup

1. Jake Mangum (S) CF
2. Ronny Simon (S) RF
3. Bryan Reynolds (S) DH
4. Nick Gonzales (R) 3B
5. Esmerlyn Valdez (R) LF
6. Brandon Lowe (L) 2B
7. Rafael Flores Jr. (R) 1B
8. Jared Triolo (R) SS
9. Henry Davis (R) C

[Edgy MD]

When McEwing sets the table, good things happen.

[Edgy MD]

Luis Robert — the walking, talking, beefy reason why Nick Morabito isn't with the Mets.

[Edgy MD]

Referenced just now in the booth — Hal McRae takes out Willie Randolph at second, knocking him damn near into left field (but not rolling over on his leg).

Both players ended up being managers, of very different temeraments.

 

[Edgy MD]

Eight to one lead after a three-run double by Boba.

Payback.

[MFS62]

Do we think we might see Manaea pitch a (gasp) complete game?

Later

[Edgy MD]

Unlikely, but it's a shame that his season has to end at the end of September, because he's just getting started.

But he sure looks likely to be a part of the opening day rotation in 2027, which is certainly a step forward from where he started 2026.

He hit 95 today — more than once, I think, and I don't think he's done that in two years.

And Alvarez shoots a solo shot out.

[Edgy MD]

The booth is missing a big part of the story in discussing Dave Kingman.  His career ended after hitting 35 homers not so much because teams changed their priorities (although he wasn't good), but because teams were (somewhat openly) engaging in collusion.

[Edgy MD]

After two hits, it might be a good idea to get Benge out of there, and have his wrist heal up a little for Atlanta.

[MFS62]

"Another bases empty homer for Alvarez".

I'm sure FK noticed, as did we all.

Later

[Edgy MD]

I can't speak for all of us, but it is addressable.

Bichette, meanwhile, is having a day.

[Edgy MD]

Ewing, Lindor, and Baty are the only guys not in the hit column.

The first two, though, have each scored two runs.

[Edgy MD]

Six and a third on 82 pitches.

Maybe he makes the eighth.

Three strikes later, it's 6 2/3 on 85 pitches.

[Edgy MD]

And a deep fly ends the seventh on 91 chucks.

[Frayed Knot]

The problem isn't that Alvarez hits too many solo HRs (although he does) the problem is that the entire team does. But that's just a factor of not having enough base runners in the first place.

MLB as a whole, this season to date, have had 43.7% of their PAs occur w/runners on and have right about the same percentage of HRs with men on: 42.2%

The Mets are consistent also, but they've had just 35.9% of their PAs w/runners on with right about the same pct of HRs: 36.2%

[MFS62]

Quote

Weisenburger is 1-5 with a 7.22 ERA in 14 games (12 starts) this year at Triple-A. His WHIP is 1.567. Last year, he was 1-11 with a 5.66 ERA in 32 games (15 starts) for the independent Hagerstown Flying Boxcars. 

I don't feel comfortable having him protect a 10 run lead.

Later

[Edgy MD]

22 minutes ago, Frayed Knot said:

 But that's just a factor of not having enough base runners in the first place.

Well, it's not just a factor of such.  Alvarez came into the game slugging .520 with the bases empty and .298 with men on base.

With runners in scoring position, that drops to .264, nearly half his number with the bases empty.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Nice job by the Weisenheimer

[Edgy MD]

Lindor visits Hitsville against the position playa.

Everything is coming up Brian Roses, offensively, but Baty is going to Atlanta on an 0-for-5 thought.

Let's see if Weisass has one more of those innings in him.

[Edgy MD]

Five and one since the trade deadline.

They should have a deadline every week.

[Frayed Knot]

29 minutes ago, Edgy MD said:

Well, it's not just a factor of such.  Alvarez came into the game slugging .520 with the bases empty and .298 with men on base.

With runners in scoring position, that drops to .264, nearly half his number with the bases empty.

Yes Alvarez is particularly weaker with runners on (although I don't remember citing him for it specifically). But the team in general, at least as far as HRs go, hit theirs with runners-on/bases-empty in ratios consistent with the percentage of PAs of each. There was a stretch recently where a ridiculous share of HRs came with no one on -- 17 of 18 and 30 of 35 or something along those lines -- which I was tracking at the time.

[Edgy MD]

Five games behind the Reds (who are filthy communists), putting the sweet smell of 12th place within range of a soft, breezy waft of being detectable.

We'd be within four and a half of them, as well as these same Pirates (who are filthy marauders), if we had only pulled out the oh-so-close middle game of this series.

[Centerfield]

7 hours ago, Edgy MD said:

Unlikely, but it's a shame that his season has to end at the end of September, because he's just getting started.

But he sure looks likely to be a part of the opening day rotation in 2027, which is certainly a step forward from where he started 2026.

He hit 95 today — more than once, I think, and I don't think he's done that in two years.

And Alvarez shoots a solo shot out.

2027 looks a lot better if Sean Manaea has figured things out. Does the bounceback seem sustainable?

meaning does the stuff look good?  Or just some good luck today?

[Edgy MD]

He's found his velocity.  His stuff — a sinker that is he can spot and keep down and a sweeper that gets chased — has always been good enough.  He just had no fastball to keep people honest.

Now he does.  Whether that's persists is guesswork, but it's been persisting now (or, at least, progressively improving) since early June, and he's also been keeping the pitch count down (mostly) enough to pitch deep(ish, by today's standards) into games.