Colorado Rockies series preview: Scouting report on the New York Mets

The Colorado Rockies had a rough start on the first leg of their roadtrip in Miami, as they lost two of three, but they took two of three on their second leg in Chicago against the Cubs.

To wrap their three city, nine game roadtrip, the Colorado Rockies will take on the New York Mets before heading home to Denver. Here are some things to know about the Mets heading into the series.

Their starting pitchers

The starting pitchers for the Mets will be Zack Wheeler, Steven Matz, and Noah Syndergaard. Syndergaard is, by far, the best pitcher of the trio as he throws above 100 miles per hour on a regular basis, as his fastball averages around 98 MPH and his sinker averages north of 98 MPH. His slider and changeup also average above 90 MPH so he is a very hard thrower. In his seven starts on the season, he has an ERA of 3.10 and he’s been striking out nearly 11 batters per nine innings while walking less than 2 batters per nine.

For Wheeler, he has struggled a bit more on the season, as he has an ERA of 4.09 in four starts on the season. However, he has struggled even more in his last two starts against the Cardinals and Padres. He only worked a combined nine innings while giving up 12 hits, 6 runs (all earned), 4 walks, and an opponent slash line of .308/.386/.436. However, he struck out 12 in that span as well.

For Matz, he has struggled the most out of the three starters. He has an ERA of 4.98 but it is mainly due to him giving up the long ball. He has given up four homers in 21 2/3 innings so, with the Rockies getting nearly 50 percent of their runs on homers, it will be interesting to see if the Rockies can continue it, especially against Matz.

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The Mets have begun to stumble offensively….

Through their first dozen games, the Mets were 11-1. However, in their last 17, they are 6-11. In that 6-11 slide, the team is hitting .222. Mind you, that’s including a game where they got 11 runs and 14 runs. For comparison, the Rockies, this season, have hit .226 (and much has been made of how anemic their offense has been, as it should be).

They particularly struggled in their last series with the Atlanta Braves, who are surprisingly in first place in the NL East. The Mets were swept and they only got a total of 15 hits and 2 runs (with nine of the hits and both of the runs coming in the first game). They also struck out 29 times in the series, compared to just five walks.

Their best offensive player has been Asdrubal Cabrera. He enters the series with a .327/.382/.555 slash line, with an OPS+ of 160, five home runs, and 17 RBIs.

…and their pitching has had faults as well

In the same 6-11 slide, the Mets have a team ERA of 5.23. Some of the reason that number is so high is that the Mets gave up 11 earned runs to the Braves yesterday in their 11-0 loss and 7 earned runs in their 7-0 loss on Wednesday.

Their starting pitching has particularly struggled as this season, as they have a 4.36 ERA.

Something for the Rockies that they need to focus on is getting the lead early. In the first inning, Mets pitching has an ERA of 6.43, with an opponent slash line of .277/.339/.554 so other teams have had considerable success of the Mets in the first inning. They also have an ERA of 6.43 in the 4th inning as well, when no other inning in the first six innings are above 3.86.

Next: Was Wednesday an offensive fluke or a good sign?

Stay tuned for our coverage for the games this weekend, both on here and on Twitter, @RoxPileFS.