Rec: 3-0
Please, no howling about sweep, brooms, and witches. OK, brooms and sweep. Like the Metropolitans here for a host of reasons, some I'll share. First, some might say "well, Nolasco has beaten the Mets both times he's faced them this season." Yep, can't argue with that. What I can argue with is look who pitched for the Mets in each of those losses. First game on 4/7, two months ago, was against John "the killer" Maine. Second on 5/16 against Jonathon "I'm almost injured" Niese (yep pitched a good game yesterday but he normally comes out the gate firing and then withers out into the sunset). In both cases, it was inevitable that Florida was gonna provide enough run support to win the game. Now we pan forward to what, three weeks since his last start against the Mets, and his numbers are now starting to billow. Facing Takahashi who the Fish haven't seen yet. If you look at a key ratio, K/BB, Nolasco still looks pretty good, 4.33 overall and 14.0 (ouch) last three. BUT, the fact of the matter is, nobody NEEDS a free pass from this guy. He is getting HAMMERED at the plate, giving up hits and runs like they were going out of style. Folks, even though he's not walking a lot of people, his WHIP is still nearly 30 points higher than Takahashi's who has a K/BB ratio of 4.0 last three. Think about it. Were all things equal here, I'd be backing the fish because they have a slight hitting advantage and a definite BP advantage. But if Dickey was able to pull off the win in Game 1 under the same conditions, Takahashi, who has been nothing short of stellar at home and a step above Dickey, should be able to get the job done. GLTA today.
~T~
Please, no howling about sweep, brooms, and witches. OK, brooms and sweep. Like the Metropolitans here for a host of reasons, some I'll share. First, some might say "well, Nolasco has beaten the Mets both times he's faced them this season." Yep, can't argue with that. What I can argue with is look who pitched for the Mets in each of those losses. First game on 4/7, two months ago, was against John "the killer" Maine. Second on 5/16 against Jonathon "I'm almost injured" Niese (yep pitched a good game yesterday but he normally comes out the gate firing and then withers out into the sunset). In both cases, it was inevitable that Florida was gonna provide enough run support to win the game. Now we pan forward to what, three weeks since his last start against the Mets, and his numbers are now starting to billow. Facing Takahashi who the Fish haven't seen yet. If you look at a key ratio, K/BB, Nolasco still looks pretty good, 4.33 overall and 14.0 (ouch) last three. BUT, the fact of the matter is, nobody NEEDS a free pass from this guy. He is getting HAMMERED at the plate, giving up hits and runs like they were going out of style. Folks, even though he's not walking a lot of people, his WHIP is still nearly 30 points higher than Takahashi's who has a K/BB ratio of 4.0 last three. Think about it. Were all things equal here, I'd be backing the fish because they have a slight hitting advantage and a definite BP advantage. But if Dickey was able to pull off the win in Game 1 under the same conditions, Takahashi, who has been nothing short of stellar at home and a step above Dickey, should be able to get the job done. GLTA today.
~T~
