Mariners will give NY Mets a whole different challenge after sweet Marlins sweep

The New York Mets swept the Miami Marlins over the weekend to even things out from the Friday-Sunday prior when things went the other way. Now they head out west to play the Seattle Mariners who’ve managed to play much better baseball in the predictable fashion that has helped to make them one of the AL’s more competitive ball clubs.

Pitching has been a strength, yet again, for Seattle. Not to take anything away from the no quit performance by the Mets this weekend, but it came against a pitcher they saw days earlier (Max Meyer), a guy making his second start of the season and 10th of his MLB career (Tyler Phillips), and a bullpen game.

Seattle is built differently. ERAs for their three projected starters of 2.78, 3.69, and 3.77, the Mariners aren’t a team we should expect to see walk the bases loaded for Juan Soto to smash a grand slam.

The Mariners pitching staff will be one of the best the Mets have faced all season

Coming into the series opener, the Mariners pitching staff has the fifth best ERA in the sport at 3.46. The Mets aren’t so far behind in ninth-place, owning a 3.82 ERA. Some unearned runs, blame it on all of the extra-inning games, have the Mets actually 12th in terms of fewest runs allowed with 252 versus the Mariners at 225.

The starting pitching has actually been the weaker point. Despite closer Andres Munoz having a less than stellar season, several other Mariners relievers have combined to have a 3.11 ERA. It’s the third-best in MLB.

Shortening games like this makes this three-game battle feel a little more lopsided than it actually could be. As superb as the Mariners relievers have been, the Mets aren’t far behind. Their 3.21 ERA is sixth-best in MLB.

The biggest difference between these two clubs comes from the stability and trustworthiness of certain starting pitchers. The offensive numbers aren’t all that drastically different. What the Mariners have that the Mets don’t are proven big league starters. A bullpen game on Monday for the Mets followed by another mystery box and then Freddy Peralta should remind us how nothing with this team will ever be easy.

Don’t get the Marlins and Mariners confused like a grade school friend of mine’s grandmother did when she bought him a nameless Marlins jersey in 1998 when he wanted a Mariners one of Ken Griffey Jr.

The Mets schedule only gets tougher. As Jolly Olive pointed out on X, the next team currently below .500 they play is on July 7th. Take what you learned against the Marlins and jack it up for a trip to the Northwest against a team that’ll be a bigger threat.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow