Mets vs. Wade Miley and the Brewers: Baseball's version of a trap game before Corbin Burnes

Wade Miley has had a fine career and tonight he goes against the New York Mets in the second game of their three versus the Milwaukee Brewers. The Mets throw Max Scherzer on the hill, giving them a distinctive advantage.

A day before the Mets face the much tougher arm belonging to 2021 NL Cy Young winner Burnes, they get a seemingly easier day versus Miley. Maybe not.

Something about Miley has me thinking he’ll come into this game like a wrecking ball against the Mets. What do the numbers say?

The Mets have hit Wade Miley well in the past

Current Mets, including Stephen Nogosek who 100% won’t be hitting in this game, have slashed .271/.314/.396 against Miley. This includes 96 at-bats with Starling Marte owning the most. He has also been a thorn in Miley’s side, batting .409/.458/.455 against him. Pete Alonso does have a home run versus Miley in 6 at-bats. Even Daniel Vogelbach went deep for his lone hit.

The numbers definitely point in favor of the Mets having some success. Past experience does show that despite this team’s reputation for performing poorly against lefties, they may indeed have enough to get past him tonight.

Not everyone has been terrific against him, though. Jeff McNeil is 1 for 6. Eduardo Escobar and Brandon Nimmo have combined to go 0 for 9 with 5 strikeouts.

Meanwhile, the Brewers hitters are hitting a combined .252/.297/.423 against Scherzer. Nobody on their roster has seen him more than Christian Yelich who is 10 for 34 against him with 3 home runs but also 11 strikeouts.

Interestingly, Luke Voit is 3 for 8 and Victor Caratini has gone 7 for 15 with a home run versus Scherzer. The batter he has handled the best is Willy Adames who is 0 for 7 with 6 punch outs.

This is the kind of game where the Mets can prove they can indeed handle southpaws. So far, they’re 1-1 against them.

Prediction: The Mets have some early difficulties against Miley but get to him around the third or fourth. Scherzer sails through six with a role-player on the Brewers tagging him for a home run. The Mets win 5-2.