The New York Mets and San Diego Padres spent big last offseason in the pursuit of a run to the World Series.
Both teams expected to spend this season at the top of their divisions with a deep run into the playoffs after their big investments. Per Spotrac, the Mets have the highest 2023 payroll at $348.5 million, while the Padres are third at $246.5 million.
And the results?
Disappointing thus far, to put it mildly.
Both teams are 41-46.
The Padres are fourth in the National League West, where they trail the Arizona Diamondbacks by 8 1/2 games. The Mets are fourth in the loaded NL East, where they trail the Atlanta Braves by 17 1/2 games. Both the Padres and Mets are 6 1/2 games behind the third wild-card team.
Last season, 87 wins were needed to reach the playoffs in the NL. To match that, the Padres and Mets would have to go 46-29 the rest of the season.
Rival managers Buck Showalter of the Mets and Bob Melvin of the Padres recently spoke to the “disappointment” of the 2023 season.
“I’m disappointed in not winning enough games,” Showalter said. “That could change, knowing we have a half season left.”
Melvin said: “We’re disappointed in our record. We need to get on a run to turn it around. It can be done, but the season is getting shorter by the day. There is a sense of urgency.”
Which brings us to this final weekend before the All-Star break, with the Mets meeting the Padres in San Diego on Friday. The winner of the series will push the losing team deeper into a hole that neither club expected to be in.
But wait. Suddenly, both the Mets and Padres are on a roll. The Mets completed a sweep at Arizona on Thursday and arrive in San Diego riding a five-game winning streak. And the Padres matched their season-best, three-game winning streak with a three-game home sweep of the Los Angeles Angels.
So, either the Mets or Padres will finish the weekend carrying some momentum into the All-Star break — making this a more compelling series than the records would indicate.
It begins Friday night with a match of veteran right-handers – the Mets’ Justin Verlander (3-4, 3.66 ERA) vs. the Padres’ Yu Darvish (5-6, 4.84). The pairing switches to left-handers Saturday – the Mets’ David Peterson (2-6, 6.61) vs. the NL’s Pitcher of the Month for June, the Padres’ Blake Snell (5-7, 3.03). And Sunday afternoon, the Mets’ will start right-hander Max Scherzer (8-2, 4.03) with the Padres hoping to counter with Joe Musgrove (7-2, 3.56).
And while Verlander hasn’t allowed an earned run over 12 innings in his past two starts, Darvish has been battling the flu and will be making his first start since June 21. Darvish has surrendered 14 runs on 20 hits and seven walks in 16 1/3 innings in his past three outings.
A three-time Cy Young Award winner while pitching last season with the Houston Astros, Verlander will be seeking his 248th career win Friday night in his 12th start of the season.
Verlander will be making only his third career start against the Padres. And the first two also came in San Diego at Petco Park, where he is 2-0 with a 2.92 ERA.
Meanwhile, Darvish has 100 career wins going into his 15th start of the season.
Darvish is 5-1 in his career against the Mets with a 3.05 ERA in nine starts. That loss came on April 10 in New York when Darvish started the first game as the Padres lost two of three in the series. He gave up five runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
