Mets at Marlins
The New York Mets are going through a bit of a rough patch lately, and another bad weekend could send them all the way to the National League East basement. The Mets will try to avoid that fate when they visit the Miami Marlins for the opener of a three-game series on Friday.
New York, which enters the weekend two games in front of the last-place Marlins, dropped eight of its last nine games and is becoming an intriguing team as a possible seller in front of the trade deadline next month, with even aces Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom possibly on the table. "Not only do we have the ability, that's what we have been charged with, improving this club," Mets assistant general manager John Ricco told reporters. "Obviously the trade deadline is coming up and that's a big pressure point to better your club. Certainly, we're going to take advantage of that and look to be active." The Marlins were active in dealing star players during the winter - sending away the 2017 starting outfield of Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich, among others - and are going through some growing pains as a team in transition. Miami will try to snap a three-game slide while giving prospect Sandy Alcantara his team debut on Friday against deGrom.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, SNY (New York), FS Florida (Miami)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mets RH Jacob deGrom (5-3, 1.69 ERA) vs. Marlins RH Sandy Alcantara (2017: 0-0, 4.32)
DeGrom is coming off what counts as a poor start for him this season, allowing three runs and five hits over six innings in a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. That snapped a string of 11 straight starts in which the Stetson product, who leads the majors in ERA, allowed two or fewer earned runs. DeGrom was held out of the decision in his last start against Miami on May 23 despite scattering four hits and striking out eight over seven scoreless innings.
Alcantara was acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals in the deal that sent Ozuna away last winter and went 5-3 with a 3.71 ERA in 14 starts from Triple-A New Orleans. "He's a lot different than you would think, then just a guy who throws 96-99 (mph)," Marlins manager Don Mattingly told reporters of Alcantara. "You'd think he throws just a ton of fastballs. He's a guy who has got a pretty good two-seamer." The 22-year-old Alcantara made eight appearances in relief for the Cardinals last season, allowing a total of four earned runs over 8 1/3 innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Marlins C J.T. Realmuto (wrist) is expected to start on Friday after missing the last four games.
2. Mets CF Brandon Nimmo (finger) went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts on Wednesday after missing a pair of starts.
3. Miami 2B Starlin Castro had a string of six straight games with at least one run scored come to an end on Thursday.