The Cincinnati Reds are on the road while the Mets continue their opening homestand. The last time these two teams met, the Mets took 2 out of 3 in Cincinnati, Cincinnati had their infamous 6 game losing streak started by the New York Mets and quickly eliminated by the Pittsburgh in the National League Wildcard Game. Times have changed for those Cincinnati Reds with the firing of Dusty Baker and the hiring of Bryan Price, the pitching coach from last season.

The series will include the back end of the starting rotation for the Mets, while the Reds are doing 4 day rest for their starting rotation. Reds are only doing the 4 day rest period because of the absence of Mat Latos, who pitched at Double-A Pensacola yesterday. Latos will pitch one more minor league game for Triple A Louisville before returning to the MLB rotation on April 13th against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Tonight’s matchup is Mike Leake and Jennry Mejia. Leake had an outstanding stretch in 2013 where he had less than 3.00 ERA. Mejia has had an impressive stretch in his last 7 games.

Mike Leake’s Numbers

LAST 7

39.2 IP/43 H/21R/9 BB/29 SO/5 HR

BAA .265/ERA 4.76 /WHIP 1.31

GRADE: 77.50% (C)

PER 9: 9.76 H/4.76 R/2.04 BB/6.58 SO/1.13 HR

RATES: 25.90% H/12.65% R/5.42% BB/17.47% SO/3.01% HR

FIRST 27 RATE: 7 IP/7 H/BB/5 SO/HR

VS NEW YORK METS

36 IP/43 H/12 R/9 ER/7 BB/22 SO/ HR

BAA .239/ERA 2.25 /WHIP 1.14

GRADE: 87.45% (B)

PER 9: 8.5 H/3.00 R/1.75 BB/5.50 SO/0.25 HR

RATES: 23.13% H/8.16% R/4.76% BB/14.97% SO/0.68% HR

FIRST 27 RATE: 8 IP/6 H/BB/4 SO

AT CITI FIELD



13 IP/43 H/3 R/ER/4 BB/9 SO

BAA .204 /ERA 0.69 /WHIP 1.08

GRADE: 93.45% (A)

PER 9: 6.92 H/2.08 R/2.77 BB/6.23 SO

RATES: 18.87% H/5.66% R/7.55% BB/16.98% SO

FIRST 27 RATE: 8.1 IP/5 H/2 BB/5 SO

Jennry Mejia’s Numbers

LAST 7

27.1 IP/28 H/9 R/7 ER/4 BB/27 SO/2 HR

BAA .255 /ERA 2.30 /WHIP 1.17

GRADE: 87.13% (B)

PER 9: 9.22 H/22.96 R/1.32 BB/8.89 SO/0.66 HR

RATES: 25.00% H/8.04% R/3.57% BB/24.11% SO/1.79% HR

FIRST 27 RATE: 8 IP/7 H/2 R/ BB/7 SO

VS CINCINNATI

2 IP

BAA .000 /ERA 0.00 /WHIP 0.00

GRADE: 100.00% (A)

RATES: 0.00% H/0.00% R/0.00% BB/0.00% SO/0.00% HR

FIRST 27 RATE: 9 IP

AT CITI FIELD

32.2 IP/31 H/13 R/11 ER/15 BB/21 SO/4 HR

BAA .240 /ERA 3.03 /WHIP 1.41

GRADE: 83.56% (B)

PER 9: 8.54 H/3.58 R/4.13 BB/5.79 SO/1.10 HR

RATES: 22.14% H/9.29% R/10.71% BB/15.00% SO/2.86% HR

FIRST 27 RATE: IP/ H/ BB/ SO/HR

PREDICTION:

MIKE LEAKE: 7.1 IP/6 H/3 R/2 BB/4 SO/HR

JENNRY MEJIA: 7.2 IP/6 H/2 R/2 BB/5 SO/HR

PICK: Looking at the Reds in their series against the St. Louis Cardinals, they seemed to struggle against good pitching. Looking at Jennry Mejia’s run on the Reds, it is a very small sample size and regression is possible in tonight’s game. Comparing the two pitchers and the runs they’ve allowed, Mejia has allowed less than Leake in the last 7 starts and against the Cincinnati Reds. Mets are my favorite in tonight’s game, but Reds are hoping to sweep at Citi Field for the second straight season and keep up with the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals.

Game 1 Preview (Cincinnati at New York Mets)