The Dodgers are in New York this weekend, for a rematch of the 2024 NLCS. Which will win out, the Dodgers struggling pitching staff, or the Mets struggling offense?
I know a lot of you are not familiar with me, and I’d like to tell you something — I am in a mixed marriage.
Yes, that’s right. I am married to a Mets fan.
(There aren’t a lot of Dodgers fans in Northeast Pennsylvania).
And the thing you should know about my Mets fan husband, is that he absolutely loathes the team he roots for. Hates them all. Thinks they all are terrible and just all-around stink.
The thing about that, though, is that they don’t stink. Currently they have only one fewer win than the Dodgers, at 30-20, and that is after going 2-4 in their last six games.
Now, New York are returning home and look to avenge their NLCS loss to the Dodgers. Most of the Mets team the Dodgers faced in that series are still there, with the one huge edition of Juan Soto.
If you’re anywhere near any sports media, you know that Soto has not had a great start to his long tenure with his new team. Soto signed a 15-year, $765 million contract in the offseason, the largest contract ever in the sport. He is currently slashing .243/.347/.429 with eight homers. That is well below his career numbers of .283/.419/.528 with a 159 OPS+.
I’m not here to get into why Soto is not performing, I’m just here to worry that Soto might start performing much better this weekend against the slim Dodgers pitching staff. The starters for this series for the Dodgers will be Clayton Kershaw, Tony Gonsolin, and Landon Knack. All three are coming off not great starts and haven’t gotten very deep into games leading to more bullpen usage. But, facing a struggling Mets offense could be what they need to get themselves back on track.
The Dodgers offense will face a Mets pitching staff that boasts the best rotation ERA in the majors. Right off the bat the Dodgers will encounter Griffin Canning, who is 5-1 on the season with a 2.47 ERA. He has only allowed 10 runs over his last seven games. Then they face lefty David Peterson who only allowed one run over six innings to the hot New York Yankees in his last outing, and after that they get Kodai Senga who is sporting a sweet little 1.43 ERA.
Add in that all of these games are primetime games covered by national outlets, and the Dodgers seem to usually not perform well in games of that nature, I am not expecting a dominant performance from the Boys in Blue. I fear this series will be another battle that the struggling Dodgers do not need.
Maybe I should stop hanging out with my husband.
Friday game info
- Teams: Dodgers at Mets
- Stadium: Citi Field, New York
- Start time: 4:10 p.m.
- TV: Apple TV+
- Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)