The New York Mets have lost five straight, and they'd love to get a turnaround start from Zac Thornton.
The New York Mets are playing important games at Citi Field right now, but these games aren’t important to them. The Philadelphia Phillies are in the middle of a pennant race, and the Mets will send Zac Thornton to the mound in the second game of their series to try to play spoilers.
This didn’t go well in game one of the series. The Mets were dominated by Phillies starter Aaron Nola, who held them hitless for five innings, and by the time the Mets got a hit and started to wake up, the Phillies were on the board and the game was more or less over.
This sort of thing is disappointing but expected at this point, which puts the spotlight on Thornton. He struggled for a couple of starts, then submitted a strong rebound effort agains the New York Yankees back on Sept. 12.
Thornton is auditioning for a role in the rotation next season, and he’s got a good shot if the Mets are willing to let go of some of the stereotypes that most teams have about young starters.
For starters, there’s the velocity issue. Thornton isn’t a hard thrower, although he did up his velo against the Yankees and it made a big difference. Manager Andy Green likes Thornton a lot more when he “lives up there,” with “there" being 93-95 mph.
But that’s a bias, though, not a fact. Thornton pitches to contact, and while he does know what he’s doing with that, it also leaves him more vulnerable when he leaves pitches in the middle of the zone. Compare that with young hard throwers who don’t actually know where the ball’s going half the time, however, and the choice becomes simpler.
The Phillies will send Andrew Painter to the mound, and he can be problematic. His ERA is high at 5.54, but he’s also just 23, so that’s not all that surprising. He pitched well in his last start against the Atlanta Braves, giving up just one run in five innings as the Phils beat the Braves by a score of 9-4. Before that, though, he was bounced around by the Houston Astros, who got five runs in five inings against him in a Phillies loss.
The pennant race is what makes this game spicy. The Phillies are tied with the Chicago Cubs for the top wild card, but they’ve also got the San Diego Padres breathing down their necks from the third spot, with the Padres just a game back. That means fun scoreboard watching, as the Phillies can’t afford to stumble against a team like the Mets.
