The New York Mets (63-77) welcome the San Francisco Giants (58-83) for a three-game series at Citi Field. The Mets, coming off a 2-1 roadtrip to Tampa Bay, won their first series in the last three, getting walked off twice in Chicago, and being relatively manhandled by both the Brewers and Astros.
That said, the Mets have not looked terrible over this stretch, and continue to figure out how to win games after selling off most of their bullpen and two of their outfielders. The most recent departure is of Luis Robert Jr., claimed off waivers by the Orioles a few days ago.
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But as has been the way things have gone, the Mets seemingly aren’t missing Robert too much, and that’s not just because of Nick Morabito’s excellent game on Wednesday night. Morabito collected his first two big league hits, driving in three runs on a double and making a fantastic catch in left field.
As for that remade bullpen, a few of the newbies have struggled here and there, but overall, folks like Daniel Duarte, Nate Lavender, Austin Warren, and Dedniel Nuñez have all been stepping up. It will be very interesting to see which of these players will be a part of the Mets’ bullpen next season.
But the story has really been the three young starters, all of whom will start against the Giants. While Sean Manaea has wilted as of late and Robert Stock is pitching like a 36-year old journeyman, the trio of Nolan McLean, Christian Scott, and Zac Thornton look like rotation mainstays for the foreseeable future. With Jonah Tong’s last few starts looking far, far better than most of his 2026, he will likely be joining the rotation shortly.
While the Mets’ season has been a disappointment, the Giants season has been fairly close to disaster. They’d be in the basement of the NL West if not for the truly astoundingly bad Rockies. While Mets fans like my good friend Chris McShane will be looking forward to watching Drew Gilbert, there really aren’t too many bright spots for the Giants right now. Their best player by bWAR, Luis Arraez, no longer plays for them. Their second best player by bWAR, Rafael Devers, is reportedly miserable.
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While the Mets have their problems, the Giants make the Mets look like a respectable, functioning ball club. Thanks?
Friday, September 4: Nolan McLean vs Matt Wilkinson, 7:10pm EDT on SNY
McLean (2026): 155.2 IP, 172 K, 61 BB, 15 HR, 3.06 ERA, 3.60 FIP, 75 ERA-
Nolan McLean is garnering some Rookie of the Year discussion, and while he has had a few rough patches over the season, it’s hard to argue that he doesn’t belong there. Since his shaky start on August 6th, McLean has been phenomenal. In four starts, he’s tossed 25 innings, allowing just three earned runs, ten hits, 13 walks and 16 strikeouts. The walks have been a little more of an issue later in the season and his strikeouts are down, but the results haven’t suffered at all.
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Wilkinson (2026): 11.2 IP, 6 K, 2 BB, 1 HR, 4.63 ERA, 3.70 FIP, 114 ERA-
The 23-year old rookie only has three stars under his belt, and for the first start he was acting as an opener. In his most recent appearance, he notched a quality start, allowing just two runs over six innings.
Saturday, September 5: Zac Thornton vs Anthony Molina, 4:10pm EDT on SNY
Thornton (2026): 61.1 IP, 45 K, 14 BB, 7 HR, 2.93 ERA, 3.89 FIP, 72 ERA-
Thornton’s starts tend to look a little more like a tightrope walk than the other young pitchers on the staff, but he’s settling into a really impressive rookie campaign. The biggest highlight might be his walk rate; he’s only walked 14 in 11 starts, while only walking one or fewer batters over his last four starts.
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Molina (2026): 14.1 IP, 9 K, 5 BB, 2 HR, 3.77 ERA, 4.07 FIP, 92 ERA-
The 24 year old Molina is the veteran of this trio of Giants starters. He came over from the Braves mid-season, and has made two appearances thus far for San Francisco. In his only start, he went five, giving up three run and striking out six.
Sunday, September 6: Christian Scott vs TBA, 1:40m EDT on SNY
Scott (2026): 94.2 IP, 113 K, 44 BB, 10 HR, 3.80 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 93 ERA-
Scott’s August wasn’t pretty at times, though in every appearance there have been moments of transcendence. In his last start against the Astros, walks were an issue, with five free passes to only two strikeouts. But in his first year back from Tommy John, Scott is doing a lot to establish himself as piece of this rotation after a lost season.
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