The New York Mets (29-36) return home after concluding their “brutal” west coast schedule as they prepare to welcome the St. Louis Cardinals (35-28) to Citi Field. The two teams squared off in the second series of the season with three hotly-contested and close matches. New York bested St. Louis in the first one by a 4-2 score, with the Redbirds prevailing 3-0 and 2-1 over the Amazins in the final two contests.
The Mets closed off their road trip on a high note by taking two out of three from the reeling
Padres. They sandwiched the series with impressive wins, 5-0 on Friday and 7-3 on Sunday, while dropping the middle game 3-2 on Saturday. The two wins followed the mold of their series closing victory against Seattle last Wednesday, as it was a combined and complete effort that featured strong pitching overall, and a balanced offensive attack. Sunday’s game was especially noteworthy, as Carson Benge became the fourth Mets rookie to contribute a five-hit game that featured a home run, joining Pete Alonso (2019), Alex Ochoa (1996), and John Milner (1972). The Mets led in the middle game of the series, but Austin Warren surrendered a two-run homer to Freddy Fermin in the seventh that led to the eventual defeat.
All in all, it’s hard to feel disappointed coming off a road trip against two teams with very strong rosters. The old baseball rule is you want to play roughly .500 baseball on the road and feast on your home schedule, which usually leads to a postseason berth. Unfortunately for the Mets, they dug themselves into such a deep hole early in the season that playing merely .500 on the road is probably not good enough at this juncture to get them back into the postseason picture. Regardless, they’ve won three of their last four and seven of their last ten dating back to the final game of their series with the Reds, so perhaps it’s a start. At the very least, the offense is starting to look like a more fearsome unit, or at least one that can string a few hits together to put runs on the board. It’s a far cry from the team that seemed as if scoring three runs was a minor miracle.
The Mets, to their credit, have also been playing a lot better at home than their 15-15 record at Citi Field would suggest. Over their past two homestands in May, they went 9-3 front of the Flushing Faithful, including a 5-1 stint against the Tigers and Yankees, and then a 4-2 record against the Reds and the Marlins last time around. This came after they struggled at home in April, with a 1-5 homestand earlier in the month and a 3-6 homestand to close out their April schedule. Then again, the entire month of April was a nightmare from which the team is glad to have woken up from in recent weeks.
I wrote a little bit in the last series preview about Marcus Semien’s recent resurgence, and that continued at Petco Park. He contributed two home runs in the three-game set, just barely missed another home run in the Sunday game. He finished the series 4-for-12 with three runs scored and two runs batted in. Not to keep dredging up the past, but he’s not all that far behind Brandon Nimmo, whom the Mets traded to acquire him, in some of his 2026 numbers. On the year, Semien is now hitting .226/.277/.362 eight homers, 26 runs scored, 25 runs batted in, and an (admittedly still low) 81 wRC+ in 65 games. Nimmo, for comparison, is slashing .249/.330/.398 with seven homers, 27 runs scored, 22 runs batted in, and a 106 wRC+ in 63 games for Texas. Since May 1, however, Semien is hitting .232/.279/.404 (.703 OPS) with seven homers and a 97 wRC+, while Nimmo is hitting .205/.293/.333 with three homers and an 80 wRC+. If nothing else, the gap has closed significantly over the past few weeks.
And enough good things cannot be said about Carson Benge, who has rebounded nicely from his early season struggles and has become a force at the top of the lineup, punctuated by his five-hit performance on Sunday. The youngster has raised his numbers on the year to .265/.325/.408 and now owns a very respectable 111 wRC+ in 62 games played. Since May 1, he’s slashing .316/.377/.496 (.873 OPS) with a 150 wRC+. At this pace, he can insert himself squarely into the Rookie of the Year conversation, which is impressive when you consider that many thought he should have been demoted in April (and he very well could have been had it not been for all the injuries the club endured in their outfield at the time). It’s a very impressive turnaround for a kid who is still just 23 years of age, and he has proven to be every bit the talent the club thought he would be when he was listed as one of their top prospects.
Speaking of youngsters, the Cardinals, whom the Mets welcome into Citi Field later today, have the youngest roster in all of Major League Baseball, at just around an average age of 26.5 years old. They are led by second baseman JJ Wetherholt (23 years old), shortstop Masyn Winn (24 years old), right fielder Jordan Walker (24 years old), catcher Iván Herrera (26 years old), and first baseman/Designated Hitter Alec Burleson (27 years old), all of whom have helped contribute to a quick turnaround for the Cardinals, who find themselves second in the NL Central behind the dominant Brewers. They enter this series on a four-game winning streak after finishing off a three-game sweep of the Cardinals at home.
Of the young stars mentioned above, Walker has been the breakout star this season. After posting a 1.0 fWAR in 2023, a -0.6 fWAR in 2024, and a -1.3 fWAR in 2025, he has broke through with a 2.5 fWAR already in just 62 games, which leads the club. He also tops all qualified Cardinals hitters with a 159 wRC+, a .922 OPS, 16 home runs, 44 runs scored, 47 runs batted in, 10 stolen bases, a .303 batting average, and a .560 slugging percentage. Wetherholt, who is presumably leading the prospective NL Rookie of the Year field heading into play tonight, is having a great rookie campaign, hitting .246/.358/.395 with nine homers, 40 runs scored, 25 runs batted in, and a 118 wRC+ while matching Walker’s 2.5 fWAR. Herrera, meanwhile, leads the club with a .378 on-base percentage and has a .780 OPS and a 118 wRC+, with a 1.1 fWAR in a team-leading 63 games played. Winn struggling the most out of the young Cardinals hitters, slashing .236/.318/.322 with an 86 wRC+ and a 0.9 fWAR in 56 games.
Overall, St. Louis is a middle-of-the-pack offensive club despite the numbers mentioned above, posting a 102 wRC+ as a team,—which is seventh-best in the NL—while their 278 runs scored is ninth among all NL squads. In terms of pitching, their starters have posted a 4.09 ERA, which is fifth-best in the league and a tick higher than the Mets’ 4.23 rotation ERA, which is sixth. Their bullpen sports an identical 4.09 ERA, which is tenth in the NL. All of this has helped fuel the Cardinals’ turnaround. During the first series between the two clubs, there was talk in the SNY booth that the Cardinals, as a franchise, has not endured back-to-back losing seasons in a full schedule since 1958-1958, which seemed very much in play this year following their 78-win 2025 campaign. With their play to start the year, they have, for the moment, silenced that talk and instead inserted themselves squarely into the discussions for an NL postseason spot.
Tuesday, June 9: Freddy Peralta vs. Dustin May, 7:10 PM EDT on SNY
Peralta (2026): 72.0 IP, 74 K, 30 BB, 9 HR, 3.63 ERA, 4.01 FIP, 91 ERA-
Peralta enjoyed one of his stronger starters in orange and blue against a tough Mariners team. He limited Seattle to just one earned run on six hits, with six strikeouts and two walks. The effort was enough to earn him his fourth win and get him back to .500 on the season. It was just the third time this year that he completed at least six innings of work and the second time he pitched at least six innings and allowed one run. As a former Brewer, he has a lot of experience facing the Cardinals, posting a 4.50 ERA in 92 innings against St. Louis.
May (2026): 66.2 IP, 60 K, 19 BB, 5 HR, 4.59 ERA, 3.36 FIP, 114 ERA-
May has had mixed results in his first year in Cardinal red after spending much of his career with the Dodgers (along with a brief pit stop in Boston last season). May has picked up losses in four of his last six starts, and the Cardinals have lost five of those games, though May himself hasn’t been all that bad. Dating back to May 3 (when the stretch began), he has a 4.00 ERA and a 2.97 FIP in 36 innings, with opposing batters hitting .205 against him. In his last start, he did not factor in the decision as he allowed three earned runs on five hits with nine strikeouts and two walks in 5 2/3 innings pitched.
Wednesday, June 10: Christian Scott vs. Andre Pallante, 7:10 PM EDT on SNY
Scott (2026): 36.0 IP, 41 K, 18 BB, 1 HR, 2.50 ERA, 3.11 FIP, 63 ERA-
After needing 16 starts to earn his first career victory, Scott picked up his second win in as many starts. He shut out the Padres over 5 2/3 innings, scattering three hits while walking two and striking out three. Scott has gotten into a groove after a slow start to the year, posting a 0.55 ERA and a 2.43 FIP, with 16 strikeouts and six walks over 16 1/3 innings during that stretch. He’s also completed at least five innings in each of those starts after doing so just once in his first five starts this year.
Pallante (2026): 63.2 IP, 51 K, 23 BB, 8 HR, 3.96 ERA, 4.41 FIP, 99 ERA-
After struggling through a career-worst 5.31 ERA and -1.2 bWAR for St. Louis last year, Pallante has rebounded nicely this year with a sub-four ERA over his 12 starts this year. He started this year out by shutting out the Mets over five innings and picking up his first victory of the year. In his last start against the Rangers, he held Texas to one earned run on three hits, with five strikeouts and two walks over 5 2/3 innings pitched.
Thursday, June 11: Nolan McLean vs. Hunter Dobbins, 1:10 PM EDT on SNY
McLean (2026): 72.1 IP, 82 K, 27 BB, 8 HR, 3.98 ERA, 3.73 FIP, 100 ERA-
Following his last start against the Padres, McLean said he felt he was ‘trending in the right direction’ and that he felt great physically, which is a positive step for all parties involved. It was his first quality start since his outing on May 14 against the Tigers, as he held the Padres to one earned run on three hits over six innings as he settled for a no decision. It was the second straight start in which he kept the ball in the yard, but he also walked three, making is eight over his last two starts. It was still a solid start as McLean looks to get his season back on track.
Dobbins (2026): 13.0 IP, 14 K, 7 BB, 1 HR, 2.77 ERA, 3.57 FIP, 69 ERA-
Dobbins came over from the Red Sox in a deal that sent Willson Contreras to Boston and will be making his fourth appearance for St. Louis this season. He made a spot start on April 30 against the Pirates, going 4 1/3 innings and allowing three earned runs on two hits with five walks and four strikeouts. His last two appearances on May 31 and June 5 were relief outings where he came in during the middle innings and finished off the game. He earned his first career save against the Cubs, pitching 3 1/3 innings and allowing one earned run on four hits. Then he picked up his first with as a Cardinals, shutting out the Reds over the final five innings of the team’s 10-3 win.
