The Mets head to Philadelphia on Saturday for a short two-game weekend set against the Phillies.
Freddy Peralta will take the mound against his new NL East rival, bringing with him a history of missing bats against this lineup.
Results have been mixed for the right-hander since being traded from the Brewers over the offseason, but the swing-and-miss profile still makes him appealing in this spot.
Peralta has made one start per season against the Phillies since 2022, and he has consistently given them problems, allowing one earned run or zero in each outing.
He’s been nearly unhittable in those appearances, giving up just nine knocks in 21 innings while striking out 33 batters.
With so much continuity in the Phillies’ lineup, he gets to face a lot of those same bats on Saturday.
Five of Philadelphia’s best hitters — Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Alec Bohm and J.T. Realmuto — are hitting a combined .156 with 27 strikeouts in 64 career at-bats versus Peralta.
Peralta has also cleared this number in each of those four starts against Philadelphia, showing that his success has not just been run prevention, striking out at least six and eight or more in three or four of those outings.
He has been able to finish Phillies hitters when he gets ahead, and this version of the lineup still carries plenty of swing-and-miss.
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With a team-wide strikeout rate of 23.3 percent that was tied for the sixth-highest in baseball heading into Friday’s play, I’m targeting Peralta’s punchout line against these Phillies.
THE PLAY: Freddy Peralta to strikeout more than 5.5 batters (+108, FanDuel Sportsbook)
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Dylan Svoboda is a versatile writer and analyst across many sports. He’s particularly knowledgeable about the big three — MLB, the NFL and the NBA.