The New York Mets could use some reinforcements right now, both in their lineup and in their bullpen. Could a pair of top prospects put the Mets over the top?
Host Ryan Finkelstein talks about the potential of adding Luisangel Acuña and Brandon Sproat to the roster for the stretch run this season.
Could Acuña give the Mets lineup a lift right now with Starling Marte on the IL and Jeff McNeil's continued struggles?
Might David Stearns consider having Sproat pitch out of the bullpen down the stretch, similar to how Corbin Burnes did for the Brewers back in 2018?
JOIN THE LOCKED ON METS INSIDER COMMUNITY: https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonmets
Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
Tax Network USA
Reduce your tax debt and get help from a team of licensed tax professionals call 1-800-549-1000 or visit TNUSA.com/lockedon.
Ibotta
Ibotta is a free app that lets you earn cash back every time you shop. Right now, Ibotta is offering our listeners $5 just for trying Ibotta by using the code LOCKEDONMLB when you register. Just go to the App Store or Google Play store and download the FREE app to start earning cash back when you use code LOCKEDONMLB.
Booking.com
The right stay can make you a fan of any US city - even your rival’s. Book today on Booking.com on the site or in the Booking.com app! Booking.com, Booking dot YEAH!
PrizePicks
Go to https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONMLB and use code lockedonmlb for a first deposit match up to $100!
eBay Motors
From brakes to exhaust kits and beyond, eBay Motors has over 122 million parts to keep your ride-or-die alive. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to bring home that big win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.
Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.
FanDuel
FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM/LOCKEDON and add a big win to your summer bucket list!
FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Could we see both Luis and Hellucunya and Brandon Sprote play a role for the 2024 Mets? I'll talk about it on today's show. You are locked on Mets, your daily New York Mets Podcast. Get up the locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all you amazing Mets fans, you are listening to locked on. That's part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Thank you for making locked on Mets, your first listen every day, locked on Mets, is free and available on all platforms including YouTube. On the show today in the first segment, we got a frustrating series split to discuss. The Mets let one get away in DC, I'll talk about the final game of that series and where everything went wrong in the final two games, really, in the first segment, that in the second segment, we're going to talk some prospects. Could Luis and Hellucunya and/or Brandon Sprote play a big role for the Mets down the stretch this year? I'll make the case for both of them to get promoted at some point this season. Then in the final segment, Mets vs. Pirates series preview. Before we get to that even though, I'm your host Ryan Fickelstein, if you want to find any of my work, follow me on X at Fickelstein-Ryan, you can also find some of my writing at justbaseball.com where I work as the managing editor. This episode of Lockdown Mets is brought to you by Booking.com, Booking.Yeah, the right state can make you a fan of any city, even your rivals, check out Booking.com for your stay today. We have a Friday farm report in store for you and I'm going to spend a lot of time on two of the Mets top prospects. You can make an argument, these are the two guys, I don't know if you say closest to the big leagues in the Mets system, but maybe the closest high impact players available in the Mets system. So we're going to spend a lot of time on Brandon Sprott in the recent Hell of Queen today, but first, there is a series split to discuss and it feels almost like a series loss because you had the first two games of this series one. And really, it felt like you had the third game of the series one when you were up five nothing against the Nationals in game three. And even when you were up five one, even when you were up five four, but only had seven outs to get the Mets were in the drivers and that's the game, the one on Wednesday night that I'll look back on this series and say they should not have let that one go. Thursday's game was frustrating because the Mets bats didn't hit, but you have to acknowledge that Jake Ervin was dialed this entire game. Yeah, there was some first pitch curve balls that he was getting in there sneaking by the Mets and you would have thought, okay, maybe they adjust to it. That's a hard pitch to hit. I mean, yeah, if you are looking for it and you see it coming, it obviously ends up right down the middle in the catcher's glove. That's a nasty curveball and this guy just looked lights out the entire start. And you also have to acknowledge how difficult it is for a team to go from blowing a game that I before and you wake up the next day have to get to the ballpark ridiculously early to kick off a July 4th slate because you're playing in the nation's Capitol and you're playing a baseball game at a time where typically you're showing up to the ballpark. But instead, here you are 11 o'clock start, you got to get the bats going and we saw it on both sides. I mean, Jose Quintana pitched a gem seven scoreless from Quintana. He has been so much better ever since he got Francisco Alvarez behind the plate with him. He has a 205 year right pitching to Alvarez 631 with everybody else this year. And in this outing, he did have traffic on the bases, but I'm not mistaken. I don't think anyone got even to third base. There was a couple instances where guys gone to scoring position, Lane Thomas stole second twice, but overall for Quintana, he allows four heads, walks three, only had one strike gap was just pitching to contact, kept his pitch count low, got deep into the game. But then that's going to hit and that's what it comes down to. Jeff McNeil only got the only hit of the game for the Mets. DJ Stewart drew a walk and that was it. So they never even sniffed a run in this game. Yeah, that's frustrating. And of course, it's hard to watch it and not complain or gripe or say, man, I can't believe you can't score a run on Jake Ervin, but you have to remember Jake Ervin's a really good young pitcher. I honestly think with this performance, there is a chance that Jake Ervin just pitched himself into the all star game. If it was up to me, I had to pick the representative for the Washington Nationals. I would take Jake Ervin. Now granted, I am a little bit motivated by or having ulterior motive with that because I don't want to see CJ Abrams in the game because I think Francisco Lindor has been very clearly better in CJ Abrams. But the way these things happen, they're going to look at Abrams and say he is the best player on a national team that has impressed this year. And despite the fact that he plays terrible defense and he has nowhere near the war that Lindor has throughout the season warping wins above replacement, they're going to say Abrams should represent, Trey Turner already got voted in. William Thomas has a case to be made. Ellie Day LeCruz is going to be an all star. So when you start rattling off all those short stops, I see the world where Lindor and his rough start is going to cost himself an all star appearance that he rightfully deserves because who is second best in the national league in extra base hits behind show Yotani? It's Francisco Lindor. So I hope to do the right thing Lindor makes it and part of the roadmap to him getting there is Jake Irvin being the lone representative for the nationals instead of Abrams and that would free up another short stop spot. I believe that it should be Turner because he got voted in even though I think a guy that plays half the season, starting the game is ridiculous. The Phillies just, their fans showed up, their fans showed up so they have all their guys in there, you know, Bones going to be in the infield, Harper, Turner, it's amazing Bryson Stott didn't find his way into the game, but that's something shake out. That's the process. So Turner is going to be there. That takes up one of the short stop spots and then Ellie Day LeCruz has to be there. I imagine or if it was up to me, I would say Lindor and and Adamus as well would all make the game, but that's a topic for another day, I guess those reserves get announced on Sunday, I believe. You know, guys can get scratched from the game. They can pull themselves out, there's injuries, maybe Lindor finds his way in, although I think at this point, if you had to guess, Brandon Nemo will probably be the Mets lone representative at the All-Star game or maybe they get Luis Severino. Getting back to the actual baseball game after I throw in a tangent on the All-Star game. So you look at this game as a whole and it really came down to the bullpen at the end because the two starters pitched to a draw essentially, though Irvin did get one extra inning and then Jesse Winker is the one that spoils the party for the Mets. Now I've seen a lot of people who have complained about the decision for Adrian Houser to pitch to Jesse Winker in that inning. Jesse Winker was not in the game, he was called as a pinch hitter. The Mets had seven strong from Quintana and let's just say when Houser entered the game, what was your thoughts as a fan? Because personally I thought it's about as good as you can expect of an arm to grab right now. If it wasn't him, yeah maybe read Garrett but you're not going to grab Garrett for two innings in a 0-0 game where it doesn't look like your team is going to hit. So with that in mind, Houser was the best option to come into the game, get to strike out then Jesse Winker comes on. Now Jesse Winker had insane numbers against Adrian Houser in his career. I believe it was 9 for 22 with five home runs prior to that at bat, any hummered and that was the difference in the game. Now I've heard or I've seen on Twitter a lot of people saying how could the Mets possibly pitch to Jesse Winker. They should have intentionally walked and they should have put four fingers up. As much as those are drastic splits or not in splits, drastic career numbers that will all you. And Houser I'm sure knows them, there's some guys that just own you when you're a pitcher and clearly this is one of those occurrences. With that said, 9 for 22, five home runs. That means if you let's pull out my calculator here and let's do the math. Alright, so bear with me for one second, we will say, okay, so 17 divided by 22 across his career despite how good he was, there was 77 percent of the time that he did not home run. Now they're not hit a home run. Now 23 percent, still some odds that you don't necessarily want to play into, but to put Jesse Winker on first base to put the winning run on first and a tie ball game, that's just a baseball. No, no, you don't do that because all of a sudden pass ball base hit you lose. And Jesse Winker hits one that hits off the top of the wall, he gets a double fine. The only thing that can't happen is the home run and it happens and it burns you and you lose. But do I think the Mets should have not put Houser in the game for fear of Jesse Winker coming off the bench? No. You would have intentionally watched walked Jesse Winker? No, I know, I think they should have pitched carefully to him and unfortunately it didn't work out and it burns them and they lose the game. But overall, this series, as much as you can be mad about the Thursday game, to me that was such a random game, played at 11 o'clock. I don't really fault anyone for that loss, including Houser. It's the night before that's more frustrating to me. And if you want to hear all my complaints about it and why Jake Deacon should be let go at some point this season, go back to yesterday's lockdown match, you can check it out. What I want to do now is really turn the page into the future quite literally, not only what's coming up here, but could we see two of the Mets top prospects factor into the equation this season and play a big role for the Mets down the stretch? We're going to talk Akuna, we're going to talk sprout. It's coming to you next. First though, a word from our sponsors. This episode of Lockdown Mets is brought to you by booking.com, booking.yea, with summer travel heating up, especially travel for baseball games, it's time to explore US cities. You've always secretly wanted to learn about, yes, we're talking about your arrival cities in this weekend. If you can clear out your schedule and get yourself the Pittsburgh, I'm telling you, you will not be disappointed. That ballpark PNC is absolutely stunning. It might be my favorite ballpark I've been to outside of cityfield, of course. There's the history of Fenway and of Riggly and I've been to both, but there's something about that park in Pittsburgh that is just awesome. With booking.com, you can get there and have a great stay with hotels, bed and breakfast, vacation rentals, resorts and so much more. Booking.com might be the place to find your perfect stay. The right stay can make you a fan of any US city, even your arrival. So, book today on booking.com on the site on the booking.com app. Today's episode is also brought to you by eBay Motors, passion drive and patience, or brings on the winning trophy. It's also what keeps your rider die alive. Even motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance. From superchargers, roof racks, exhaust kits, LED headlights and more, whether you're into speed, power or style, even motors has got you covered over 122 million parts for your number one rider die, you always find exactly what you're looking for. With eBay's guaranteed fit, your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back. Because with eBay Motors, you're burning rubber, not cash. It's all the parts you need, the prices you want. It's easy to bring home that win and turn your car into the MVP. So, keep your rider die alive at ebaymotors.com, eligible abs, only exclusions apply. You've been guaranteed fit is only available to US customers. If you're an everyday listener of the show, make sure you become a locked on Mets insider. This is our tech and service for good updates for me, anytime some news breaks on the Mets. So if the recent hella kunya was promoted on Friday, I would tell the subtextors first. The first thing I'm going to do, I'm going to go on there, I'm going to send out a text message to everyone so that they know you can ask me questions anytime. You'll also get the starting lineup sent to your phone each day, so you know who's going to be in the lineup with that having to go on social media. If you want to be a locked on Mets insider, find the link in the episode description, go to subtext.com/lockdownmets. Now, in Syracuse on Thursday, there was a very interesting game that was played. Joey Lucasi went seven strong, allowed four hits, one run, two walks, five strikeouts, could Luke Casey help the Mets bullpen this year. I talked about that a bit on yesterday's show. I think he's a better pitcher than Jake Deacon right now, and I want to see the best possible arms up with the big lead club. Cole Solcer, two perfect innings, another interesting one because Solcer is a guy we've seen plenty this year, but has not been called back up despite all the arms cycling through. This Cole Solcer better than tie-eyed cock, I don't know maybe, but the fact we threw two innings means we're not going to see him any time soon either. Luke Ritter, his 18th home run of the season, he's been great in Syracuse, power hitting righty who could crush left-handed pitching. See an option at some point potentially, but I want to spend time today about the guy who was not in the lineup, and that's why it's interesting. Luis Angelicunya got a rest day. Now he has been rested a few times this season, and I looked it up because I was curious. If LaCunya had played every single game for Syracuse this season, I would have jumped to the conclusion again that he's coming to Pittsburgh and he's going to meet the Mets this weekend. Now, I don't know if that's going to happen. I don't know when it's going to come. There has started to be a little bit of a kind of groundswell of interest on LaCunya coming up. You saw Anthony D'Acomo post an article about it, quotes from Mets Brass talking about how much they appreciate how he fought through, struggled early this season, and where he's at right now in the box, how good he looks. That's maybe a little bit of an inkling of how the Mets feel about him. You had the fact that he got pulled from a game when Harrison Bader crashed into the wall. I still believe that was a precautionary thing of let's get Acuna out, and if Bader goes on the IL, Acuna might enter the fold. Remember, Bader has not played since he crashed into that wall, and part of that might have been a guy who might be dealing with some back soreness, you don't want to have him rush for an 11 o'clock start the next day, or not the next day, two days later, and the reason why he missed Wednesday's game, I just had been, well, it happened the night before. But there's a world where they put Bader on the 10-day IL retroactive to a couple days ago, bring up Acuna for the time being, start him in center field, see what he has, and make a roster decision later. That is in the cards. So you look at a team right now that just ran out of starting life that had Ben Gamel, DJ Stewart, and Jeff McNeil. And also not to mention Tyrone Taylor has been swinging it better as of late, but that's the life they put up in this game, and that lineup scored no runs, and they got one hit and one walk. Funny enough, those two base runners came from that group I just talked about with McNeil and Stewart. But the point stands, if Luis Mihal Akuna was on the roster, could he have manufactured a run in this game? Could Akuna have drawn a walk or gotten a base hit, stole second, stole third, and came around to score on a sack fly? That is the type of game-changing speed that he has. And when you are rolling out some of these guys that aren't great big league bats right now anyway, it does lead to that wonder, right? Is this the time to make a move? Over the last 15 days, Jeff McNeil has 37 bats, DJ Stewart has 13, Ben Gamel has 6. Combine that, that's 56 bats that have gone to those three guys. Francisco Lindor leads the team with 55. So my point in counting those at bats up is if you take away the at bats that are going to Stewart, to Gamel, and a lot of them that are going to Jeff McNeil, if you put Jeff McNeil and the DJ Stewart role, you banish Gamel and you combine McNeil and Gamel into a queen that bats over a two-week span, when that is a semi-regular and it makes sense to have him on the big league roster, because at least you're not hurting his development by not playing him. I have throughout the season pushed back on the notion that just because Akuna got hot in June, the match should call him up. But that was a Mets team that had Starly Marte healthy, that had Vader healthy and thriving, that was cruising and even though McNeil was a sore thumb in the lineup, they still were putting up runs, yes, it's one bad game, I'm not overreacting just a Thursday. But it's more of the state of this roster and maybe bringing some youth into the equation is a good thing that could help them and if it's just a two-week stint, maybe it's just until Vader comes back or maybe it's until Marte comes back, or maybe it's just until the trade deadline and he struggles for a couple weeks, you send him down and you make a move at the deadline to get somebody into the fold that can be a second baseman left fielder that can actually hit or maybe Jeff McNeil starts to hit, whatever it is. I think it's a card that the Mets have to at least be thinking about playing right now considering where they're at, especially when you think about the pitching that he would face during this stretch. Yeah, this weekend going to be a little bit tough, although I think that Akuna has the ability to hold his own against a Paul Skeens better than someone like Jeff McNeil potentially where I don't know if McNeil is going to catch up to Skeens. But moreover, when you get past this series against the Pirates and they have some good pitching, it's the Nationals again and then the Rockies. I mean, you're going to have some light pitching that he might be able to take advantage of pitching that might not be that much better than what he's seeing in AAA, especially that Iraqi series. So if this is just until the break even, I kind of want to see it. So we'll see what the Mets do. It could have just been a rest day on Thursday and Syracuse. And he might just be right back out there on Friday night playing AAA games. But there's a world where this happens on Friday and that's what I wanted to talk about it. And because it's a Friday farm report, I also want to talk about the potential of Brandon Sprote making its way to the Big Red Club this year. I don't think this one would happen until maybe after the deadline. But there is a Brandon Sprote, Corbin Burns parallel that I'd like to walk you through. Before we get to that parallel, let's also just acknowledge great start by Sprote on Thursday. He went six and two thirds allowed three hits, two solo home runs were the two runs that he allowed. Walk two struck out nine is a 205 ERA, eight starts in double A's for now. In high A this year, he had an ERA below two. Put it all together. He's got like a one seven one area in the season. Now in high A, he had 16 walks and 25 and a third innings pitched. In double A, he has 12 walks and 48 and a third innings pitch. He is commanding the strike zone. He's pitching deep into games. He looks like a future stud, a guy that could be the ace of the Mets in a couple of years. So why would you want to hurt his development potentially and move him into a bullpen role, which is what I'm about to talk about because Corbin Burns did it. And David Stern put him in that role and it was for a team that needed help in the bullpen. So they went to a top prospect, they converted him for a year, and then eventually ended up in a rotation and became a saiyan. So Corbin Burns was a consensus top prospect and baseball top 100 prospect going to the 2018 season. Now he made his debut in July that year, 2017, the year prior to become that consensus top 100 guy, he had a season very similar to one that Brandon Sprote is in the middle of. He's to a 2-1-0 ERA and 16 starts in double A, 10 starts in high A had a 1-0-5 ERA. Now he started 2018 in triple A, pitched to a 5-1-5 ERA before he got promoted. But obviously they saw what the numbers looked like and they decided that he was, or not even at the numbers, what the stuff looked like and decided he would be big league ready, was probably pitching in a band box of a league. And they converted him to a reliever in the middle of June that year. He made six appearances out of the bullpen in triple A, and then got the call. So if Brandon Sprote starts making appearances in the bullpen, we'll have an idea that this might be happening. So I'll keep my eye out for that. But here's what Burns did down the stretch for the 2018 Brewers. There were a one win away from the World Series, mind you. So he comes up, does not allow a run in his first six big league appearances in July. He got it on the eighth pitches on the 10th. Now he had a more difficult August, gave up some runs, had a 4-7 ERA that month, but settled in and pitched away 193 ERA across 12 appearances in September. And then in October, where again, a team that nearly made the World Series, he made six appearances, he had not allowed a run in five of them. There was one appearance where he gave up two runs. But he pitched to a 2.00 ERA out of the bullpen for the Brewers that year, and then eventually became a starter and a Cy Young and is now a pitcher that I'm sure David Stearns would love to get back and pay a bunch of money this offseason to be the ace of the Mets. But the fact that he has done this in the past, taken a top prospect and inserted him into a bullpen that desperately needed him or needed that arm. It makes me think that there is a world where Brandon Sprote could find himself on the Mets this year. If you had to ask me right now, who is the one arm in the entire farm system, just playing for any Mets affiliate that could be the nastiest possible reliever to set up at Windy S? I think I might say Brandon Sprote, this stuff would play up even more. He might be throwing 101 with consistency out of the Mets bullpen. And the way that they did it with Burns is he would basically pitch like once every four days. He would pitch, get three days off pitch. And so you always knew, okay, this is a pseudo Burns day, right? You knew you had your starting pitcher. They probably had a guy that was five or five and dive, whatever it is. And then you had this guy that you could throw into a game to give you two great innings who could close out a game for you. Today, if Brandon Sprote was on the Big League team, he could have come out of the bullpen in a zero, zero game, carved up the nationals for two innings and an extras, maybe the Mets win it. You never know. But I imagine a bullpen, if the Mets don't make any trades, and obviously you still want them to, but if they decide, you know what, this is a team that's in the middle, we're not going to really aggressively sell. We're not going to aggressively buy. We're just going to sit on our hands and trust in the team that we've built and what we have in the organization. If you had a bullpen that was Edwin Diaz, Reid Garrett, Danielle Nunez, and Brandon Sprote, along with Adrienne Houser, I'm going to put David Peterson in there as well, if that is your bullpen, right? That's your, what is that? That six, that'd be six guys, and then you add Sean Reed Foley, Adam Audaveen, whoever the seventh is. But the reason why I pictured it this way, it's Diaz Garrett, Nunez, those are the guys that you trust right now. Sprote would be another one that could potentially be a late inning reliever also a multi inning reliever. And if you were able to cycle these starting pitchers between Sprote, Houser, and Peter Sanderson, where there's always one of them available, that's a way that you can get around having an arm short in the bullpen because when Kodai Sena comes back, it will be a six man rotation. So the reason also I say David Peterson in the bullpen is because you need a lefty. And I like to see Jake Deak-man go and David Peterson could be the lefty in the Mets bullpen. And we saw him thrive in that role a little bit in 2022, where he was somewhat of a swing man, right? He did some starts, but also pitched a lot of the bullpen for a really good Mets team. That would mean Jose Budo would be in the rotation. So just imagine that you have that bullpen I talked about with Sangha, Severino, Manaya, Christian Scott, Jose Quintana, Jose Budo is your six man rotation. I think that's enough pitching right there that you don't even have to go outside of the organization and you can win this season without making a trade without costing yourself any prospects. So as much as I'd be excited if Luis and Helikunya came up because it would be fun to see, the guy that I believe would not just come up and potentially play a role, a guy I think would come up and would immediately thrive is Brandon Spro. I honestly believe in a bullpen role this year, the guy could be dynamite. And then next year, he might just be in your rotation with Christian Scott, which if you're talking about prospects that'll help you in the second half, Christian Scott is another one who I think is going to play a key role that the Mets are going to make around this year. So it's just a fun thing to think about. I don't imagine the Mets are going to be anxious to go to that card. You'd like to keep Spro just pitching and developing as a starter. So that next year, he could be a guy. But if you get to a point this year where you believe in this team, that is something the Mets can go to that would take their bullpen and potentially put it over the top. We'll see what happens though. I also now to close the show of course, want to give you a serious preview. So let's get out of the hypothetical. Let's talk about what's about to happen. Mets first pirates this weekend will get that in just a minute first though, a word from our sponsors. Today's episode of Lockdown Mets is brought to you by tax network USA here with Lockdown Mets. We pride ourselves. I'm getting the latest news for your team, whether it's the off season, the draft spring training of the playoffs. It's year round. You know what else is year round? Collection season. Just because tax season is over doesn't mean the IRS will stop coming after you for unfiled taxes. The IRS can garnish your wages, levy your bank accounts, and can even seize your property. Don't let the IRS target you. Let the licensed professionals and tax experts at tax network USA go to bat for you. Though we're 14 years of experience and an A plus rating by the Better Business Bureau, tax network USA has saved their clients over $1 billion in tax debt. Video taxes have complicated matters that require tax planning or finally hit that parlay this season. And need help correctly filing. Call 1-800-549-1000 or visit tnusa.com/lockdown you can also see the link in the episode description below. Today's episode is also brought to you by Ibata. It's summer time, which means barbecue season, stock up on all your grilling favorites and earn cash back on every purchase when you use Ibata. Ibata is a free app that gives you the most cash back every time you shop on hundreds of items from groceries to beauty supplies and more. The average Ibata user earns $256 per year. That could cover the cost of an entire trip to the grocery store and even more than that too. Other apps can give you points that don't amount to much with Ibata. Just add your offers in the app, upload your receipt and you get real cash that you can cash out to your bank account, PayPal or gift cards. Using the over 50 million savers who earn cash back every time you shop from over 2,700 brands and retailers, including Lowe's, Macy's, Sephora, Best Buy and more. Right now Ibata is offering our listeners $5 just for trying Ibata by using the code locked on MLB when you register. Just go to the App Store or Google Play Store and download the free Ibata app to start earning cash back and use the code locked on MLB. Just Ibata, I-B-O-T-T-A in the Google Play Store App Store and use the code locked on MLB. Stay up to date with all the latest in the world of sports by checking out locked on sports today which is streaming 24/7 on YouTube. All right, Matt's verse pirates this weekend, a four-game series Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday. It's a little bit of a weird one. We haven't seen the Matt's play a four-game series that ends on a Monday this year. I don't believe, so that's new and you're going to see an unbelievable pitching matchup to start things off. That is the least severing over Paul Skeens. Now Skeens is a scary matchup. Now the Matt's have done great against some really good pitchers but they haven't seen Paul Skeens. Paul Skeens is unbelievable. He's going to give you some ridiculous stuff here in the batter's box. He's got this splinker that is a pitch out of hell if you're a batter which is basically a combination of a sinker and a splitter and he just throws it ridiculously hard. His fastball is going to top out over 100, probably multiple times in this outing. He's just insane. He's got an ERA in the low two so far. He's an unknown hit watch every time he pitches. The Matt's have their work cut out for them with Paul Skeens. They're going to be geared up for the fastball and that's what gets you hurt because all of a sudden he'll throw that splinker on you and good luck. The Matt's are going to be in a really tough spot and Luis Severino has to match the young flame thrower with a great start of his own. Sammy's got to choose to pitch himself into the all-star game with another great start. Not that that should be on his mind at all but you need Severino to deliver and this is the last game of Edwin Diaz's 10-game suspension. That's the good news. On Saturday Diaz will be back and your bullpen can hopefully be solidified with that addition. We'll see what happens on Friday night but the good thing too is the bullpen is pretty rested. Regare it. When did he last pitch? Was it the second game of that series against the Nationals? He's got what? Two days off here. Nunez didn't pitch, although I don't expect it to pitch on Friday night that he wouldn't go until Saturday but you have a pretty fresh bullpen where you might even be able to get a Jose Budo into the mix who knows, Adam Adavina should be good to go, Jake Deacon should be good to go, hopefully Severino shortens the game as much as possible or maybe you only have to watch Severino and Garrett pitch. That would be the dream scenario on Friday night. Garrett is going to be a battle of a couple of lefties, David Peterson versus Bailey Foulter. Foulter is having a really nice year in Pittsburgh. We'll see what the Mets do against him. Peterson obviously coming off a great start in Washington, hopefully he can follow that up with another good one. And again, you'll have Diaz back to close out that game if you're in a safe situation. Then kind of interesting development, we were going to see Jared Jones and Skeens pitching this series against the Mets. Now Jones just hit the IEL. You remember Jared Jones, he got five innings against the Mets on like 57 pitches without allowing a hit. And that's off the top of my head. I just remember it being absolutely dominant stuff, completely shut out the Mets. It was just no chance that they could get hit off of him. So that is a break to the Mets caught. I mean, you don't want to see a guy that talented hit the IEL. But for this particular series, the Mets caught a break because I don't know who's going to be pitching that game, but if I'm not going to be as good as Jared Jones, I do think that Jones was going through a little bit of a rough stretch lately, but his stuff is so good. So we'll see who pitches for the Pirates. It might be a spot starter bullpen game. I do not know. Final game Christian Scott right now is listed as the probable pitcher. We'll see if that holds because that would be pitching on four days rest. I'd love to see it. Maybe him versus Mitch Keller, Mitch Keller has been the ace of the Pirates. I think Skins has taken that spot in quick order and will probably be the ace for if they're lucky in the next 10 years, but at least the next six, Keller. Still a really good pitcher. So Christian Scott has a tough matchup on his hands. If it is him, otherwise, I guess that they don't have to use Budo before you get to Sunday. There could be a world where they decide to excuse me, that'd be Monday. There could be a world where they decide to bump Scott to Tuesday and pitch Budo in a spot start on Monday instead. So we'll see what they decide to do there. Overall, though, the same Pirates team that is hung around in this playoff mix, their lineup isn't great, but they have a couple of good hitters, Brian Reynolds, Andrew McCutchen, Connor Joe, a couple of guys that are having decent seasons. Their bullpen has stabilized, Colin Holderman has been great for them, that trade. Put back, pretty frustrating one, giving up Holderman for Daniel Vogelbach, because Holderman would be perfect in the Mets bullpen right now. And I believe Bednar has stabilized at their rough start to his season in the closure role. So we'll see how this series goes. The Pirates are 4 and 6 in the last 10 games, but a dangerous team nonetheless, and it should be a lot of fun. I'll be covering all of it throughout the weekend. So make sure you tune in for our Saturday show where I'll break down this pitching matchup, whatever happens. If there is a promotion of a kunyo, we'll definitely talk about that, even if there's not the return of them in Diaz, there'll be a ton to discuss. So make sure you check out that show, follow rate and review wherever you get your podcasts. If you're watching on YouTube, hit that subscribe button. The goal is to get to 9,000 subs by the all-star break. We got a little over a week left, we're within 100 subscribers, so I appreciate all of you who continue to subscribe. If you want to be locked on that's insider, by the link in the episode description, go to subtext.com/lockdown. That's it. Thank you for making lockdown match your first listener, your first watch, every day, not for your second watch. Head over to YouTube and check out the first ever 24/7 streaming channel that covers everything in the world of sports, talking about lockdown sports today with our local experts from each team and our league wide experts from each league. If I locked on sports station, we 24/7 on YouTube and on Amazon Fire TV. A prime member. You can listen to this lockdown podcast ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. I love sports. I love them so much I never want them to stop, but as the playoffs wind down, we get fewer games and the sports aren't sports like I want them to. But Fandil lets me keep the sports going whenever I want. All I have to do is open the app and dream up bets anytime I'm in the mood. In this summer, Fandil is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily. That's right, there's something for everyone every day all summer long. So head over to Fandil.com and start making the most out of your summer. Fandil, official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball.
