Phillies vs. Mets in London Series: Five things to know as MLB heads across the pond, plus a prediction

For the third time in history, Major League Baseball will play regular season games in London this weekend. The NL East rivals, the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, are heading across the ocean to play in the two-game London Series. The 2019 London Series, which featured the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, was MLB’s first trip to Europe. The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals played in the 2023 London Series.

“I think everyone is excited to go,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said earlier this week (via MLB.com). “I think this will be unique and a great experience for everyone involved.”

The 2024 London Series will once again be played at the London Stadium, which was built for the 2012 London Olympics. It is a multi-purpose facility that is currently the home ground of Premier League club West Ham United. London Stadium seats 62,500 for football games and will have a little more for this weekend’s baseball games.

Here are the details on the Mets vs. Mets series. Phillies this weekend in London. Both games can be streamed on fubo (Try for free).

The Mets and Phillies are off on Thursday and Friday — MLB and both teams are participating in promotional events leading up to this weekend’s games — so they will head into the London Series with well-rested bullpens.

Although they enter the London Series with a disappointing 27-35 record, the Mets are hot. They just beat the Washington Nationals three games and have won five of their last seven games overall. The Phillies have been the best team in the National League all season. They have a 44-19 record overall and have won six of their last seven games. Both teams are playing well.

This is a home and home series. The Mets will be the home team on Saturday and the Phillies will be the home team on Sunday. To make the schedule work, the Mets and Phillies played a customary four-game home-and-home series last month. They played two games at Citi Field on May 13-14, then two games at Citizens Bank Park on May 15-16. The Phillies have won three of four.

Here are four things you should know ahead of the London Series, plus a prediction, because why not?

1. This is MLB’s third trip to London

As noted, this is the third time MLB will play regular season games in London. The Red Sox and Yankees played the first London Series in 2019, and after the pandemic delayed things for a few years, MLB returned to London with the Cardinals and Cubs in 2023. Here are the previous London Series results:

London Series 2019

London Series 2023

The 2019 London Series was arena baseball. The Red Sox and Yankees combined for 12 runs in the first inning of the first game, and five times in both games more than six runs were scored in the half inning. The two teams combined to hit .387/.453/.661 with 10 home runs in the two games. It was crazy. The 2023 London Series was much more normal, for lack of a better term.

MLB and London Stadium personnel made changes to the playing surface in 2023, although the league said it was not in response to all offenses in 2019. Seating arrangements were changed and foul territory was reduced. There will be 330 feet on both lines, 387 feet in the gaps and 392 feet in the center of the field. The 16-foot center field wall drops to 8 feet.

Two Mets players have previous London Series experience: JD Martinez and Adam Ottavino. Martinez went 6-for-9 with two doubles and a home run in two games as a member of the Red Sox in 2019. Ottavino, then with the Yankees, allowed two hits and a walk in 1/2 a scoreless inning in two starts in 2019 No Player of the Phillies previously played in a London Series.

2. Each team gets an extra player

The Mets and Phillies will have an active roster of 27 players in London, so they get an extra player. They are still limited to 13 pitchers, so the extra player must be a position player. Both teams will also bring a three-man taxi squad to the London Series. It would be very difficult to call up someone between games in case of injury, you know?

The Mets are bringing in third baseman Brett Baty, catcher Joe Hudson and reliever Cole Sulser as their three-man taxi squad, and Baty will be the 27th man. Catcher Rafael Marchán, first baseman Darick Hall and right-hander Nick Nelson will be part of Philadelphia’s taxi squad, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

3. Suarez is coming off injury

Suárez, who has been one of the best shooters in the league this season, left his last start after regaining his pitching hand. X-rays were negative and, after letting the swelling go down for a few days, Suárez was able to play football earlier this week. Here is the piece:

“I played the ball,” Thomson said when asked for an update on Suárez on Thursday (via Philadelphia Inquirer). “He didn’t take the mound today, but he wanted to do a touch and feel (bullpen session) on Friday. I believe we can line him up.”

On Friday, Thomson confirmed that Suárez is ready to go on Saturday and will make the start, by Newsday. Longman Spencer Turnbull, who was so good as a reliever while Walker was on the injured list earlier this year, will likely be available for multiple innings if Suárez has any issues with his hand.

4. Who is hot, who is not

Baseball is a sport of hot and cold tides. Daily and weekly consistency is a myth. As such, several players enter this week’s series swinging the bat better than others. Here are the Mets’ best hitters over the past 15 days:

Baty returned to Triple-A and Vientos took advantage of the opportunity. He took over at third base and has been great since being recalled on May 15. Pete Alonso (.250/.321/.521) and Martinez (.260/.327/.520) have provided plenty of energy over the past 15 days. Offense hasn’t really been an issue for the Mets. It’s the bullpen. They get leads, then the bullpen slows them down.

On the other end of the spectrum, Jeff McNeil is hitting .156/.206/.188 over the last 15 days and .227/.296/.320 for the season. He began to lose playing time to José Iglesias, who is 7-for-18 (.389) since being called up earlier this week. Iglesias has started the last three games at second base and will likely make four straight starts against the left-handed Suárez on Saturday.

Here are three Phillies hitters who have performed well over the past 15 days:

The base percentages for Castellanos and Sosa are not good, but they have struggled for power. Castellanos is perhaps getting on the right track after a poor start to 2024. Sosa has been surprisingly productive filling in for the injured Trea Turner. He’s hitting .294/.357/.539 overall. Who predicted this? Not even the Phillies, I guess.

Over the last 15 days, Alec Bohm (.154/.185/.269), JT Realmuto (.189/.231/.324) and Bryson Stott (.149/.200/.170) have struggled. They are really going through it. Realmuto has taken a beating behind the plate in recent days and that could be contributing to a downturn in an otherwise strong season. The Phillies aren’t playing as well offensively as the Mets right now.

5. Upcoming international events

The London Series will be the third and final regular season series played internationally this year. Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres split two games in Seoul, South Korea, to open the 2024 season, and then the Houston Astros beat the Colorado Rockies in two games in Mexico City in late April. The Yankees also played two exhibition games against the Diablos Rojos del Mexico of the Mexican League in Mexico City in spring training.

It is expected that there will be more international games in 2025, although MLB has already canceled the Paris Series because the league was unable to find a promoter. Rumor has it that Shota Imanaga, Seiya Suzuki and the rest of the Cubs will open next season against Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Dodgers in Tokyo. MLB may also return to Mexico City and Puerto Rico in 2025. The international schedule is expected to be made official when MLB releases the 2025 schedule in July.

Prediction

The Phillies are so good and the Mets are not, and the regular season series has been lopsided thus far (Philadelphia leads 3-1 with a plus-9 run differential) that it would be easy to say the Phillies will win both games. . I will predict a split, however. I will say the Mets will find a way to lose to Suárez on Saturday before the Phillies attack Quintana on Sunday. There is no London Series MVP, but I will say that Sosa goes deep twice in London and wins the hypothetical prize.