Mets vs. Reds: RHP Zack Wheeler vs. RHP Mat Latos

New York Mets (67-75) vs. Cincinnati Reds (67-75)

RHP Zack Wheeler (9-9, 3.45 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, .238 OAV) vs. RHP Mat Latos (5-4, 3.46 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, .238 OAV)

Sunday, September 7, 2014: 1:10 p.m. at Great American Ball Park

Having been acquired from the San Francisco Giants back at the 2011 Trade Deadline in exchange for Carlos Beltran, the Mets virtually stole one of the game’s top pitching prospects. While Wheeler has not put up the strikeout numbers of Stephen Strasburg, or kept his ERA as low as Jose Fernandez, he has proven himself to be a brilliantly solid pitcher. As a reminder, he is only 24 years old.

While Wheeler does strikeout nearly a batter per inning, he is also hovering in some uncharted territory as far as walks are concerned. Last season, in limited action, he walked over four batters per nine innings of work (46 walks in 100 innings). This year, the average has slipped a bit to 3.8 per nine innings, but the number is still unusually high (70 walks in 164.1 innings).

Over the last two months, Wheeler has not made a start where he did not reach triple digits in terms of his pitch count. While that may indicate that he has had the longevity to do so, he has only finished the seventh inning once. It will be crucial for the Reds to work on the pitch count for a young Wheeler in the series finale.

Here is the lineup he will face via the team’s Twitter account: (with Wheeler never having faced the Reds before, all hitters will be getting their first peak at him on Sunday afternoon)

CF – Billy Hamilton

LF – Skip Schumaker

3B – Todd Frazier

C – Devin Mesoraco

2B – Brandon Phillips

RF – Jay Bruce

1B – Jack Hannahan

SS – Zack Cozart

P – Mat Latos

* * *

When these two teams matched up back in early April, Latos was still rehabbing from his multiple off-season surgeries on both his elbow and knee, meaning this will be his first time facing the Metropolitans since 2013. Since entering the league, he has managed to face them at least once a season, despite never being in the same division.

On May 22, 2013, Latos would incur his only non-quality start of the seven he has thrown against New York in his career. His record sits at 2-2 with a 2.89 ERA over the past five seasons, without a home run allowed since 2011 (when he was a member of the San Diego Padres).

Like many of his teammates, Latos ramps up his game in the daytime. Having won nearly twice as often, his .658 winning percentage (25-13) with a 3.12 ERA put him in line with teammates Johnny Cueto and Alfredo Simon.

It will be Spanish Heritage Day down at Great American Ball Park, meaning the Redlegs will break out the tremendously popular “Los Rojos” jerseys. Curiously enough, not a single member of the starting lineup is of Hispanic descent, despite the many options. (Ramon Santiago, Brayan Pena, Johnny Cueto, Alfredo Simon, Yorman Rodriguez)

Here is the lineup he will face via the team’s Twitter account:

CF – Juan Lagares (0-for-3, 1 K)

LF – Kirk Nieuwenhuis (1-for-3, 1 K)

3B – David Wright (2-for-14, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB’s, 5 K’s)

1B – Lucas Duda (3-for-11, 2 2B’s, 2 RBI, 5 K’s)

SS – Wilmer Flores (yet to face Latos)

RF – Curtis Granderson (yet to face Latos)

2B – Dilson Herrera (yet to face Latos)

C – Anthony Recker (yet to face Latos)

P – Zack Wheeler (yet to face Latos)

* * *

The rubber match of both the season series and the weekend series comes down to Wheeler v. Latos. Both pitchers possess a similar style with biting sliders and fastballs that do not break the radar gun, but have the ability to cause hitters to swing and miss. On the first NFL Sunday of the year, the Redlegs and Mets have a score to settle on the diamond, opposed to the gridiron.