Mets newcomer Font faces immediate test in Padres


Two days after joining the club, right-hander Wilmer Font will try to give the New York Mets a successful conclusion to what had been a rough road trip Wednesday afternoon in San Diego.

“Yeah, they told me that I’m starting Wednesday,” Font said Tuesday, a day after the Mets acquired the 6-foot-4, 250-pound Venezuelan from Tampa Bay in exchange for either a player-to-be-named-later or cash.

Given that Font, who will turn 29 later this month, has started only five times in 37 career major league appearances stretched over five seasons, he wasn’t exactly the Mets’ first choice to be starting a game at the end of a six-game road trip that started with four straight losses, a skid broken when rookie sensation Pete Alonso hit a two-run homer to help defeat the Padres on Tuesday night.

But one member of the rotation went on the 10-day injured list Monday, and another was returning to New York on Tuesday.

Left-hander Jason Vargas went on the injured list due to tightness in his left hamstring. Left-hander Steven Matz returned home after receiving an injection to calm a nerve issue.

Font had a 1-0 record with a 5.79 ERA in 10 relief appearances for Tampa Bay this season. He gave up nine runs on 15 hits and five walks with 18 strikeouts in 14 innings for Tampa Bay.

Font is 3-3 with a 6.51 ERA in his career, giving up 47 runs on 69 hits and 31 walks with 58 strikeouts in 65 innings.

Font does have a history against the Padres, two relief appearances that were both in San Diego. He gave up two runs on two hits and three walks with a strikeout in 2 2/3 innings.

Font will go up against Padres’ left-hander Matt Strahm.

Strahm, 27, will be making his seventh start of the season. He is 1-2 with a 3.03 ERA. But his ERA has fallen in each of his last five outings after opening the season by giving up five runs on eight hits in just 2 2/3 innings.

Over his last five starts, Strahm has allowed six earned runs on 23 hits and two walks with 25 strikeouts in 30 innings for a 1.80 ERA. He hasn’t issued a walk over his last four starts.

“Right now, Matt is pitching just as well as he did last season while filling a new role,” Padres manager Andy Green told reporters recently of his reliever-turned-starter.

The question facing Strahm in spring training was durability. But he went a career-long eight innings on April 19 and completed six innings in each of his last two starts while averaging 84 pitches a game in his last five starts.

“I’m proving I can do this,” Strahm recently said of his role in the Padres rotation. “They gave me a chance, and it has worked out for everyone.”

Over his last five outings, Strahm has not given up more than two runs in a game. His last three starts were all quality starts. One thing that has benefitted Strahm is the Padres’ ability to give him five days rest between starts.