No team has been as hot as the Washington Nationals to start the season. They’re offense is scorching and their trip to Coors Field has only served to make this offense look even better. Washington is playing great baseball and will look to continue kicking the New York Mets while they’re down this weekend.
This series will be contested from Friday, April 28, 2017 through Sunday, April 30, 2017 at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. The games on Friday and Sunday can be seen on the MLB Network in out-of-market regions.
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Pitching Matchups
This is already a very big series for the Mets who will try and avoid falling even further behind the Nationals as the calendar closes on the month of April.
It’s been a rough month for New York. They’ll look to Jacob deGrom to try get things back on track against the Nats.
While Syndergaard gets most of the press and before him it was all about Matt Harvey, deGrom has quietly been as good and consistent as anyone. He’s yet to win a game, but has a 2.55 ERA in his first four starts. He has struggled a bit with the walks, recording 10 in his 24.2 innings of work, inflating his WHIP a bit. Nevertheless, he’s still pitching well with a 2.65 FIP.
He allowed three runs in 5.2 innings against the Nationals in his last start, striking out 10. He’s struck out 23 in his last two starts. In his career against Washington, he’s 2-3 with a 3.33 ERA spread over eight starts and 46 innings.
The Nationals haven’t announced their rotation for the series with Stephen Strasburg. If the rotation stays on schedule, it would be Max Scherzer on Friday with Strasburg and Joe Ross to follow. For the Mets, Zach Wheeler gets the nod on Saturday with Sunday still not announced. Sunday is up in the air partially because of the concern around Noah Syndergaard.
As for Wheeler, the former top prospect is just happy to be back on the mound after missing two years. He’s been a bit spotty this year. In his last start, he lasted seven innings against the Nationals. He did give up four runs, however and took the loss.
For the Nats, there was concern coming into the year about Scherzer who was suffering with a finger injury. He’s been his normal self in spite of that, posting a 1.95 ERA and 3-1 record in four games. He’s thrown 27.2 innings, giving up just 14 hits, eight walks and striking out 33.
Strasburg is a bit of a wild card coming back from paternity leave. He’s essentially missing one start so he shouldn’t be rusty, but he could be a bit too strong which sometimes can flatten out breaking pitches. As to this season, Strasburg has been good. He’s 2-0 with a 2.89 ERA and 1.036 WHIP and earned the Opening Day start.
In fact, the fifth starter spot is the only area of concern for Washington. Joe Ross is in that spot now and he’s pitching to a 6.17 ERA. He’s allowed eight runs in 11.2 innings. He’s already given up three home runs which is a big part of his problems, but it’s been just two games for him. He’s been pretty good in three career starts against the Mets.
Betting Trends
Right now, the Mets are Murphy’s Law of baseball teams. They’ve lost five straight games and nine of their last 10 after starting the year 7-3. They’ve fallen below both the Phillies and Marlins in the standings and have injuries piling up.
Lucas Duda is on the disabled list and Yoenis Cespedes isn’t at full strength. Wilmer Flores is also out which impacts this team’s lineup against lefties and while all that is bad enough, the team has Seth Lugo and Steven Matz on the disabled list, depleting a once deep starting staff. Of course, the worst of the worst is the bicep injury for Noah Syndergaard. If this team loses Thor for any extended period they are done and the psychological hit will undoubtedly not help this club break out of their funk.
Over the last few games, the Mets’ offense has been putrid. They’ve scored nine runs in four games which isn’t surprising. With injuries to Duda and Cespedes, this team’s offense is even more dysfunctional. Jay Bruce is off to a hot start, but even he’s slowed down. Meanwhile, Jose Reyes is still hitting .114 and if this team isn’t hitting homers, they aren’t scoring.
Meanwhile, this Nationals team is the exact opposite of the Mets right now. They are scorching hot with the bats.
Washington has won nine of 10 games and Trea Turner has been the best player in the game since coming off the disabled list. He’s already got a cycle this year and has provided power, speed and everything else you could’ve hoped at the top of the order.
Bryce Harper is hitting, Ryan Zimmerman is hitting. Add in Adam Eaton, Daniel Murphy, Jayson Werth and this is one of the deepest lineups in baseball. Everyone is clicking except Anthony Rendon.
Bullpen Breakdown
Everything is coming up roses in this matchup for the Nationals. They’re offense is on fire, the Mets’ can’t buy a run. The Nationals’ rotation is producing as well, while the Mets have had trouble in the back end of theirs. The only place where the Mets have the upper hand is in the bullpen.
New York isn’t exactly slamming the door shut in the bullpen, but they’ve been more effective than Nat’s late inning guys.
Jeurys Familia is back and has been a bit wild, but effective in his three games. Addison Reed has been pretty good in the ninth and Hansel Robles and Jerry Blevins give the team some other options.
For the Nationals, Blake Treinen has already lost the closer’s job and he’s struggled in his appearances since being taken out of the ninth. He’s given up 10 runs in 10 innings. Joe Blanton was brought in to help stabilize the pen, too, and he’s been bad, with nine runs allowed in eight innings.
Shawn Kelley and Koda Glover are the new closers, but Kelley has a 5.00 ERA in the early going with four homers allowed and Glover is now on the DL.
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