The teams will face off in a four-game set in New York this weekend, and it’s a crucial for the Mets to make up some ground if they have any shot at tracking down the Nationals since they currently sit 8.5 games behind. Washington has an elite offense and starting rotation and only bullpen woes have kept it from staying atop the National League in victories.
The Mets have played a bit better of late but have an uphill climb to get back into playoff contention.
This series will be contested from Thursday, June 15 through Sunday, June 18, 2017 at Citi Field in Queens, New York. The Thursday game will be televised on MLB Network and the Friday matchup is on ESPN.
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Pitching Matchups
The Nationals will send Gio Gonzalez to the mound on Thursday. The left-hander is 5-1 on the year with a sparkling 2.91 ERA, although his peripheral numbers suggest some regression is coming. The Mets will counter with Steven Matz, who has been out due to injury for much of the season but returned on June 10 and gave up only one run in seven innings to beat the Braves.
On Friday, Washington will send out ace Max Scherzer against New York’s Robert Gsellman. Scherzer is one of the best hurlers in the game with a record of 7-4, an ERA of 2.36 and a WHIP of 0.85. Scherzer has nasty stuff and could do a number on the Mets offense. Gsellman is 5-3 with a 4.95 ERA, and after four shaky starts to begin the season has been very good over the past month.
The Saturday matchup features the Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg against the Mets’ Seth Lugo. Strasburg is 7-2 with a 3.27 ERA and is also a fireballer, striking out 99 batters in 85.1 innings pitched. Lugo is young but only gave up one run in seven innings in his first start last week and hopes to keep it going.
In the series finale, the Nationals are scheduled to start Joe Ross, who is 3-2 with a 6.39 ERA. He was knocked around by the Braves last time out and needs to straighten it out. The Mets will be favored as they send out ace Jacob DeGrom. He is 5-3 with a 4.33 ERA but has 100 strikeouts in 81 innings and should see the ERA improve as the season goes along.
Dynamic Middle Of The Order
The Nationals have one of the best lineups in the major leagues, with a few players having fantastic seasons. The excellence of Bryce Harper is not a surprise, as he is batting .315 with 16 homers, 49 RBIs and a 1.029 OPS.
The play of Ryan Zimmerman has been more unexpected. The former star is finally healthy and has reverted to his former self, batting a robust .367 with 19 homers, 52 RBIs and a 1.125 OPS. Zimmerman has been the best hitter in baseball so far this season.
While those two batters are scary enough, Daniel Murphy has also been great. He is hitting .339 with 11 homers and 43 RBIs on the year. The Washington offense also features Trea Turner and Anthony Rendon and should remain potent provided the group remains in good health.
Pitching Injuries
The Mets have DeGrom leading the way in the rotation and they are glad to see Steven Matz back, but the starting pitching has been racked by injuries all season. Noah Syndergaard is currently on the disabled list, and now Matt Harvey is heading for a doctor’s opinion after his velocity substantially decreased in his last start against the Cubs.
Gsellman is a nice fallback option but the Mets don’t stand much chance of catching Washington unless the rotation heals up.
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