Wednesday, May 20, 2026 • 6:45 PM
Nationals Park • Washington, DC
LHP Zach Thornton (0-0, -.–) vs. RHP Zack Littell (2-4, 6.10)
SNY

The Mets would love to rewind the clock on last night’s game. Through the top of the second, the Mets had a 5-0 lead thanks to two Bo Bichette home runs. Then the wheels just fell off defensively, and the Mets lost the game 9-6. Blunder after blunder. All of those mistakes though equal only one loss, and the Mets can put themselves in a position to win a four-game series against the Nationals with a win tonight.

Zach Thornton Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Mets Lineup

  1. Carson Benge – RF
  2. Bo Bichette – SS
  3. Juan Soto – LF
  4. Mark Vientos – 1B
  5. MJ Melendez – DH
  6. Brett Baty – 3B
  7. Marcus Semien – 2B
  8. A.J. Ewing – CF
  9. Hayden Senger – C

Starting Pitcher: Zach Thornton

It’s a day that ends in y so the Mets are calling up another top prospect to make their major league debut! Before the start of the season MLB Pipeline had Thornton’s ETA in 2027, but things change. Between Clay Holmes’ injury opening up a spot in the rotation and Thornton’s numbers this season earned Thornton the call. In five starts in Binghamton this year, Thornton has pitched 25 innings with a 3.60 ERA, 1.320 WHIP and 27 strikeouts. Then in two Syracuse starts he pitched 12 innings allowing only three runs while striking out 13 with a 0.917 WHIP. Welcome to the show!

Opposing Lineup

  1. James Wood – DH
  2. Curtis Mead – 3B
  3. Andres Chaparro – 1B
  4. CJ Abrams – SS
  5. Dylan Crews – RF
  6. Daylen Lile – LF
  7. Jacob Young – CF
  8. Nasim Nuñez – 2B
  9. Keibert Ruiz – C

Tonight’s game is a Zach vs Zack affair with the Mets bats facing off against Zack Littell. Littell has pitched in nine games, making six starts this season, totaling 41 1/3 innings with a 6.10 ERA, 7.71 FIP, 1.500 WHIP and a 66 ERA+. This is a departure from the last two seasons, where he had a 3.73 ERA, 4.42 FIP, 1.169 WHIP and a 111 ERA+ over 61 starts. He’s coming off a good start against the Orioles, holding them scoreless over five innings and in his last three outings, he’s allowed only three earned runs over 12 2/3 innings. The Mets have the following career numbers against Littell:

Game Notes

The Mets optioned Daniel Duarte to Triple-A in the corresponding move to selecting the contract of Zach Thornton.

Jonah Tong was scratched from his scheduled start today for Triple-A Syracuse, though he’s completely healthy. Carlos Mendoza said Tong is in play for a promotion during the Mets’ series in Miami this weekend.

A.J. Minter pitched on back-to-back days for the first time during his rehab assignment, allowing a run and a hit with a walk and hit batsman over two-thirds of an inning. His fastball velocity topped out at 92.7 mph. Minter will make one more rehab appearance for Syracuse this weekend and could be activated from the injured list if all goes well.

Read more about Thornton here.

Three Things To Watch For

  1. Bo Bichette. It’s been a struggle for Bichette this season. He has found his bat in Washington and has gone 5-for-10 this series with a walk, a double, three home runs, four runs scored and seven RBIs. His OPS is finally above .600 for the season. Hopefully, this is a sign of a hot month to come!
  2. Juan Soto. Since the start of the Detroit series, Juan Soto has been on fire. In his last eight games, he has gone 12-for-32 with three home runs, three stolen bases, nine runs scored. He’s walked five times and is slashing .375/.459/.656 and is average 2.6 total bases per game.
  3. Devin Williams. Williams has found a groove recently. In his last nine games, he has pitched 8 2/3 innings and has allowed only one hit. He’s walked only two batters while striking out 11 and most importantly, he hasn’t allowed any runs. His ERA has dropped from a season high of 10.29 to 4.60. His FIP is now a minuscule 1.84. As the Mets start to win more games, we’ll get to appreciate this a bit more!

Let’s go Mets!