Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Chris Bassitt proved on Saturday night that, when healthy, the Mets could have one of the best rotations in baseball.

Following dominant outings from Tylor Megill and Max Scherzer in the first two games of the opening series against the Nationals, it was Bassitt’s turn to showcase his stuff in a Mets uniform for the first time.

He didn’t disappoint.

It was domination from the start for Bassitt who did give up a single to Cesar Hernandez to start the first, but he responded by striking out Juan Soto and then forcing Josh Bell into a double play after Nelson Cruz reached first base on a fielder’s choice.

Bassitt opted to dip into his deep bag of tools throughout the night as he used six different pitches at least five times, and that was on display as he struck out both Lane Thomas and Maikel Franco in an easy 1-2-3 second inning.

The righty got into a real groove, and he again relied on a number of different pitches to mow down Riley Adams and Victor Robles in the bottom of the third before Hernandez popped out to third to end another quick and impressive inning.

Facing the top of the order again, Bassitt probably faced his most difficult stretch in the fourth as Soto hit a leadoff single and Bell was walked after Cruz struck out, but he used a lethal mix of two sliders and a filthy sinker that touched 92.2 MPH to strike out Thomas. Franco then bit on another slider that resulted in a fly out to end the inning.

As was the case with Scherzer the night before, Bassitt was getting plenty of run support from his potent offense, and that allowed him to attack the zone with both confidence and swagger.

He flew through the fifth with another 1-2-3 inning and, while there was another Soto single in the sixth, Bassitt got out of the inning by striking out Bell after once again relying on a mix of changeups, sliders, cutters and curveballs.

Bassitt had all of his pitches working for him. He finished his night with six scoreless innings, giving up just three hits, one walk and striking out eight different batters while throwing a total of 93 pitches.

Bassitt became only the second Met to throw at least six scoreless innings with 8 or more strikeouts in their team debut, with Colin McHugh the other after striking out nine batters in seven innings in his MLB debut on Aug. 3, 2012.

It was just a sparkling Mets debut for Bassitt, who also retired nine Nationals batters in a row with five strikeouts at one point, and the way he used all six of his pitches to torment the Washington lineup was equally impressive.

That was evident in the first inning when, after falling behind 3-0 to Soto while throwing two cutters and a curveball, Bassitt called on his four-seam fastball and threw three pitches measuring 94.2 mph, 93.4 mph and 94.1 mph to come back and retire the two-time Silver Slugger.

“I don’t care who you are, I’m coming after you,” Bassitt said after the game. “I faced (Shohei) Ohtani a lot, I faced (Mike) Trout a lot. I don’t care (about) the name on the back of your jersey, I’m coming. That’s been my mentality no matter who I face. I know he’s probably the best hitter in the world, but I don’t care.”

That is exactly the type of big-time mentality the Mets have long craved, and that killer attitude is one that clearly runs through this team under manager Buck Showalter.

Bassitt also spoke about getting off on the right foot with his new team, and he went into detail about utilizing every pitch he had at his disposal against the Nats.

“I think I’m pretty damn good at reading someone’s swing and just trying to toy with that. I know I’m not the most powerful pitcher, so I just try to keep everyone off balance and I just try to add a pitch every year.

“So far it has kind of worked.”

Megill, Scherzer and Bassitt have now combined to pitch to a sparkling 1.59 ERA in the first three games of the year, and Bassitt revealed the mentality the team have adopted that has played a part in them starting 3-0 in 2022.

“The payroll is one thing, you obviously expect a lot of talent, but we’ve got two guys with completely busted mouths already two games in and they are in the lineup the next day,” Bassitt said.

‘To be on a team that wants to grind as hard as this team, good luck. There’s a lot of guys, a lot of teams that it is all or nothing, but this team is not that. We might be able to hit some homers but we’re just going to grind you until you break.”

Acquired from the Oakland Athletics in the offseason, Bassitt was one of the most underrated pitchers in the American League and he earned his first-ever All-Star Game selection in 2021 after going 12-4 with a 3.15 ERA over 157 innings.

Bassitt has now been unleashed on the National League (Saturday was the first time he faced a team in the NL East), and Showalter is well aware of just what a dangerous weapon Bassitt can be at that N0. 3 spot in the rotation.

“I don’t say he’s under-the-radar, go ask some of the guys in the American League,” Showalter said. “But, with a lot of the attention on Max and Jake (deGrom), he’s in a good spot there. He’s capable of ambushing you with good stuff.

“He’s got a great feel for pitching. He has an imagination (when he’s) pitching. He has a lot of weapons, that’s why he can go round the order. He has a lot of different looks he can throw at you and he used them… he’s got a very good imagination.”

As first impressions go, Bassitt certainly passed the eye test on Saturday night. While Scherzer and deGrom, when he’s back, will get the majority of the attention, the veteran proved in his Mets debut that he will provide this team with another elite top arm in 2022, capable of going deep in games and causing destruction to opponents’ lineups.