Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
The Mets’ rotation is in shambles right now. Four of their five projected starters are currently unavailable, and they are riding with Kodai Senga and four pitchers who were expected to start the season in Triple-A.
To make matters worse, the Mets’ makeshift rotation will likely still be in place as they have their first series of the season against their biggest rivals in the NL East, the Atlanta Braves, beginning on Friday.
Senga will take the mound Wednesday against the Nationals and he will be followed by Joey Lucchesi, coming off the best start of his career, who will get the ball on Thursday evening in the final game of the three-game set against Washington.
To begin the series against Atlanta, David Peterson is scheduled to take the mound on Friday in the series opener, where he could be opposed by Max Fried. After that, the Mets will likely turn to Tylor Megill, who will likely face off with early Cy Young candidate Spencer Strider for Atlanta. Veteran Charlie Morton, who has 2.76 ERA thus far this season is in line to pitch Sunday for Atlanta, but the the Mets don’t have a locked in starter. They could turn once more to Jose Butto if he remains with the team. or call on Denyi Reyes from Triple-A.
The good news for the Mets is that by Monday the 1st, Max Scherzer will be eligible to return from his 10-game suspension. Atlanta would be scheduled to go with Bryce Elder (2-0, 1.14 ERA) in that matchup. Depending on how the first three games of that series go, the Mets could need Scherzer to be in peak form, which is a tough ask coming off such a long layoff.
With Scherzer suspended, José Quintana and Carlos Carrasco out and Justin Verlander still ramping up for his debut, the Mets’ first series with Atlanta comes at a suboptimal time, to say the least. Entering Wednesday, the Braves hold a two-game lead in the division at 16-8 on the year.
For young pitchers like Peterson and Megill, it will be their most high-pressure starts of the season. Both have had mixed results thus far this year and are battling to remain in the big leagues once the Mets get healthy. The Mets can also try to take advantage of the Braves’ banged up bullpen, which has an ERA of 3.80 thus far this season.
Regardless, the upcoming series against one of the league’s best teams makes the next two games against the Nationals that much more important. While there’s only so much value you can put on games being played in April, the Mets need to take care of business against the weak teams on their schedule if they hope to not fall too far behind a team as talented as the Braves.
