At long last the wait is over. After four gruelling days off, the New York Mets finally open their best-of-five division series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at 9:45 PM on Friday at Dodgers Stadium.
Jacob deGrom (14-8, 2.54) steps into the spotlight as the Mets Game 1 starter and he will oppose none other than left-hander Clayton Kershaw (16-7, 2.13) for the Dodgers.
The Mets have won all three National League Division Series they’ve ever played (2006 vs. Los Angeles, 2000 vs. San Francisco and 1999 vs. Arizona) and are 9-2 all-time in NLDS play.
Clayton Kershaw may be baseball’s best in the regular season, but he is 0-4 with a 7.15 ERA in his last four postseason starts — all against the St. Louis Cardinals in 2013 and 2014.
Yoenis Cespedes, Tyler Clippard, Bartolo Colon, Michael Cuddyer, Curtis Granderson, Kelly Johnson and David Wright have postseason experience. Wright is the only player who was on the roster the last time the Mets were in the postseason in 2006.
The Mets first three starters in this series Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Matt Harvey have started a combined 141 major league games. Tonight’s Dodger starter Clayton Kershaw has started 242 games.
New York completed its 2015 road schedule, going 41-40. The Mets were 19-5 on the road after August 21 and went 30-14 (.681) away from Citi Field after July 1, the best record in the majors
Mets Starting Lineup
- Curtis Granderson – RF
- David Wright – 3B
- Yoenis Cespedes – CF
- Daniel Murphy – 2B
- Travis d’Arnaud – C
- Lucas Duda – 1B
- Michael Cuddyer – LF
- Ruben Tejada – SS
- Jacob deGrom – RHP
After 9 long years, we are finally here! It’s Playoff Baseball Time!
Just as in 2006, the Mets will open the Postseason with a NLDS match-up with the Dodgers. Last time, the Mets swept the Dodgers despite losing their top two pitchers before the series (Pedro going down earlier in the month and El Duque going down right before the start of the series). This time, the Mets are locked and loaded and at full strength.
Jacob deGrom is 14-8 over 30 starts this season and 191.0 innings with a 2.54 ERA while striking out 205 batters. In his last two starts of the season he tossed 10 innings, 1 ER and 16 strikeouts. In one start against the Dodgers this year he shut them out over 7.2 innings while walking 2 and striking out 8. The Dodgers have the following numbers against deGrom:
- Utley 3-10
- Gonzalez 3-8, 2 HR
- Rollins 1-8
- Ethier 2-6, 3B
- Crawford 0-3
- Greinke 2-4
- Grandal 0-3
Clayton Kershaw is 16-7 over 33 starts with a league leading 4 complete games and 3 complete game shutouts and a 2.13 ERA over a league leading 232.2 innings. In his last two starts of the season he tossed 12.2 innings while recording 20 K’s, including a complete game shutout against the Giants.
He faced the Mets twice in July and they both were good starts. He allowed 1 ER over 7.0 innings at the top of the month in a game the Mets eventually won 2-1. Towards the end of the month he threw a complete game shutout while striking out 11. The Mets have the following numbers against Kershaw:
- E Young 4-16
- Wright 3-14, 2B
- Tejada 5-14
- Cuddyer 4-16
- K Johnson 3-15, HR
- Duda 1-10
- Granderson 1-10
- Murphy 3-10
- Flores 3-6
Let’s Go Mets!
