Series Preview: Four Games In Washington Against Nationals

The New York Mets (35-26, first place in the National League’s eastern division) travel to Washington D.C. to play four games in three days against manager Dave Martinez‘s Washington Nationals (30-35, fourth place in the National League’s eastern division).

On Thursday, the Mets completed a seven-game home stand against the Padres and Cubs with a 5-2 record, unable to complete a four-game sweep against the Cubs by losing the last game. Overall, the Mets are 20-7 this season at Citi Field. The Nationals have been playing better of late, and have a 6-4 record in their last ten games. The Mets were set to open the season in Washington on April 1, but the entire three-game series was postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the Nationals’ organization.

A key storyline of the 2021 Mets’ season has been the injuries on the team. On Wednesday, the Mets and their fans held their collective breath when Jacob deGrom was removed after three innings because of an injury, that was diagnosed as right shoulder soreness. The exhale came when two medical analyses showed that deGrom’s should is sound. How the Mets will handle his return to the mound remains to be seen.

Jeff McNeil is set to return after over a month on the injured list either Sunday or Monday, according to manager Luis Rojas. Michael Conforto is projected to return, if his rehab stint goes well, just a few days after McNeil. The Mets are slowly approaching full strength, having demonstrated over their last seven games that can defeat contending teams, even with key pieces still missing.

After the four games in three days in the nation’s capital, featuring a Saturday doubleheader making up one of three games postponed in April, the Mets will return home for a doubleheader with the Braves on Monday as part of a four-game series. After taking Thursday off, they’ll host a doubleheader against the Phillies on Friday to open a four-game series. The schedule is packed and challenging. The Mets’ pitching will be tested over the next ten days.

The weather looks fair and quite warm for the series, so the four games should be played without interruption.Let’s take a look at the projected pitching matchups for the series.

Friday, June 18, LHP Joey Lucchesi (1-4) NYM vs RHP Erick Fedde (4-4) WSH, 7:05 pm

Lucchesi in 2021: GS: 7, ERA: 5.18, IP: 33.0, H: 30, ER: 19, HR: 4, BB: 9, SO: 36, WHIP: 1.18

Fedde in 2021: GS: 9, ERA: 3.66, IP: 44.1, H: 35, ER: 19, HR: 5, BB: 18, SO: 43, WHIP: 1.20

For Lucchesi, 2021 has been a tale of two seasons. Before May 3, Lucchesi struggled working both in the rotation and out of the bullpen. Since May 3, Lucchesi has appeared in six games, making four starts. In those four starts, he has allowed one earned run three times, and no earned runs once. In his starts since May 3, he’s averaged just over four innings per start. On June 13 against the Padres, Lucchesi was outstanding, tossing five innings and allowing just one run. The Mets will hope Lucchesi’s positive trend continues, and that he can go deeper into the game.

Fedde in in his fifth season (all with the Nationals), and owns a career record of 12-15 with a 4.87 ERA. He had been used as both a starter and reliever, but has been used exclusively in a starting role this season. He allowed six earned runs in his first start of the year on April 7, but has been much better since then, allowing more than three earned runs just once.

The game can be seen locally on SNY and heard locally on WCBS radio 880 am.

Saturday, June 19 game one, LHP David Peterson (2-5) NYM vs Undecided WSH 1:05 pm

Peterson in 2021: GS: 12, ERA: 5.60, IP: 53.0, H: 51, ER: 33, HR: 9, BB: 23, SO: 56, WHIP: 1.40

Peterson had been scuffling until his last start on June 14 against the Cubs, when he there six innings  and allowed no runs on just one hit. Questions had been raised about his staying in the rotation, and those questions, at least for now, were put to rest after his last start. With the uncertainty over deGrom and indefinite timelines of Noah Syndergaard and Carlos Carrasco, the Mets need Peterson to pitch as he did in his last start and in his rookie season of 2020, when he posted a 6-2 record with a 3.44 ERA.

The game can be seen locally on WPIX and heard locally on WCBS radio 880 am.

Saturday, June 19 game two, Undecided NYM  vs Undecided WSH, 6:05 pm

The Mets, facing a heavy slate of games as mentioned above, will have the option of calling up a pitcher as the extra man, or going with a bullpen game. Thomas Szapucki could be an option. He is 0-2 with a 4.25 ERA at Triple-A Syracuse. If the Mets should go with a bullpen game, it could be Miguel Castro taking the ball in the first inning, a formula the Mets have used successfully.

The Nationals, with both Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg on the injured list, are facing pitching shortages of their own. It will be interesting to see how they handle this game.

The game can be seen locally on SNY and heard locally on WCBS radio 880 am.

Sunday, June 20, RHP Taijuan Walker (6-2) NYM vs LHP Patrick Corbin (4-5) WSH, 1:05 pm

Walker in 2021: GS: 12, ERA: 2.12, IP: 68.0., H: 44, ER: 19, HR: 3, BB: 24, SO: 72, WHIP: 1.00

Corbin in 2021: GS: 13, ERA: 5.60, IP: 70.2, H: 76, ER: 44, HR: 12, BB: 27, SO: 55, WHIP: 1.46

The Mets’ signing of Walker is the steal of the off season. After his start on June 15 against the Cubs, the right-hander from Louisiana stated that the Mets were the only team to show interest in him. He further revealed that he had been battling a stomach bug. Despite that, he hurled seven innings of two-run baseball and earned the win. As noted in his line above, Walker has done a great job at keeping the ball in the ballpark all year, very much a key to his success.

Corbin, the native of Clay, NY, is having a rough go in 2021. He holds a career record of 76-73 with an ERA of 3.94. He has been victimized by the long ball this season, as was the case on April 25 when the Mets beat him at Citi Field. In that game, Pete Alonso and J.D. Davis took Corbin deep. The Mets will look to capitalize on Corbin’s 2021 struggles as they wrap up their series in Washington.

The game can be seen locally on SNY and heard locally on WCBS radio 880 am.

Series Notes for Mets

Mets by the numbers, with MLB rankings:

BA .232 (20th)

HR 62 (28th)

SLG .376 (25th)

OPS .689 (22nd)

Team ERA 3.10 (1st)

Starters’ ERA 2.68 (1st)

Relievers’ ERA 3.69 (8th)

Mets OPS leaders (among players who are active) are Pete Alonso (.791), Jonathan Villar (.764), Kevin Pillar (.702), Dominic Smith (.692)

Additional notable Mets on the injured list:

Tommy Hunter (60-day), Johneshwy Fargas, Albert Almora, Jr., J.D. Davis, Brandon Nimmo

Series Notes for Nationals

Nationals by the numbers, with MLB rankings:

BA .245 (7th)

HR 65 (26th)

SLG .386 (19th)

OPS .702 (16th)

Team ERA 3.85 (15th)

Starters’ ERA 3.86 (12th)

Relievers’ ERA 3.85 (13th)

Nationals OPS leaders (among players who are active) are Juan Soto (.819), Trea Turner (.813), Kyle Schwarber (.773), Josh Harrison (.740), Yan Gomes (.730)

Notable Nationals on the injured list: Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Daniel Hudson, Will Hudson

The Mets took steps to dispel the “they haven’t beaten good teams” narrative on their last home stand. Now, they will be facing a Nationals’ team that, though it has played better recently, is without its top two starters and its closer. The Mets have the opportunity to take the series and widen their division lead, before playing their closest competitors next week.