Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Mets (third place in the National League’s eastern division) return home to Citi Field to take on manager Dave Martinez‘s Washington Nationals (fourth place in the National League’s eastern division) in a three-game series.

The Mets are coming off perhaps their most difficult week of the 2021 season, losing six of seven games on a road trip to Miami and Philadelphia, sinking from first to third place in their division. The Nationals are coming from Atlanta, where they lost two of three games to the Braves.

The Mets are spiraling after leading their division for three months. They are not hitting at all, especially not with runners in scoring position. They were shut out in the series finale in Philadelphia by Zack Wheeler, managing just two hits and three baserunners overall in the game.

Outwardly, the Mets seem to maintain their “everything is fine” attitude, epitomized by these comments from Pete Alonso after Sunday’s game, as quoted on Twitter by Justin Toscano.

The Mets, who have 51 games remaining, need to start winning soon. Much has been made about the upcoming thirteen games against the Dodgers and Giants. The Mets (and the fans) have a chance to begin to feel a bit better about things before those games in this series against the Nationals.

Washington has begun a rebuild, trading away stars such as Max Scherzer, Kyle Schwarber, and Trea Turner, and serviceable players such as Yan Gomes, Brad Hand, and Josh Harrison. The Mets need to take advantage while they can. The time for that is this Tuesday through Thursday at Citi Field.

The weather should be very August-like for the series, with hot and humid conditions. There is a chance of late-day thundershowers each day.

Let’s take a look at the projected pitching matchups.

Tuesday, August 10: RHP Paolo Espino (3-3) WSH vs. RHP Carlos Carrasco (0-0) NYM 7:10 pm

Espino has pitched to a 3.66 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP thus far in 2021. He is 34 years old, and has had quite a journey in baseball. He was originally signed by the Cleveland Indians 2007, and pitched in their minor league system. He later pitched in the minors for the Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals, before finally making his MLB debut with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2017.

Three months into his Brewers tenure, the native of Panama was designated for assignment, then pitched briefly with the Texas Rangers. He did not appear in the major leagues after 2017 until 2020, when he pitched in two games for the Nationals. His career record is 3-3 with a 4.30 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP.

Carrasco started the only game the Mets won on their recent road trip. That  game in Miami was his second start as a Met. In the game, he tossed four and one-third innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits. Carrasco is gradually building up his innings, after missing more than half the season with a hamstring injury.

He has pitched eight and one-third total innings in his two starts this season, yielding three earned runs on eight hits. The Mets need to get back on the winning side, and will look to the veteran right-hander t0 give them a chance to do that on Tuesday night.

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

Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY

Wednesday, August 11: RHP Joe Ross (5-9) WSH vs. LHP Rich Hill (6-4) NYM 7:10 pm

Ross faced the Mets on June 19 in Washington in the first game of a doubleheader, taking the loss after pitching five innings, allowing five earned runs on six hits. The native of Berkeley, CA has a 4.02 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP on the season. He has a career record of 26-28 with a 4.23 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP over six seasons (all with Washington).

Hill, acquired by the Mets in July, will be making his fourth start as a Met. The 41 year-old has an ERA of 3.92 and a WHIP of 1.16 in 2021 combined with the Mets and Tampa Bay Rays. The native of Boston, MA has a career record of 73-48 with a 3.80 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP.

As a Met, he has thrown fifteen innings (five in each start), letting up seven earned runs on thirteen hits. Hill is basically a five-inning pitcher at this point. The Mets realistically can’t expect Carrasco nor Hill to go deep in their games, so the bullpen may see a significant amount of work on Tuesday and Wednesday.

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

Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Thursday, August 12: RHP Erick Fedde (4-8) WSH vs. RHP Marcus Stroman (7-11) NYM 12:10 pm

Fedde has a 5.15 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP this season. The native of Las Vegas is in his fifth season, all with the Nationals. He has a career record 12-19, with a 5.12 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. Fedde faced the Mets on June 18 and was very good, throwing seven innings of shutout ball and allowing just two hits. Fedde was 0-3 in July, with a 8.02 ERA, and is 0-1 so far in August with a 5.91 ERA.

Stroman has pitched better than his record would indicate, posting a 2.83 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP this season. He started out the year very well, and has regressed somewhat as the season has gone along. His ERA by month: April 1.86, May 3.07, June 2.40, July 3.21, August (2 starts) 5.06. If the series plays out as expected, the Mets will look to Stroman to go deep into this game, as they cannot count on long outings from their starters the previous two days.

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

Miscellaneous:

Washington’s OPS leaders are Juan Soto (.925), Josh Bell (.787), Victor Robles (.610)

Washington’s team ERA is 4.49  (21st in MLB), starters 4.38 (19th), relievers 4.64 (22nd)

Stephen Strasburg is on the injured list, and Starlin Castro has been suspended and will be released

Mets’ OPS leaders are Pete Alonso (.810), Jeff McNeil (.739), Jonathan Villar (.727)

Mets’ team ERA is 3.69 (9th), starters 3.46 (5th), relievers 3.99 (13th)

The Mets have an opportunity to get going in a positive direction in this series. Though they are without Jacob deGrom, the Mets have the pitching advantage in every game, and, at least on paper, have a better offensive team than do the Nationals (now that the Nationals have traded away so much of their offensive talent).

With tougher games on the horizon, the Mets need to go into those games firing on as many cylinders as possible.

The Mets can no longer rely on the “there are a lot of games left” narrative. They’re now in third place, with less than one-third of the season to go. Every series is important from here on, and they need to win this series before the next thirteen games against the Dodgers and Giants.