The Washington Nationals have their first meeting of the year with the New York Mets. If the Nats can reverse their record from last year, that would be a good goal. The Mets had some serious ownage of the Nats last year, and this offseason the Nats grabbed Trevor Williams and Dominic Smith as two former Mets that hit free agency in the offseason. One by choice was Williams, and the other by circumstance.
Hopefully we see the Nats’ bats put some runs on the board in support of Josiah Gray who has been the unlucky recipient this year of the lowest run support for any pitcher with at least four starts. The Nats will face Jose Butto who has one start this year, and besides his walks he only gave up one run over 5.0 innings. Last year, he pitched to an ERA over 15.00. The Mets have issues in their starting rotation that was worsened by the 10-game suspension of Max Scherzer for his issue with a tacky substance on his fingers.
“We have to do better driving in runs from third base when we have less than two outs. … We have to drive in those runs when we can. … They’re at-bats are getting better. They are playing with a lot of energy, and I love that.”
— manager Dave Martinez in his pre-game media session
The Nats starters ERAs are a combined 4.74, and through the last turn through the rotation, every starter but MacKenzie Gore improved his ERA. Don’t take it the wrong way, Gore had a quality start, just not one of his best starts of the season.
Here is how they rank:
No. 5 Starter: Chad Kuhl 7.36 ERA
No. 4 Starter: Patrick Corbin 5.88
No. 3 Starter: Josiah Gray 3.74
No. 2 Starter: MacKenzie Gore 3.43
No. 1 Starter: Trevor Williams 3.38
After the weather in Minnesota, the weather in NYC today must have felt balmy at 57°F and that should be the temps for first pitch and getting a little bit cooler after sundown.
On the Nats schedule, today begins that stretch of 16 straight days without a day-off until May 11. That will be a grind for sure, and this is where manager Dave Martinez needs some length out of his starters.
Here is your Baseball Savant Statcast link for the game.
Washington Nationals vs. New York Mets
Stadium: Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota
1st Pitch: 7:10 pm EDT
TV: MASN2
Radio: 106.7 The Fan radio and via the MLB app
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
