Max Scherzer to start Game 1 of Wild Card Series for Mets

Max Scherzer will get the start for the Mets in Game 1 of the Wild Card round against the Padres, as manager Buck Showalter announced during his post-game press conference following the team’s 101st and final win of the regular season.

Despite that achievement, the Mets lost out on the division title and the bye that would have come with it because they lost the head-to-head series against the Braves, who also finished the year with 101 wins.

Among the pitchers who made starts for the Mets this year, Scherzer was undoubtedly the best. In 145.1 innings over the course of 23 starts, the veteran had a 2.29 ERA and 2.61 FIP. Only Chris Bassitt threw more innings than Scherzer, and no Mets starter came close to matching him in ERA.

Until his last couple of starts, Jacob deGrom had put up numbers every bit as good as Scherzer’s, but the longtime Mets ace finished the regular season with a 3.08 ERA and 2.13 FIP in 64.1 innings over the course of eleven starts. With Scherzer starting Game 1 and no official announcement on the team’s starting pitchers for Game 2 and a potential Game 3 of the series, Showalter and the Mets’ brain trust figure to have the option of either starting deGrom or Bassitt in Game 2, depending on their strategy and the circumstances.