Mets conclude road trip with three against Nationals

The Mets (20-10) head to our nation’s capital for the second time this season as they face the Nationals (10-20) for three games. New York kicked off their 2022 campaign at Nationals Park, winning three out of four during the season’s opening weekend.

The Mets are coming off another series victory against the Phillies. On Thursday, the Mets pulled off their biggest ninth inning comeback since 1997 as they scored seven runs in the inning to come away with an improbable 8-7 victory. Taijuan Walker was shelled over four innings, and for a while it looked like a sure loss. Starling Marte got the Mets one run closer with a sixth inning homer, but New York really got to work in the ninth against James Norwood. After a Marte single, Francisco Lindor homered to get two runs back. Later in the inning, Mark Canha banked an infield single off the leg of closer Corey Knebel, who relieved an ineffective Norwood, and J.D. Davis pinch hit two batters later and roped a double that made it a two-run game. Brandon Nimmo singled home the two tying runs, and Marte’s double put the Mets ahead for good. Edwin Díaz had another dominant final inning to close things out.

Both Friday and Saturday’s games were rained out, resulting in a Mother’s Day doubleheader—Friday’s game will be made up on August 20. In Game 1, the Mets fell 3-2 as Max Scherzer lost for the first time in 24 regular season starts. He wasn’t bad by any means—six innings, no walks, ten hits, three earned runs, 10 strikeouts—but Philadelphia did enough to get to him. Bryce Harper homered in the first, but the next nine hits he surrendered were singles, and a majority of them were not well struck. Still, runs are runs, and the Mets only managed two in the sixth against Kyle Gibson. The Phillies bullpen hurled three scoreless innings to shut the door on New York.

The Mets rebounded in Game 2, topping Philadelphia by a 6-1 score as they continued their streak of not losing any series to begin 2022. Pete Alonso drilled a two-run homer in the first and added a mammoth three-run shot later in the game, which was more than enough for Chris Bassitt.

With his big performance on Sunday, Alonso now leads the club with seven home runs. 18 runs scored, 26 runs batted in, and a .500 SLG. His .833 OPS is second on the team, his 144 wRC+ is third, and his 0.7 fWAR is fourth among position players on New York.

The Nationals are coming off a series loss against the Angels. They won the middle game by a 7-3 score but dropped the Friday and Sunday contests. Prior to that, they dropped two out of three to the Rockies.

There are really two hitters New York will need to watch out for in this series. Obviously, Juan Soto is having the kind of season you would expect out of one of the best young hitters in all of baseball. Soto is currently slashing .257/.396/.468 with a 150 wRC+ and with a team-high six home runs and 21 runs scored. However, he has only driven in eight runs, which is the result of the lack of production around him and the fact that teams don’t actually need to pitch to him because of Washington’s weak lineup. Josh Bell, however, has been crushing it as well this year, hitting .343/.442/.529 with a team-best 179 wRC+ and 21 runs batted in. Nelson Cruz, who was acquired to be Washington’s DH, has not contributed at all so far this year, hitting .157/.250/.245 with a 46 wRC+.

Tuesday, May 10: Carlos Carrasco vs. Patrick Corbin, 7:05 p.m. on SNY

Carrasco (2022): 30.0 IP, 28 K, 8 BB, 2 HR, 3.30 ERA, 2.88 FIP, 1.00 WHIP, 0.5 bWAR

Carrasco, aside from one tough start against the Cardinals, has been wonderful for New York in 2022. His last start was his best, as he hurled eight shutout innings against Atlanta in the nightcap of the team’s doubleheader. Carrasco is the only Mets starting pitcher who has thrown a pitch in the eighth inning, and he has done it twice so far. Overall, he scattered six hits, walked two, and struck out five in his winning effort.

Corbin (2022): 27.2 IP, 26 K, 13 BB, 1 HR, 7.16 ERA, 3.29 FIP, 1.81 WHIP, -0.8 bWAR

Corbin currently has the highest ERA among NL starting pitchers with at least 25.0 innings under their belt in 2022. That should tell you all you need to know about the left-hander’s production. He has been better as of late, though, as his last two starts were significantly better than his first four. In his last start at Coors Field, he gave his team a complete game in a loss, allowing five runs (three earned) with nine hits, no walks, and three strikeouts over his eight innings. Prior to that, he allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits, with a season-best eight strikeouts in six innings against the Marlins. The Washington hurler, who has three years left on his contract, leads the league in losses.

Wednesday, May 11: Tylor Megill vs. Aaron Sanchez, 7:05 p.m. on SNY

Megill (2022): 33.1 IP, 36 K, 8 BB, 2 HR, 2.43 ERA, 2.42 FIP, 0.90 WHIP, 1.0 bWAR

Megill followed up five no-hit innings in a combined no-no with four no-hit innings to begin his last start against the Braves. In doing so, he recorded nine no-hit innings across his two outings. He wavered in the back half of the start, and ended up with three earned runs on his record. He surrendered four hits over his 5.1 innings while walking two and striking out a season-high nine.

Sanchez (2022): 13.2 IP, 9 K, 3 BB, 2 HR, 8.56 ERA, 4.54 FIP, 1.54 WHIP, -0.4 bWAR

Sanchez, who has been plagued by injury since the 2019 season, is getting his shot this year for the Nationals. So far through three starts since getting the call up on April 23, he has mostly been ineffective for Washington. He debuted with four earned over 4.1 innings against the Giants, and followed that up with three earned runs over 5.0 innings against that same San Francisco team. In his last outing against the Rockies, he gave up a season-worst seven runs (six earned) on six hits, with two walks and four strikeouts over 4.1 innings. Sanchez, who spent the majority of his career with the Blue Jays, has never faced the Mets before.

Thursday, May 12: Taijuan Walker vs. Joan Adon, 1:05 p.m. on SNY

Walker (2022): 11.0 IP, 7 K, 4 BB, 2 HR, 4.91 ERA, 5.26 FIP, 1.36 WHIP, -0.1 bWAR

Walker was shellacked in his last start against the Phillies, which was his third consecutive outing against Philadelphia to begin his season. After seven shutout innings over two starts against them, Walker served up seven runs (six earned) over four innings. He gave up nine hits and walked two while striking out two in his start. Thursday will be a nice opportunity for the right-hander to rebound against a team that has struggled offensively this season.

Adon (2022): 28.1 IP, 27 K, 18 BB, 4 HR, 6.99 ERA, 5.23 FIP, 1.66 WHIP, -0.5 bWAR

Adon made his major league debut towards the tail end of the 2021 season against the Red Sox and was solid, going 5.1 innings and striking out nine while allowing two earned runs. He has not been able to replicate that success this season, and command issues are a big reason why. So far, he leads all NL pitchers in walks (18) and wild pitches (5). He had one great start against the Diamondbacks, shutting out Arizona over 6.1 innings, but he has allowed at least three earned runs in each of his other five starts. His last time out, he gave up three runs on three hits, with five walks and six strikeouts in 5.0 innings against the Rockies. The Mets saw the right-hander earlier this year and scored four runs in 4.1 innings against him.

Prediction: The Mets take two out of three against the Nationals.