Game Preview: Mets @ Nationals

The Mets are fresh off a rare double day off and we’ll see tonight how that impacts their play as they open a series in Washington. When we last checked in, the Mets were only 1 game below .500 thanks to back to back wins against the Marlins and were hoping Thor would lead them to victory against the Marlins ace Caleb Smith, but the skies over 95 opened up all day washing the Marlins away instead.

So the Mets will try to reach .500 tonight against a struggling Nationals team. For the Mets, they need this series to get back into relevance. For the Nationals, a series loss could propel them too deep for comfort into a losing season as they enter 16-24.

Noah Syndergaard is 2-3 over 8 games and 49.0 innings with a 5.14 ERA, 3.55 FIP, 1.327 WHIP and 75 ERA+. He started May off with an immaculate game, pitching a complete game shutout and hitting a solo homer for the game’s only run and he followed it up with a bad performance in San Diego allowing 5 runs, 4 earned over 6.0 innings from 9 hits and a walk. His first two starts of the season were against the Nationals first allowing 4 runs over 6.0 innings from 7 hits and then allowing 2 runs over 6.0 innings from 1 hit and 2 walks. The Nationals have the following numbers against him:

Anthony Rendon 10-32, 2 2B, 2 HR, BB, 8 K
Ryan Zimmerman 3-17, 2 2B, BB, 6 K
Trea Turner 3-15, 2 2B, 3 K
Adam Eaton 3-13, 4 K
Howie Kendrick 1-12, K
Juan Soto 4-10, 2B, BB, 3 K
Matt Adams 0-5, 3 BB, 3 K
Brian Dozier 0-6, K

The Mets will get a look at Jeremy Hellickson who is 2-1 over 7 games and 6 starts pitching 31.0 innings with a 5.52 ERA, 5.63 FIP, 1.613 WHIP and 80 ERA+. He has better-ish in May, allowing 8 runs, only 5 earned over 9.1 innings in two starts leading to a 4.82 ERA, but opponents are still hitting .275 against him. Last year he was good against the Mets holding them to 3 runs and 9 hits over 10.2 innings, a 2.53 ERA. The Mets have the following numbers against Jeremy: