Game Preview: Nationals vs Mets

The Mets got back on the right track in a big way last night, thanks to Jacob deGrom (who else).

Jacob pitched what may be his greatest game as a Met so far last night, tossing a complete game shutout, only allowing 2 hits, walking no one and striking out 15 batters. On top of his utter dominance on the mound, he had two hits, including knocking in the Mets first run of the game. I’m not sure what else to say about him. He’s off to a historically good start.

But this is a game preview for today and deGrom’s performance actually impacts the game. The Mets bullpen after Thursday was taxed. Diaz, Loup and Castro were all most likely unavailable for yesterday’s game and since deGrom pitched a complete game the Mets didn’t need to dip into the bullpen at all. He gave them that critical day of rest after a couple of days in a row of overuse.

And now it’s the StroShow! Marcus Stroman is off to a tremendous start this year, tossing 20.0 innings with a 0.90 ERA, 3.25 FIP, 0.650 WHIP and a 432 ERA+. He’s coming off of his best start as a Met where he allowed 1 run over 8.0 innings against the Rockies in Colorado. He made one start against the Nationals in 2019 and it wasn’t great – he allowed 4 runs from 9 hits and 3 walks but struck out 9 (which is an unusually high number for him). The Nationals have the following numbers against Stroman:

Alex Avila 2-4, 2B, 2 BB, K
Trea Turner 1-2, 2 BB, K
Josh Harrison 3-7, 3B, BB
Victor Robles 1-2, BB
Hernan Perez 1-3, 2B, K
Josh Bell 1-3, 2 BB
Starlin Castro 4-16, HR, 3 K
Kyle Schwarber 1-3, 2 K
Yan Gomes 0-8, 2 BB, 4 K
Jordy Mercer 0-7, BB

The Mets bats will try to keep the offense from last night going against Joe Ross, who they haven’t seen since 2019. So far this year he has allowed 10 runs from 14 hits and 6 walks over 15.1 innings which is a 5.87 ERA, 6.03 FIP, 1.304 WHIP and a 68 ERA+. This line though is completely misleading. After his first two starts (Dodgers/Cardinals), Ross tossed 10.0 scoreless innings of 6 hit ball. All 10 earned runs he has allowed this year came in his last start, also against the Cardinals, that lasted 4.1 innings. He allowed 4 homers in that start. The Mets have the following numbers against Joe: