The Mets will look for a series victory in the rubber game of their three-game series with the Nationals this afternoon at 1:05 PM in Washington.
Here is today’s starting lineup for the Mets:
1) Curtis Granderson – RF
2) David Wright – 3B
3) Lucas Duda – 1B
4) Michael Cuddyer – LF
5) Daniel Murphy – 2B
6) Juan Lagares – CF
7) Travis d’Arnaud – C
8) Wilmer Flores – SS
9) Matt Harvey – RHP
Here are today’s pitching matchups:
Matt Harvey (9-5, 2.27 ERA in 2013) will start for the Mets. For the first time in 593 days, Harvey will pitch a meaningful game for the New York Mets. He is coming off a stellar spring during which he allowed only one walk, three runs and 17 hits in 22 2/3 innings. Harvey has the third-best WHIP (0.985) of any pitcher since 1921 through his first 36 career starts. He is also one of only two starters in the last 100 years to allow one run or fewer in 19 of his first 36 career games, the other is Dwight Gooden. Harvey is 1-1 with a 1.00 ERA (three earned runs/27.0 innings) in four career starts vs. Washington…He has walked seven and struck out 35.
Key matchups vs. Harvey:
Ian Desmond: 3-for-7, 1 HR
Ryan Zimmerman: 3-for-8, 1 HR
Bryce Harper: 0-for-7, 2 K
Stephen Strasburg (14-11, 3.14 ERA in 2014) will start for the Nationals. Strasburg is beginning to live up to the hype which has surrounded him since draft day in 2009. He led the league in strikeouts in 2014 while throwing a career-high 215 innings for Washington. He did allow 8.3 hits per nine innings which was a career high and also allowed a career high (bust still impressive) one home run per nine innings. He seemed to improve as the season went on last year, holding the opposition to only a .222 average while striking out 93 batters in 90 second half innings. Strasburg has pitched well against the Mets in his career, going 2-1 with a 2.19 ERA in six starts against them.
Key matchups vs. Strasburg:
Lucas Duda: 1-for-6, 1 HR
John Mayberry: 2-for-5, HR
Daniel Murphy: 3-for-10
David Wright: 4-for-15, 7 K
It’s #HarveyDay.
And, this one counts, unlike the Harvey Days from last month. He’s excited, the team’s excited, we are excited. It’s the day we have been patiently (and painfully) waiting for since his elbow injury broke everyone’s heart in 2013. I expect him to be super-amped today, even more than he was in his first start of the spring. The Mets will be mindful of this I’m sure, and will work to make sure he doesn’t overthrow and doesn’t overexert to ensure he uses proper mechanics from start to finish.
Harvey is a dynamic strike thrower – he had a ridiculously low 0.931 WHIP before going down in 2013, and he showed the command was spot on in camp which was very reassuring. If he’s on, his ability to throw strikes will be the key feature of the show this afternoon. But, it’s cool in Washington today, so it will be worth watching to see if he has a good feel for his pitches, especially early on.
Travis d’Arnaud is not getting the day off.
I actually expected Terry Collins to sit d’Arnaud this afternoon, but I’m glad I was mistaken. It’s important he work with Harvey as much as possible so he can grow more familiar with him, and Harvey can grow comfortable throwing to d’Arnaud. Two years ago, Harvey told me he loved throwing to d’Arnaud as he was both a good receiver and framer. But, thanks to Harvey’s elbow injury and d’Arnaud’s somewhat late arrival in 2013, they haven’t worked much together at all. They did work together in spring training, but now it counts and the stakes are higher.
Curtis Granderson and David Wright need to get their bats going.
Granderson and Wright are a combined 1-for-15 at the top of the order over the first two games of the season. Yes, it’s early, yes the Mets have faced outstanding pitching over the first two games. But they’re not only the catalysts in this lineup configuration, but they’re also lynchpins for the success of this offense.
Just Mets 