The Mets look to stop their three-game losing streak as they continue their four-game series against the Nationals tonight at Citi Field at 7:10 PM.
Here’s tonight’s starting lineup for New York:
1) Curtis Granderson – RF
2) Juan Lagares – CF
3) Lucas Duda – 1B
4) Michael Cuddyer – LF
5) Daniel Murphy – 3B
6) Wilmer Flores – SS
7) Dilson Herrera – 2B
8) Kevin Plawecki – C
9) Matt Harvey – RHP
Here’s what I am looking for from the Mets tonight…
The hero they need.
The Mets have lose three straight and five of their last seven since their 11-game winning streak came to an end one week ago today. Their eight game lead over the Nationals in the division has been cut to five in a three-day span, and they need to stop the bleeding. That’s where Matt Harvey comes in. He’s their ace. “The Dark Knight.” This team needs Harvey to be that heroic figure on the field tonight and put the team on his back, get back on track, and win the damn game.
Hello, Dilson.
After last night’s sloppy loss, the Mets shook things up, optioning Jack Leathersich to Triple-A and calling up their 21-year-old stud second baseman prospect, Dilson Herrera. Herrera was a man on fire in Las Vegas, hitting .370/.402/.506 with nine extra-base hits and 11 RBI in 20 games. Herrera is here to play every day, and Daniel Murphy will be moved to third base until David Wright returns from the disabled list. While a lot of people will be looking at his bat, I’m going to be focusing on his defense a lot tonight. This move was clearly made in light of the myriad of middle infield errors, so with Murph at third and Wilmer Flores still at short, the onus will be on the young Herrera to play, at bare minimum, acceptable defense at second base.
Wilmer.
It’s been a struggle for Wilmer Flores this season, offensively to an extent but far and away on the defensive end. Last night may not have been the straw that broke the camel’s back, but we may be getting closer to that point. With a 2-0 lead in the top of the 4th, Jacob deGrom induced a tailor-made double play ball to short, and Flores couldn’t handle it. It was a huge error and completely turned this game around, as the Nationals wound up scoring three times to take the lead in that inning and wound up with an emphatic 8-2 victory over the Mets. This team cannot afford to continue giving teams extra outs night in and night out. It frustrates their pitchers, completely zaps the buzz out of the crowd, costs them runs and, most importantly, is starting to cost them games. It has to turn around and it has to turn around now.
Just Mets 