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Washington Nationals: 5 To Watch In Weekend Matchup Versus Mets

By Ricky Keeler

Apr 19, 2017; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets left fielder Yoenis Cespedes (52) and New York Mets right fielder Jay Bruce (19) celebrate after a home run in the eighth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 19, 2017; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets left fielder Yoenis Cespedes (52) and New York Mets right fielder Jay Bruce (19) celebrate after a home run in the eighth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports /
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Washington Nationals
Apr 15, 2017; Miami, FL, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /

Jacob deGrom

After missing the final month of the 2016 season due to injury, deGrom has been dominant to start the 2017 season. He has given up a total of four runs in three games and is coming off one of the best starts of his career.

On April 15 against the Marlins, the 28-year-old right-hander gave up a pair of solo home runs, but he struck out 13 batters in seven innings. Due to the Mets bullpen giving up the lead in the eighth inning, deGrom wasn’t able to get the win.

Mets manager Terry Collins is going to be very careful with his pitchers to start the season, which is why deGrom has yet to throw 100 pitches in any game so far. Despite the pitch count being low, he has induced 24 groundball outs in three starts (second most in the Mets rotation).

Against the Nats in his career, deGrom is 2-2 with a 3.12 ERA in seven starts. However, he hasn’t faced Washington since 2015 and the Nats had a .198 average against him in those starts. Bryce Harper was 7-for-15 against deGrom that year with two doubles and a solo shot.

It will be a tough task for Tanner Roark to go head-to-head with deGrom. Roark is coming off of an outing against the Phillies last Saturday where he got 15 groundball outs in seven innings, but ended up getting the no-decision.

Out of the likely Mets starters tonight, the player with the most success against Roark lifetime is Curtis Granderson (7-for-25, four doubles, four RBI’s). But, the Mets center fielder was 1-for-9 against him last year with three strikeouts.

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