Washington Nationals: 5 To Watch In Mets Visit To D.C.

After sweeping the New York Mets last week, the Washington Nationals will host the Mets this weekend for a three game series

The Washington Nationals (16-6) brought their offense on the road to Coors Field this week. While taking three of four from the Colorado Rockies, the Nats scored 46 runs, including double digit runs in each of the last three games.

Trea Turner had the team’s first cycle since 2008 and drove in nine RBI’s in the series. Also, the team had four players drive in four ore more runs, including Daniel Murphy (eight) and Ryan Zimmerman (two home runs, five RBI’s).

After going 9-1 on the road trip, the Nats are back home to begin a six game homestand tonight. First up on this six game stretch is the New York Mets (8-13), who are absolutely reeling right now and are dealing with injuries.

New York comes into tonight losers of six straight and they’ve lost ten of their last 11 games. Yesterday, Yoenis Cespedes had to leave the game because of a left hamstring injury and is going to go on the disabled list. Without Cespedes, it’s going to be tough for them to score runs.

In their last five games, which includes the Nats sweeping the Mets last weekend at Citi Field, New York has scored 14 runs. While the Mets are one of six teams in baseball with 30+ home runs (30), they have the second lowest batting average in all of baseball (.209).

On the mound, Noah Syndergaard has been out with biceps tendinitis. As of right now, he is expected to pitch Sunday afternoon, but even that start is up in the air. Matt Harvey had to start yesterday and ended up giving up five runs and walked five in a loss to the Atlanta Braves:

Before we give you the pitching matchups and our players to watch, we want to hear from you. What are your thoughts on this weekend’s series? Send us your predictions in our comments section.

Here are the pitching matchups for this series:

Tonight: Jacob deGrom (0-1, 2.55 ERA) vs. Max Scherzer (3-1, 1.95) – 7:05 p.m ET, broadcast on MASN2/MLB Network

Tomorrow: Zack Wheeler (1-2, 5.40) vs. Stephen Strasburg (2-0, 2.89) – 1:05 p.m, MASN2/MLB Network

Sunday: TBD vs. Joe Ross (1-0, 6.17) – 1:35 p.m ET, MASN2/WUSA9/MLB Network

Michael Conforto

Looking back at last weekend, the one Mets hitter that Washington Nationals pitching had a tough time getting out was Conforto. In those three games, he went 5-for-11 with a pair of solo home runs.

With Jose Reyes struggling, Terry Collins has used Conforto out of the leadoff hitter and it has paid off to a degree. In that Nats series, he led off both of those games with a home run.

Since Yoenis Cespedes is going to be out a while, Conforto is going to get an opportunity to play everyday. Usually, the Mets will sit him against a left-hander, but the Nats are throwing three right-handers in this series anyway, so that’s a moot point.

Due to the Mets offense relying on the home run, they need to find some players that can get on base consistently. Right now, Conforto’s .385 on-base percentage is the highest of any player on the team. Plus, he made some good defensive plays last weekend in left field.

Conforto has never faced Stephen Strasburg or Joe Ross, but he has great numbers against Scherzer. Including the home run last Sunday, he is 5-for-12 against the Nats ace with three solo home runs.

If Scherzer gives up another home run to Conforto tonight, it won’t do much damage to the Nats if it’s of the solo variety. With the Mets struggling to find some offense, Conforto should be the boost that the team needs. At least, he will get his opportunity to show that his strong rookie season wasn’t a fluke.

Trea Turner

It is clear that Turner’s hamstring is healthy and he is back to the player that sparked the Washington Nationals offense last year. While he is hitting in the second spot in the lineup, that hasn’t slowed down his production.

In a week where he hit the cycle on Tuesday in Colorado, the Nats shortstop went 10-for-16 in the final three games with three doubles, a triple, two home runs, and 11 RBI’s.

Despite missing part of the month with that hamstring injury, Turner is tied with Adam Eaton for fourth on the team in RBI’s with 13. If there is only one stat where Turner is hurt at because he’s hitting second, it’s stolen bases (3-for-3).

But, that could change this weekend. With Travis d’Arnaud behind the plate for the Mets, Dusty Baker could decide to put the speed that this team has into action. It’s a small sample size, but teams are 6-for-7 on stolen base attempts against the Mets catcher.

Turner didn’t get called up until June last season, so he didn’t have many at-bats against the Mets. Nevertheless, New York did a good job keeping him off the basepaths for the most part (7-for-32, no extra-base hits).

Right now, this lineup is clicking on all cylinders. It is only a matter of time before Eaton and Turner start to be threats with their speed in addition to their contact hitting. One thing’s for certain, Turner is locked in right now. But, there aren’t many people in this lineup who aren’t locked in after scoring 40+ runs the last three games.

Zack Wheeler

Wheeler is slated to start Saturday afternoon’s game. He had a rough first inning last Sunday night when he gave up a grand slam to Daniel Murphy. But, after the first inning, he settled in and had a decent outing.

The 26-year-old right-hander went seven innings, gave up four runs on four hits, struck out six, and walked two on 101 pitches (65 strikes). 100 pitches was rare for Wheeler since he hadn’t thrown that many since September 25, 2014.

Due to the state of the Mets rotation, they are going to need more of those outings from Wheeler. Before last Sunday, he didn’t pitch past the sixth inning. Plus, he throws about 17 pitches per inning.

One pitch to watch from Wheeler is his fastball. According to Fangraphs, his fastball has an average velocity of 94 miles per hour, but it can get up to 97 mph on the radar gun. His slider has been his go-to pitch as teams have a .125 hitter against that pitch (courtesy of Brooks Baseball).

If there was one hitter to keep an eye on in this game from the Nats side against Wheeler, it’s first baseman Ryan Zimmerman. Zimmerman is 6-for-15 with a pair of solo home runs against the right-hander in his career.

On paper, the Nats have the edge in this matchup with Strasburg on the mound, but Wheeler showed last weekend that he could hold his own against Max Scherzer. Don’t be surprised if this matchup is close on Saturday between these two pitchers.

Stephen Strasburg

Strasburg missed his last turn in the rotation because of paternity leave. Once again, congratulations to Strasburg and his wife, Rachel, on the birth of their second child.

Now, on the mound, Strasburg hasn’t pitched since April 20 against the Braves, but he was dominant in that start. He went seven innings, gave up two runs on six hits, struck out ten, and walked two on 103 pitches in the win.

It’s only April, but the right-hander has shown consistency as he has pitched seven innings and given up ten runs or fewer in all four of his starts. Plus, he has had three straight starts of eight or more strikeouts. His 29 total strikeouts is tenth in the National League right now.

Last season, Strasburg was dominant against the Mets. In three starts, he was 3-0 with a 1.83 ERA and had 30 strikeouts in 19.2 innings. Also, in his last start against New York in 2015, he had 13 strikeouts in 7.1 innings.

The matchup to watch tomorrow afternoon will be Strasburg against Jay Bruce. The Mets first baseman is 5-for-13 against him with a home run and three RBI’s. Bruce has not driven in a run in each of the last five games.

It will be interesting to see whether or not there is any rust with Strasburg in this start. But, with the way the Mets offense has been struggling and with Strasburg giving up only one home run this year, it’s safe to expect another strong outing from him.