The New York Mets and the Washington Nationals meet Friday in MLB action from Nationals Park. This will be the second installment in a four-game weekend set. On Thursday in the Opening Day matchup, the Mets posted a four-run victory. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
New York had another frustrating season in 2021, going just 77-85 overall for a third-place division finish. The Mets would miss the playoffs for the fifth straight year as well. On Thursday in the opener game, New York got off to a nice start. The Mets managed 12 hits on the way to a 5-1 win.
For the Friday starting pitcher matchup, the Mets will send out Max Scherzer. Last season, Scherzer played for both the Nationals and the Dodgers, tallying a 7-0 record with a nice 1.98 ERA, 15 earned runs and 89 strikeouts in 11 games for Los Angeles.
Over on the Washington side, they had an even worse run of things last year. The Nationals would go 65-97 overall and finish dead last in the National League East standings. In the Thursday game, Washington got 4.0 innings with two earned on five hits from Patrick Corbin. The offense managed six hits in the loss.
Starting pitcher duties for the Nationals on Friday will go to Josiah Gray. In the 2021 campaign, Gray tallied a 2-2 record in 14 games (13 starts) with 76 strikeouts in 70.2 innings for a 2-2 record overall.
The Mets are 3-7 in their last 10 Friday games and 5-13 in their last 18 overall. New York is 5-13 in their last 18 on grass.
Meanwhile, the Nationals are 16-41 in their last 57 overall and 7-19 in their last 26 in game two of a series. Washington is 6-20 in their last 26 at home.
PICK: I’m going to take a stab on the Mets. We should have a pretty good matchup here regardless though, and it’ll be an interesting one to watch considering all the mutual familiarity. In any case, Scherzer is going to be a significant piece for the Mets this year. If he can continue his run from last season (and if New York can find him some offense) we should see quite a bit of improvement from the Mets when he’s on the mound. This one may be close but I think New York can power out a win.