Game Preview: Mets @ Nationals

The Mets bounced back from Friday’s loss with a 2-0 win Saturday afternoon. The Mets relied on their pitching, like they have most of this season, to win an MLB leading 19th game this season.

Tylor Megill and Mitchell Parker face off in a matchup of breakout starting pitchers. Both starters have ERA’s below 1.50 for the season, leaving fans hoping that this is more than just a hot streak. Can Megill lead the Mets just like Clay Holmes yesterday? Can Parker shut down the Mets lineup?

Tylor Megill has a 1.09 ERA, 2.18 FIP, 1.257 WHIP and a 357 ERA+ over five starts and 24 2/3 innings this season. The next big step for Megill is to finish the sixth inning – he has pitched into the sixth inning three times so far this season but has only recorded two outs. He’s coming off of his best start this season where he held the Phillies to one hit over 5 1/3 innings while striking out 10 batters (however four walks worked up his pitch count). In two starts against the Nationals last season, Tylor allowed six runs, four earned over 11 innings from nine hits and five walks while striking out eight. The Nationals have the following career numbers against him:

  • CJ Abrams 1-5
  • Riley Adams 0-2
  • Josh Bell 3-10, HR, BB, 3 K
  • Alex Call 2-3, 2B
  • Dylan Crews 1-2, 2B
  • Luis García Jr. 1-12, 2B, BB, 4 K
  • Nathaniel Lowe 1-3, K
  • Keibert Ruiz 3-10, 2B, BB, 3 K
  • José Tena 0-3
  • James Wood 0-3, K
  • Jacob Young 0-1, BB

In 2024 Mitchell Parker had a 4.29 ERA, 3.85 FIP, 1.305 WHIP and a 94 ERA+ over 151 innings. This season he has a 1.39 ERA, 3.41 FIP, 0.928 WHIP and a 286 ERA+ over 32 1/3 innings. Parker is coming off of his best start of the season where he held the Orioles to only one hit and no runs over eight innings and 99 pitches. He has gone at least six innings in each start this season. Today is a test for Parker though as the Mets put up numbers against him in his rookie season. In 2024 the Mets scored 10 earned runs off of 12 hits and two walks over 9 2/3 innings. The Mets have the following career stats against Parker:

  • Luisangel Acuña 1-2, 2B
  • Pete Alonso 1-5, K
  • Francisco Alvarez 1-2, HR
  • Francisco Lindor 1-3, HR, K
  • Starling Marte 1-1, BB
  • Brandon Nimmo 0-3, K
  • Juan Soto 0-1, BB
  • Tyrone Taylor 2-4, HR
  • Luis Torrens 0-2
  • Mark Vientos 1-4, HR, K

Three Things To Watch Out For:

  1. Homeruns. Mitchell Parker allowed 18 home runs in 2024, four of them in two starts against the Mets. He has allowed only one home run so far in 2025. His HR/9 rate has dropped from 1.1 down to a paltry 0.3. The Mets lineup has hitters who had success against him last year. Does 2024 repeat itself or has Parker broken through?
  2. Francisco Lindor. Do you know who is good at baseball? Francisco Lindor. Friday night he went 0-for-4 at the plate, snapping his streak of four games in a row reaching base at least three times. Yesterday he reached base three times. So in his last six games, he has five games getting on base three times. In the three most recent ones, he has only scored two runs, which is a good indication on how things around him are going.
  3. Containing Dylan Crews. Crews has evaded Mets pitchers so far this series going 5-for-8 at the plate with a triple and three runs scored. Since April 16th Crews has slashed .368/.368/.684 with a double, triple and three home runs from 14 hits. He has raised his season slash line over this time from .120/.170/.120 to .227/.253/.364. His season OPS+ is still a 75, but won’t be for long if he keeps hitting like he has for the last two weeks.

Let’s Go Mets!

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