With the Nationals completing a dominating performance against the lowly Atlanta Braves, the Mets lead is now at an even 6. The Mets head down to Miami for a three game series against the Marlins. The Nationals will remain at home to finish a 4 game series with the Braves. The Braves will throw Shelby Miller over the weekend, which has been their best pitcher this season. Luckily for the Mets, they will miss the Marlins best pitcher, Jose Fernandez. In addition, it appears the Mets will dodge another bullet with Giancarlo Stanton delaying his return from the DL for at least one game.
While doing some scoreboard watching this weekend, the Mets will be sending out Jacob DeGrom, Bartolo Colon, and Steven Matz to the mound. DeGrom seemed to return to form in his last start, but this will be a great opportunity to get back in the win column. Colon has pitched well as of late, but two of his starts have been against the last place Phillies. As always, it will be important for Colon to get some length in his start. The bullpen has had a chance to rest with Colon going deep into the last two starts. Matz will be returning from his first stint on the DL. The rehab starts for Matz have shown much optimism. One thing to watch on Sunday is how deep Matz will be allowed to pitch. Matz has remained around 6 innings or less in his rehab starts. Because of this, the emphasis will be even more on Colon giving the bullpen a break on Saturday.
It will be crucial task for Terry Collins to keep his players focused on the games this weekend and not look too far ahead to the next series in Washington. The 6 game lead will be monumental to maintain going into Monday’s showdown with Max Scherzer. The Nationals have set their rotation for the series against the Mets and Ryan Zimmerman has essentially put the Nationals on his shoulders recently. This will be a true test for this team, but anything other than a sweep will be a successful series in the standings.
The injury talk has been focused on Daniel Murphy today. Murphy is day to day with a left quad strain. This weekend will give Murphy a chance to rest up the quad and hopefully return in Washington. Lucas Duda has been been swinging a bat. This is not enormous news for the short term, but is still a big step in getting the power bat back in the lineup. Matz will be watched carefully this weekend, but all indications show that he has recovered 100%. The luxury of the September call-ups will provide some much needed depth in the bullpen and lineup. Whether analysts approve or disapprove of the call-ups, they certainly will benefit this Mets team.
