“It might require all 162 games to determine the [National League East] champion. Give Washington a slight edge headed into the season. The easiest forecast of all: This [Mets-Nationals] rivalry will be even more intense by season’s end.”
— Ken Davidoff, New York Post, March 24, 2017
All at once now: Yeesh.
(I guess it could’ve gone even worse. At least I didn’t give the “slight edge” to the Mets.)
This formerly electric Acela Express competition wrapped up its 2017 version Sunday afternoon with a 3-2 Nats victory at Citi Field, in front of a crowd considerably smaller than the announced tickets-sold count of 29,057. The Nats looked happy their bullpen bent yet didn’t break as they prepare for their fourth postseason in six years. The Mets looked happy their utterly miserable season has just one week left.
The gap between these two franchises looks wider than it has in a long time, and the Mets find themselves on the wrong side of that gap.
“This is a big market. You expect them to address all of their issues,” said Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who picked up the win over his Mets counterpart Jacob deGrom. “I’m sure they’re frustrated by how their season has turned out. That’s our game.
“They’re talented. You know they’re going to be chomping at the bit to beat us next year. That’s for sure.That’s just how it goes.”
Scherzer’s agent Scott Boras couldn’t have put it any better: The Mets are indeed a big-market team. With so many holes to fill, from outfield to infield to starting rotation to bullpen, and so few valuable pieces to trade, if they don’t address their issues with their checkbook, they’ll feel even more pain in their ticket sales.
The Nationals? Even beyond these playoffs, when they’ll likely take on the dangerous Cubs as they try to win their first NL Division Series, they’re very well-positioned to sustain this already-impressive run of excellence. All of their top players are under control for next year — diminished veteran Jayson Werth’s nine-figure deal finally expires — and even after 2018, when Gio Gonzalez, Bryce Harper and former Met Daniel Murphy can hit free agency, there’s a plethora of talent here, headlined by Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon and Trea Turner, that should make the Mets envious.
The Mets finished the season 6-13 against the Nats, with a daunting run differential of 74 scored and 115 permitted, and they’ve lost six of the last seven season series against these guys.
“Hey, man, I would hate to think about if we lost Stras and we lost Scherzer and we lost Gio,” Nationals manager Dusty Baker said. “When you think about it, they lost [Steven] Matz and they lost [Noah] Syndergaard and they lost [Matt] Harvey. Pitching is their backbone and their strength.
“… The Mets, they’ll be back and retooled.”
Maybe. For now, however, the Nats have a ginormous edge for 2018 in this rivalry turned non-rivalry.