Five days after holding the Nationals scoreless for seven innings in a no-decision effort, Jose Quintana will get another shot at them back at Citi Field.
The performance was a microcosm of the kind of pitcher Quintana has been for the Mets this season; he drew only seven swings and misses on 95 pitches.
However, he remained tough to predict with a well-balanced, five-pitch arsenal.
Quintana enters Tuesday’s opener of a six-game home stand at 3-5 with a 4.22 ERA, steadily improving as we approach the trade deadline and the Mets balance the .500 tightwire.
He’s provided durability in the Mets starting rotation while being one of the more vulnerable arms to batted balls.
The 35-year-old journeyman ranks in the bottom nine percent of expected weighted on-base average, allowing high exit velocity and launch angles on the balls that are knocked into play.
Quintana is striking out 6.62 hitters per nine innings — a mark that has regressed consistently since 2021.
The Nats’ offense isn’t much, but the team is among the top 10 teams in lowest strikeout percentage, per FanGraphs.
Quintana struck out one Nationals hitter in his previous start and although he is 5-3 in this prop when the line is set at 3.5, he is 5-11-1 overall.
THE PLAY: Quintana Under 3.5 strikeouts (+120, DraftKings)