The Mets welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers to Citi Field for a three-game set that begins on Friday night.
Here are five things to watch…
The Mets against the Dodgers’ top starting pitchers
The Phillies got a gift from the Dodgers and the rain during their recently completed series in Philadelphia against LA — and still lost two of three.
In their three-game set, Philadelphia lucked out when a rain delay forced Max Scherzer out of Tuesday’s game after 3.1 innings. They then faced the up-and-down David Price on Wednesday before the Dodgers had a bullpen game on Thursday.
The Mets will not be as lucky.
New York is set to face Julio Urias on Friday, Walker Buehler on Saturday, and Scherzer on Sunday.
NL East race could start to be defined
By sweeping the Washington Nationals, the Mets sliced 2.0 games off their deficit in the NL East, leapfrogged the Atlanta Braves, and tied the Phillies in the loss column.
Simply put, they temporarily saved their season by taking care of business against the Nats.
Things get much tougher starting Friday, as the Mets will play 13 consecutive games against the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants.
The Phillies play the Cincinnati Reds this weekend before facing the hapless Arizona Diamondbacks and contending San Diego Padres.
The Braves’ schedule over the next week and change is almost impossibly easy, with Atlanta set to face the Nats, Miami Marlins, and Baltimore Orioles.
If the Mets can play well against the NL West juggernauts, they could come out in great shape. If not, they could be in serious trouble.
Baez hasn’t started a game since Aug. 8, when he left due to hip tightness that is now a lower back issue.
He pinch-hit on Aug. 10 in what has been his only plate appearance since.
Baez was available off the bench for Thursday’s doubleheader, but did not enter the game, and it’s unclear if he’ll be ready to start on Friday or at any point this weekend.
Is the Mets’ offense finally breaking out?
After being stymied by the Phillies last weekend in what was a continuation of their hitting woes that started shortly after the All-Star break, the Mets broke out against the Nats, scoring 17 runs in the three-game series.
A major caveat here is that the Nationals’ pitching staff is a dumpster fire, so what the Mets did needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
Still, the approach looked a lot better and the balls were hit a lot harder, including awakenings by Michael Conforto and Pete Alonso.
Can the Mets can keep it going against the powerful Dodgers?
Walker has struggled badly since the All-Star break as his ERA has jumped from 2.50 to 3.89.
The right-hander had a better showing his last time out against the Phillies, but was still victimized by the long-ball — allowing three solo shots. Those bombs increased the total number of homers given up by Walker since the All-Star break to 10 in five starts.
It’s hard to think that at least part of Walker’s struggles aren’t due to the huge innings increase he’s in the middle of, and Walker didn’t dismiss that as a potential hindrance when asked about it a few weeks ago.
Whatever it is, the Mets need to hope he gets past it and starts to resemble the guy who was pitching like a front of the rotation cog in the first half. Walker gets the ball on Saturday night.