Game Thread: Mets vs Nationals, 4:05 PM

Monday, April 28, 2025 • 4:05 PM
Nationals Park • Washington, DC
RHP Griffin Canning (3-1, 3.12) vs. RHP Trevor Williams (1-2, 5.11)
SNY • MLBN

Get the Mets out of Washington, D.C.!

The Mets have had two tough losses so far this series. On Friday night, Jeff McNeil didn’t make a play on tough, low to the grounder that capped off a comeback for the Nationals. Earlier in the game, a Mets rallied was ended by a botch call on a lineup leading to a triple play. The Mets were cruising on Sunday afternoon with a 7-1 lead and then imploded, allowing the Nationals to score seven unanswered runs.

The best way to get over an ugly loss is to win the next game. The Mets did it on Saturday with a masterful pitching performance and key hitting by Francisco Alvarez. Let’s do that again today!

Mets Lineup

1. Francisco Lindor – SS
2. Juan Soto – RF
3. Pete Alonso – 1B
4. Jesse Winker – DH
5. Mark Vientos – 3B
6. Brandon Nimmo – LF
7. Francisco Alvarez – C
8. Jeff McNeil – CF
9. Luisangel Acuña – 2B

Griffin Canning has a 3.12 ERA, 3.32 FIP, 1.385 WHIP and a 124 ERA+ over 26 innings over five starts. In his last two starts, he has allowed only two runs from 10 hits and three walks over 11 innings while striking out 13 batters.

Canning has been a surprise in the Mets rotation this year. The Mets pushed Canning to rely more on his slider than his other pitches. In 2024, he used his four seamer 37.3% of the time and it had a 14.8 Whiff%, while his slider was used 24.1% of the time with a 33.1 Whiff%. This season he is using his slider 35.7% of the time and the Whiff% has gotten even better at 36.0%! The Nationals have the following career numbers against Canning:

• CJ Abrams 0-2, K
• Josh Bell 1-1, BB
• Alex Call 2-6
• Luis García Jr. 0-5
• Nathaniel Lowe 3-13, 2 HR, 4 K
• Nasim Nunez 1-1
• Amed Rosario 2-3, 3B
• Keibert Ruiz 2-5
• José Tena 1-3
• James Wood 2-3, 2B, HR
• Jacob Young 1-2, 2B

Opposing Lineup

1. CJ Abrams – SS
2. James Wood – DH
3. Luis Garcia Jr. – 2B
4. Nathaniel Lowe – 1B
5. Keibert Ruiz – C
6. Dylan Crews – RF
7. Jose Tena – 3B
8. Alex Call – LF
9. Jacob Young – CF

The Mets’ bats will face off against a familiar face in Trevor Williams this afternoon. Williams has a 5.11 ERA, 3.78 FIP, 1.581 WHIP and a 78 ERA+ over five starts and 24 2/3 innings. Similar to Canning, he is also coming off of two strong starts where he allowed only two runs over 10 innings from nine hits and four walks while striking out 10. He’s looked more like his 2024 self (2.03 ERA in 13 starts) in those starts than his previous three starts where he allowed 12 runs over 14 2/3 innings.

The Mets have the following career numbers against him:

• Pete Alonso 3-13, 2B, HR, BB, 2 K
• Francisco Alvarez 1-2, BB, K
• Francisco Lindor 4-14, 2 2B, HR, BB, 2 K
• Starling Marte 0-3, BB
• Jeff McNeil 4-13, 2B, 3B, 3 BB, 2 K
• Brandon Nimmo 1-10, BB, 4 K
• Juan Soto 2-15, HR, 7 BB, 2 K
• Tyrone Taylor 0-2
• Jesse Winker 7-11, 2B, 2 BB, 3 K

Game Notes

Jeff McNeil gets his fourth career start in center field today.

The Mets landed at No. 1 on MLB’s official power rankings!

Three Things To Watch For

1. José Ureña. The Mets called up Ureña before Sunday’s game to fill the roster spot for AJ Minter who landed on the injured list after Saturday’s game. The Mets bullpen needs a fresh arm after being overworked the last couple of days. It also feels like this roster spot will be a bit of a revolving door as the Mets need a sixth starter later in the week. Ureña pitched 109 innings last season over 33 games (nine starts) with the Rangers, posting a 3.80 ERA, 4.62 FIP, 1.321 WHIP and a 103 ERA+. He had a 2.89 ERA in Syracuse over 9 1/3 innings (three starts) this season. He could be used as a starter in the next day or two before getting sent down for a true reliever.
2. How many times does Juan Soto walk today? Juan Soto was on base four times Sunday afternoon going 2-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored. His batting stats against Williams are, for a lack of a better word, funny? He only has two hits out of 15 at bats but has worked seven walks.
3. Survive the transition to the bullpen. The Mets pitching this season has carried this team. The pitching as a whole ranks towards the top of the league while the hitting is in the middle. When you look at the box scores for pitchers though, it’s that last time through the lineup, that is causing them trouble, which can then spell trouble for the team. It’s happened most frequently, like Sunday, with pitchers just trying to go one more inning. This is the next big area the Mets need to figure out in 2025.

Let’s go Mets!

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