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[fimg=550]http://img.bleacherreport.net/img/slides/photos/003/903/991/hi-res-9208f783bc17b30d272b13cdb488c9bb_crop_north.jpg?w=630&h=420&q=75[/fimg]
Bryce Harper, shaking hands and taking a piss, right there in the infield.
Welcome to opening day. We have a rare three-game opening series this year, where we usually get two games with a nap in between. The teams still get their nap tomorrow, so the Mets will be in Washington the better part of the week.
INJURIES: Three dudes starting lineup dudes out for the series or more: center fielder Denard Span, corner outfielder Jayson Werth, third baseman Anthony RenDON, who has a sprain in his Anthony tenDON.
Pitching is Max Scherzer against Bartolo Colon, followed by Jordan Zimmerman against deGrom, and Stephen Strasburg against Harvey (HAR-VEY'S BET-TER! Clap! Clap! Clap-clap-clap!).
Scherzer was very good last year, and his only great season was the year before... but... the difference is mostly in the number of hits that fell in. He struck out about the same in both years (10.1 to 10.3 per nine), walked about the same (2.4 to 2.6) and totally kept the ball in the ballpark (0.8 to 0.7 HR per nine). You don't want to fall behind early against him, because a rally takes stringing a bunch of hits together, rather than patiently working two walks followed by a bomb. He tends to ban the bomb. He's a drop-and-drive righty relying on the fastball and change, who is untouchable when he's got a feel, but can get in a funk with his mechanics, so watch and see if maybe he's opening up or having trouble staying warm. He's tough on lefties, for a guy who doesn't feature his slider, but he has confidence in it and will show it more to them.
I'll let somebody else tell you more about Strassburg and Zim, but we've seen plenty of 'em.
Newish to the team is second baseman Yunel Escobar, who will be playing third this series. You've seen him with Tampa and with Toronto before. He got a three-year deal, but he's sort of Julio Lugo/Ricky Weeks solid, not a game changer. What he brings to the team is versatility to jump around the infield and fill a position where he's needed, depending on which prospects are coming along and which teammates are DL-ing. He hasn't had an OPS out of the 600s for three straight seasons.
Also new is base stealing center fielder Michael Taylor. He's a raw talent, as likely to steal a game from you as he is to disappear for an entire series. He came up for 17 games at the top of last year, and is batting leadoff despite not having really established himself as an on-base threat. He's probably a year and half away, and has only had 12 games in AAA to go with his 17 in the majors, so the Nats probably aren't feeling good about going with him. On the other hand, he DID hit two homers off of Justin Verlander in a spring training game. (Tigers STUNK this spring.)
Lastly, Dan Uggla is suddenly playing second, probably facing the Mets on opening day in a third different uniform (too lazy to look that up). I'm too kind to say HAH-HAH! Or perhaps too suspicious. Believe what you want about Uggla having anything in the tank, but we can be certain that they didn't draw it up this way.
Gone like the water are Met-enemy first baseman Adam LaRoche (with Ryan Zimmerman sliding over from third to first), and the bullpen lost Rafael Soriano as a free agent and Tyler Clippard as trade-bait (but Blake Treinen and Aaron Barrett are impressive replacements, I'll tell you what).
The lone former Met on the roster is outfield reserve Matt den Dekker, who probably will get a start later in the series. But Tony Tarasco coaches first and gets high with the rookies, Rick Ankiel coordinates life skills (stay away from Tony, kids), Bill Singer directs international scouting and is always sure to quit after his second drink, Mike Cubbage special-assists the general manager, and Ray Knight hosts the pre- and post-game shows..
The pitching match ups should be warlike, but I suddenly like the notion that the team has a possibly declining third baseman sliding over to first and a probably declining second baseman sliding over to third. THAT'S GOOD GRAVITY! And Uggla, well, see above.
Feel free to add on.
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