Can the Washington Nationals capitalize on the Mets' struggles? Pitching matchups and offensive weaknesses set the stage for a crucial NL East showdown.
For the first time this season, the Washington Nationals are traveling up north to face a familiar NL East foe. The New York Mets are perhaps the most confusing team of 2026 so far, and they will host the Nats for a three game set beginning Tuesday night.
Anything can happen in baseball, and the Nats aren’t exactly in a place to stroll into a series too comfortably yet. But the Mets are 6-17 in April, and this can be a good opportunity for the Nats to gain some traction heading into May.
Washington will turn to Zack Littell to pitch the opening night slate. Littell’s ERA climbed to 7.56 after a poor start last Thursday. The Atlanta Braves made him pay via the long ball, mashing four home runs off the right-hander.
The Mets will give the ball to Clay Holmes. Starting pitchers has not been the issue for New York this season. Holmes comes into the series with a 2.10 ERA, which is the eighth best in the MLB.
Cade Cavalli will take the mound on Wednesday, but his matchup is still unknown. The back half of the Met rotation is still a work in progress, and it seems like coaches are still debating on whether to throw a struggling Kodai Senga back in the ring. New York will push Freddy Peralta back to Thursday to throw against Miles Mikolas. Mikolas hasn’t gone more than four full innings yet in 2026.
There’s no doubt that the Mets offense has been a struggle this season, to say the least. But the Nats lead the National League in runs allowed with 171. Both teams have some pretty heavy weaknesses on the other side to try and play into.
For Washington, James Wood is still James Wood. His ten home runs and 28 walks lead the National League, but strikeouts are still a struggle for the young star. Daylen Lile still leads the team in batting average, hitting .278. His 32 hits leads the squad, and he’s been gaining power in his bat during the second half of April.
While the Nationals also enter the series with a handful of injuries, the Mets will continue without Fransisco Lindor, who was placed on the IL with a calf injury on April 23. A player to watch, however, will be Bo Bichette, who will get a chance to take reps at his former shortstop position. Bichette is hitting .292 over his last six games, and has gone 5-for-13 against Littell in his career.