The New York Mets were one of the pleasant surprises of the baseball season, racking up 90 wins after six straight losing seasons.
How were they rewarded? With a playoff matchup against Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, and the Los Angeles Dodgers, winners of three straight NL West division titles.
The Dodgers and Mets last met in the post-season in 2006 (New York won 3-0). However, both rosters have turned over quite a bit since then — Andre Ethier and David Wright are the only players who remain on their respective teams from that series.
Here’s what to watch for:
Game 1: Friday, Oct. 9 – 9:30 p.m. ET
Jacob deGrom (14-8, 2.54) vs. Clayton Kershaw (16-7, 2.13)
Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 10 – 9:00 p.m. ET
Noah Syndergaard (9-7, 3.24) vs. Zack Greinke (19-3, 1.66)
Game 3: Monday, Oct. 12 – TBD
Brett Anderson (10-9, 3.69) vs. Matt Harvey (13-8, 2.71)
Game 4 (if necessary): Tuesday, Oct. 13 – TBD
Clayton Kershaw or Alex Wood vs. Steven Matz (4-0, 2.27)
Game 5 (if necessary): Thursday, Oct. 15 – TBD
TBD vs. TBD
Arms race: This series is loaded with fantastic starting pitching. Kershaw, Greinke, Matt Harvey, and Jacob deGrom all ranked in the top-six in ERA among NL qualifiers. The Mets have a bit more depth in their starting rotation, but it’s hard to imagine a team having a better combination of starters than the Dodgers duo of Kershaw and Greinke, who combined for a 1.90 ERA in the regular season, the lowest by a set of teammates with a minimum of 25 starts since 1968.
Kershaw went 11-1 with a 1.22 ERA and four complete games over his final 17 starts while Greinke posted the lowest ERA in the majors since Greg Maddux in 1995. Greinke and Kershaw only allowed three earned runs in four starts (30 innings) against the Mets this season.
Will Kershaw hold up in the playoffs? As dominant as Kershaw has been throughout his Dodgers’ career, his success hasn’t carried over to the post-season. The three-time Cy Young Award winner is just 1-5 with a 5.12 ERA in six post-season series, including a rough 7.82 ERA in last year’s NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Dodgers are weighing the option of starting Kershaw in Game 4, barring a sweep, on three days rest so how he performs in Game 1 will play a big factor in their decision.
Home cooking: Home field advantage could play an important role in this series. The Dodgers led the majors with the best percentage of home wins, 55-26 at Dodger Stadium, and the Mets were just a game over .500 on the road this season. Conversely, the Mets went 49-32 at home while the Dodgers weren’t a playoff-quality team away from home, finishing the year with a 37-44 record.
Like both teams, deGrom has a significant gap in his home-road splits. His road ERA (3.33) over his career is much higher than his home ERA (1.87), and he struggled in his only career start at Dodger Stadium, allowing five runs on five hits in seven innings.
How will Puig factor in? The Dodgers have a bit of a wild card in outfielder Yasiel Puig, who confirmed he will be on the playoff roster for the NLDS. The enigmatic outfielder is coming off a month-long stint on the disabled list with a strained hamstring. However, he returned last week and played in the Dodgers’ last two games, starting and getting a hit in the first one.
Puig claims he feels good and is hoping he can be productive player in the series. The Dodgers can either split time with him and Andre Ethier or use him as a weapon off the bench. He hit .250 with four runs scored, a triple and an RBI in last year’s NLDS loss.
Lefties on lefties: One issue the Mets could run into early in the series is that two of the Dodgers’ top-three starting pitchers are left-handed. Curtis Granderson and Daniel Murphy, two of the Mets’ everyday players, hit from the left side of the plate and have struggled against left-handed pitchers in their career. Granderson went .183 with an ugly .558 OPS against lefties during the regular season while Murphy finished the year with .254 average and .633 OPS against southpaws. Given their struggles with lefties and the talented starters on L.A., it could be tough for the Mets to produce offence.
