Mets should line up rotation for upcoming series against Nats

By Danny Abriano
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The Nationals adjusted their starting rotation in advance of their series against the New York Mets that begins on September 7 in Washington, D.C. The Mets should consider doing the same.

During a three-game series in Washington from September 7 to 9, the Nats will trot out Max Scherzer, Jordan Zimmermann, and Stephen Strasburg, leaving Gio Gonzalez and Joe Ross to watch from the dugout.

The Nats currently trail the Mets by 5.5 games for first place in the National League East, and they’re operating as if their season is on the line — because it is.

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While the Mets have some breathing room, they should be functioning in the same manner as Washington — especially when you consider how up-and-down Bartolo Colon has been over the last two months.

As their rotation is presently configured, the Mets would send Jon Niese, Matt Harvey, and Jacob deGrom to the mound during their upcoming series against the Nationals.

However, the rotation will almost certainly be altered before then, with Steven Matz returning from the disabled list as the team again reverts to a six-man rotation.

There’s also a chance the Mets skip one of Noah Syndergaard‘s starts between now and then.

One way to arrange things could be to insert Matz back into the rotation on September 4 and skip Syndergaard. The chain of events caused by that would mean Harvey, deGrom, and Matz would line up against the Nats.

No matter what the Mets do, they should be sure to leave Harvey and deGrom on track to pitch two of the games in Washington. Regarding the other game, Niese being in that spot would be fine, but the Mets should do everything in their power to make sure Colon doesn’t wind up in that slot instead.

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