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NY Mets: Top three Nationals players that I despise the most
The New York Mets have gone 137-151 against the Washington Nationals in their franchise history. The Nationals are considered one of, if not the biggest Mets rival currently and are a team I certainly do not like. When the Mets were still playing their home games at Shea Stadium, they fared pretty well against the Nats. They did not lose a season series against the Nats until their third year at Citi Field, 2011.
2011 was the first of four straight losing seasons against the Nats which saw the Mets go a combined 23-51 against their rivals from D.C. These four seasons saw the Nationals win two division titles while the Mets never had a season going over .500.
The Nats owned the Mets, especially at Citi Field. The Mets went just 8-30 against the Nats in their home ballpark during those four years and it was just painful to watch.
This all turned around in 2015 though, when the Mets won the division title and finally won a season series against the Nationals. From 2016 on, the Mets have gone 40-46 against the Nats, a far more respectable record.
As a Mets fan, this list of three players to choose from was the hardest for me to make within the division.
There are so many Nationals players who owned the Mets, especially during the down years. Gio Gonzalez for example has gone 15-6 with a 2.81 ERA against the Mets and has gone 11-2 with a 1.83 ERA at Citi Field. These numbers are just far better than the pitcher he actually was.
Ryan Zimmerman, a guy who has been a lifelong National and is just someone I have grown to hate since he was a star on a rival team, is not even on here. Trea Turner, a guy who seems to steal a base every game he plays against the Mets while getting big hits as well.
Then there’s also Wilson Ramos who was not a good Met and absolutely killed the Mets as a National. In his career, he has slashed .302/,330/.491 with 12 home runs and 63 RBI. He always seemed to come up with the big hit against the Mets.
With all of the bad memories I have against the Nationals, there are some very good ones as well. Probably my favorite regular-season home run occurred against the Nationals, the Wilmer Flores walk-off. The Mets swept that series and eventually a series at Nationals Park which helped them win the National League East in 2015. Then there’s also 2019 which included the Todd Frazier game-tying home run and the Michael Conforto walk-off hit to continue an outstanding winning streak the Mets had at the time while making a late-season playoff push.
There have been some good moments and some bad moments, but one thing has stayed constant. My hatred of these three Nationals Players.
Anthony Rendon
Anthony Rendon being the player I hate the most from the Nationals might surprise people, but what he has done to the Mets is something I still haven’t gotten over. When the Nationals opted to re-sign Stephen Strasburg over Anthony Rendon I was so happy. I dislike Strasburg a ton and he is a phenomenal pitcher, but Anthony Rendon is better. Especially against the Mets.
In his career, Rendon has slashed .319/.388/.550 with 21 home runs and 83 RBI. He has hit 23 points higher with three more home runs and 14 more RBI against the Mets than he has against any other divisional opponent.
At Citi Field, he somehow has been even better. He has slashed .318/.384/.583 with 14 home runs and 41 RBI. This is by far the most success he has had in any ballpark he didn’t call home.
Rendon always seemed to come up with the big hits for the Nationals when they played the Mets, and he was the guy I never wanted to face. Even in his last year in Washington when Juan Soto also was killing the Mets, Rendon was the guy I never wanted the Mets to pitch to in a big spot.
Rendon has had plenty of huge moments against the Mets. One game I will never forget was the day he went 6-for-6 with three home runs and 10 RBI one Sunday afternoon in 2017. Noah Syndergaard started the game and left with an injury early. Rendon and the Nationals took full advantage in a 23-5 rout.
Rendon signing with the Angels means the Mets face him once every three years. My hope is when they play each other it will be in Los Angeles and hopefully, he gets a day off in that series.
Bryce Harper
Mets fans hate Bryce Harper for a bunch of different reasons. They hate him because he’s a very good baseball player. They hate him because of his attitude. They hate him because of his contract. I hate him because he just won’t go away.
Harper began his career with the Nationals, hyped up as the next superstar in the game. Harper has had seasons in which he has lived up to the hype and some which he has not.
In his career against New York, Harper has slashed .265/.372/.490 with 27 home runs and 81 RBI. These are good numbers, but nothing that would make me hate someone.
Even in his MVP year, 2015, Harper slashed just .254/.359/.493 with four home runs and eight RBI. Fine numbers, nothing special.
What makes me hate Bryce Harper so much is the fact that he is Bryce Harper. He is annoying. The bat flips, the hair flips, the ejections, the type of player he profiles as one who you would root heavily for if he was on your team and be very against if he wasn’t. Bryce Harper has been in the National League East his entire career. He played his first seven seasons with the Nationals before signing an absurd 13-year $330 million-dollar contract. This guy is never going to go away. The longer he stays within the division, the more I dislike him.
When the Nationals won the World Series without him, that was the one silver lining. The fact that he went to my least favorite team of them all made it even worse. There is a reason Mets fans boo Bryce Harper the way they do and they will continue to do it until the day he retires.
Max Scherzer
I respect Max Scherzer a lot and think he is a phenomenal pitcher and one of the better ones of this generation. In the 2014 offseason, Scherzer signed a seven-year $210 million-dollar contract with the Nationals. The $30 million-dollar salary for seven seemed a little ridiculous at the time but has proven to be one of the best free-agent contracts in baseball history. Scherzer has won two Cy Young Awards with the Nationals and has finished top five in five of his six years in Washington.
With Scherzer being this dominant, it’s expected for him to perform well against the Mets. But he has pretty much owned New York. In his career against the orange and blue, Scherzer has gone 12-5 with a 2.70 ERA in his 23 starts. The 2.70 ERA is the lowest against an NL East opponent. He has struck out 198 batters in 150 innings against the Mets, an 11.9 K/9. In 23 starts these are extremely impressive numbers.
The reason Scherzer is on here is just the length of how dominant he has been. Scherzer had his first season in Washington in 2015 and is still a very good pitcher to this day. Scherzer has consistently been a top three pitcher in the National League and every time the Mets face him I fear they might get no-hit because he has such good stuff.
This fear comes from experience. Scherzer threw a no-hitter against the Mets in 2015. It was a meaningless game in the last series of the season after the Mets had already wrapped up the division. Even with the game being meaningless it was still gut-wrenching. That was the second time watching the Mets get no-hit that season, and it’s never fun watching your division rival celebrate on your field.
Next. My most hated Phillies of all-time
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That night was just a symbol of how dominant Scherzer has been against the Mets. Luckily this season is the final year of the long contract so hopefully, he will be wearing a different uniform next season.