Instant Analysis: Mets 8, Nats 0
Zack Littell once again was roughed up, this time by a New York club that entered the day with the majors' worst record
NEW YORK – A matchup between the struggling Mets lineup against the struggling Zack Littell meant something had to give tonight. In the end, it was Littell who gave. And gave. And gave some more.
With yet another dud of a start that included yet another round of home runs surrendered, Littell lasted only 3 2/3 innings, giving up eight runs as the Nationals were blown out in the opener of this three-game series. A New York club that entered tied with Philadelphia for the majors’ worst record saw its lineup get right by pounding Littell just as a number of other teams have done to the veteran right-hander this month.
Littell gave up a leadoff homer to Bo Bichette to dig his team into a hole. And though he might have been through three scoreless innings after that had Jorbit Vivas not botched a bases-loaded grounder that slipped underneath his glove, Littell nevertheless couldn’t stop the bleeding. He wound up giving up seven runs in the bottom of the fourth, pulled by Blake Butera after serving up Juan Soto’s two-run homer.
Trailing the whole way, the Nationals never got anything going at the plate against Clay Holmes, advancing only one runner into scoring position in six innings vs. the New York starter. This quickly turned into a lopsided affair, one that could reinvigorate a Mets club that seemed to be teetering on the brink when the day began but now feels a lot better about itself after that feel-good game.
HITTING LOWLIGHT: It got lost in the shuffle with Littell’s pitching woes, but the Nationals lineup did nothing of consequence tonight. Holmes allowed three hits (all singles) and one walk over six scoreless innings. The Nats took one plate appearance with a runner in scoring position. (Luis García Jr. struck out on a pitch in the dirt to end the top of the third.) The outs came mostly on ground balls. And as was the case Sunday in Chicago, they mostly came quick. As productive as this group has been in the big picture, it has scored only 14 total runs over the last five games.
PITCHING LOWLIGHT: So, what do the Nats do with Littell now? President of baseball operations Paul Toboni insisted “we’re going to continue to stand by him” when asked about the right-hander earlier this afternoon, citing his late signing and track record of recent success. But it’s hard to look at that 7.85 ERA and MLB-high 13 homers surrendered – he’s only the eighth pitcher in MLB history to give up 13 in his first six appearances of the season – and see reason to believe he’s just going to flip a switch without making major changes. The club isn’t going to eat his $7 million contract before the calendar has turned to May, but perhaps it’s time to start treating Littell like Miles Mikolas, who has been given an opener and a bulk reliever around him and is being limited to 3-4 innings at a time in between.
NOTABLE: The Nationals are 4-8 when Littell and Mikolas have pitched, 9-9 when they have not.
UP NEXT: The Nats will try to get back on track Wednesday night when Cade Cavalli takes the mound for the first time since his 10-strikeout gem against the Braves. Left-hander David Peterson starts for the Mets at 7:10 p.m. EDT. TV: Nationals TV RADIO: 106.7 FM
Unfortunately this felt like watching the Nats of the past few years.
Hoping this chalks up to just first game post-day-off, sheesh