Washington Nationals (15-23) at New York Mets (19-16) 7:10pm
Odalis Perez (0-3) vs. Nelson Figueroa (2-2)
What to watch: The Mets start a four game home stand against the Nats before going to Yankee Stadium for a weekend series. This series is another chance for the Mets to beat up on the weak sisters of the National League. Winning at least three out of four games would be the idea here for the Mets. We’ll see if the weather holds up for tonight, the forecast is calling for rain today.
The Nationals come to town tomorrow night for a three game series. The scheduled starters are:
Tues. 4/15- Odalis Perez (0-2) vs. Mike Pelfrey (1-0)
Wed. 4/16- Matt Chico (0-2) vs. John Maine(0-1)
Thur. 4/17- John Lannan (0-2) vs. Nelson Figueroa (1-0)
The story of this series is going to be the starting pitching competition between Pelfrey and Figueroa. They’re competing to stay in the rotation, and on the roster, when Pedro Martinez comes back. The Nationals have been struggling and their starting pitching has been especially dreadful. Nats GM Jim Bowden even called them out in the press last week.
Mets at Marlins 7:10pm TV: SNY Pedro Martinez vs. Rick VandenHurk
It’s early but the Mets have to keep pace with the Nationals already. It’ll be interesting to see what Pedro has left in the tank this year. He’ll be pivotal to the Mets season this year. They need him to be well over .500 to have a successful season.
Source: WikipediaNews outlets are reporting the the Washington Nationals have chosen manager Manny Acta to catch the first ceremonial pitch from President Bush on Sunday night. Nationals team president Stan Kasten said the choice was between Acta and third baseman Ryan Zimmerman.
The obvious conspiracy theory is that because LoDuca was in the Mitchell Report that the Nationals didn’t want him doing the ceremonial pitch. My take is that they don’t want a journeyman catcher on a one year contract to do it. They want the face of their franchise out there. It’s as simple as that. I’m glad former Met coach Manny Acta gets the assignment. By all accounts he’s a great guy.
The Mets Report 