Tonight’s 7:05 p.m. game against the Washington Nationals will be aired exclusively on Apple TV+…Fans can access the game for free by using the Apple TV app or by visiting tv.apple.com…The service is accessible to anyone with internet or wireless access, no cable or satellite subscription is required so stop complaining about that and focus on the bad play by play.
Jeff McNeil celebrates his 30th birthday today…McNeil was the last player to homer on his birthday, doing so on his 29th birthday last year at Citi Field…Overall, 16 players have homered on their birthday in franchise history… Mike Piazza and Jim Hickman are tied for the franchise record, having homered on their birthday twice in their career.
Max Scherzer makes his Mets debut tonight in Washington…In December, the Mets signed the three-time Cy Young Award winner and eight- time All-Star to a three-year contract…Scherzer went 15-4 with a 2.46 ERA (49 earned runs/179.1 innings) in 30 starts between the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers last year…He struck out 236 and walked 36 while earning his eighth All-Star nod…He led the majors in opponents’ batting average (.185) and WHIP (0.864), was second in ERA and walks per 9 IP (1.807), was fourth in strikeouts and pitcher bWAR (6.0), and ranked fifth among pitchers in fWAR (5.4) as well as fifth in wins…The three-time Cy Young Award winner, toke home the trophy with Detroit in 2013 and with Washington in 2016 and 2017…He finished third in voting last season and is one of seven pitchers in major league history to finish in the top five of his league’s Cy Young voting eight or more times.
During his seven seasons with the Nats, he went 37-26 in D.C. with a 2.99 ERA (208 earned runs/626.2 innings), 830 strikeouts and 145 walks…He ranks second on the ballpark’s all-time list in strikeouts and innings pitched, trailing only Stephen Strasburg (914 K, 774.0 IP)…Scherzer has the best K/9 (11.92), WHIP (0.97), K/BB (5.72) and H/9 (6.65) in the ballpark’s history (min. 100.0 IP).
Prior to last night’s game, the Mets acquired RHP Adonis Medina from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for cash…Medina was optioned to Syracuse (AAA)…In order to make room on the 40-man roster, the Mets designated RHP Yennsy Díaz for assignment…Medina, 25, has appeared in five major league games over the last two years with the Philadelphia Phillies, going 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA (five earned runs/11.2 innings).
Scherzer has not faced Washington in nearly a dozen years…He made one appearance against the Nats each season from 2008-2010, appearing in relief his rookie season and starting the latter two games…He went 1-0 with a 5.27 ERA (eight earned runs/13.2 innings) in the three outings.
