As I write this, the Nationals are currently locked in a 3-3 tie with the Florida Marlins in the 11th inning. They’ve used four pitchers so far, after using four on Wednesday, so there bullpen will not be that fresh.
The Nationals are not a good team; if they win tonight they’ll be 2-4 going into the Mets series.
The rotation the Mets will face is Zimmerman, Gorzelanny and Marquis. They miss Lannan and Hernandez. Zimmerman has promise but has thrown less than 100 innings in his career, to an ERA of above 4. Gorzelanny had his best year since 2007 last year with the Cubs, but still had an ERA above 4 with nearly a 1.5 WHIP. Jason Marquis was 2-9 with a 6.6 ERA last season and a startling 1.705 WHIP in thirteen starts. He doesn’t strike anybody out and is just not very good.
Their bullpen is mostly consisting of retreads and journeyman type guys, and should be even easier to score off of than the starters.
The Nationals are the bottom of the barrel in the NL East, and the Mets need to beat up on them at home to remain competitive in the division.