Mets at Braves - Series Preview

Written by Jonathan on April 4, 2008 – 12:15 pm

The New York Mets (2-1) come to town this evening to face off against the Braves (1-3) who are looking to pick up the pace after a slow start on the season.  This early matchup highlights one of the key rivalries in the NL East for the season, in what is expected to be a 3-way race between the Mets, Phillies and Braves.  I’m looking to see some solid starting pitching matchups on both sides.

Projected Starters:
Friday: John Maine (0-0, -.–, RHP) vs. Tim Hudson (0-0, 2.57, RHP)
Tim Hudson looks to get a little more run support from the squad than he did during his first start on opening day against the Nationals, where he only issued 3 hits through 7 innings of work.  John Maine makes his first start of the season for the Mets.  Both pitchers should be highly effective and I look to see a battle of two potent offenses against solid pitching.

Saturday: Mike Pelfrey (0-0, -.–, RHP) vs. Tom Glavine (0-0, 1.80, LHP)
Tom Glavine faces the Mets for the first time since coming back to pitch in a Braves uniform.  Hopefully Tommy will make it a little deeper into the game than on Monday against the Pirates, where he gave up 7 hits in 5 innings.  Glavine got shelled the first time he played against the Braves when he went to the Mets; let’s hope the favor isn’t returned.  Of the starters we’ll see from the Mets this weekend, I think Pelfrey has the potential to be the weakest link.

Sunday: Johan Santana (1-0, 2.57, LHP) vs. John Smoltz (0-0, -.–, RHP)
This is the pitching matchup that Braves and Mets fans alike are looking forward to.  John Smoltz looks to make his first start of the regular season coming off of the 15-day disabled list.  The Mets’ golden boy, Santana, looks to extend his record to 2-0.  This should be a great matchup to watch as long as Smoltz is back to feeling up to pitching at full strength.

Offensive Matchup:
The Braves and Mets have two potent offenses (1st and 2nd in the NL in runs scored, respectively).  It’s hard to really tell how those numbers pan out at the start of the season, but it still shows that the teams are capable of putting runs on the board.  I don’t expect to see as large of offensive numbers from these games on account of solid pitching, but one swing of the bat on either side could influence the tone of the entire series.

Prediction:
I doubt we’ll see a sweep by either team in this series and I’m going to give a 2-1 advantage to the Braves on a couple of conditions.  First of all, it’s a home series and the fans are buzzing for this one.  Secondly, that prediction only holds true if Smoltz is at full strength to go up against Santana.  I can’t possibly predict which games go which way, but I expect to see some hard fought games on both sides of the ball.

Tags: Johan Santana, John Maine, John Smoltz, Mike Pelfrey, New York Mets, Series Preview, Tim Hudson, Tom Glavine
Posted in Series Previews |