New York Mets at Washington Nationals series preview

The New York Mets will open their 2015 season on Monday afternoon in Washington D.C. against the Washington Nationals.  Bartolo Colon the veteran starter will get it started against Max Scherzer.  The Nationals are arguably the best team in baseball and have the majors best rotation.  The Mets have their own very good rotation with a lot of youth and a lot of guys on their way up.  They are hoping their hitting will add some help to a good rotation and that their bullpen has gotten better with some youth in it and some lefty relievers that were added late in spring training. 

The Mets finalized their 25 man roster on Saturday.  They demoted Eric Campbell and will carry just four bench players and eight relievers.  Buddy Carlyle is on the team and Vic Black is going to the disabled list.  Daniel Murphy will not go on the DL and Danny Muno and Matt Reynolds were both sent to AAA.  The Mets rotation lost Zach Wheeler to Tommy John surgery but will get Matt Harvey their ace back.  They will also have Jon Niese, Dillon Gee and Jacob deGrom.  The lineup will have David Wright, Lucas Duda and Curtis Granderson returning along with Daniel Murphy and Juan Lagares who they are hoping will continue to improve offensively.  Michael Cuddyer is the big free agent addition to help the lineup. 

The Nationals have an unbelievable rotation consisting of Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Scherzer, Doug Fister and Jordan Zimmerman.  They have some pop in their lineup and their one weakness will be their bullpen.  Ryan Zimmerman will move to first base, Denard Span, Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth are their big players. 

The Mets will be off on Tuesday and then continue their series Wednesday and Thursday nights.  Here are the pitching matchups.

Monday-Scherzer vs. Colon

Wednesday-Zimmerman vs. deGrom

Thursday-Strasburg vs. Harvey

New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays series preview

The New York Yankees begin their 2015 season on Monday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.  They will take on the Toronto Blue Jays who are a division rival.  Toronto boasts a strong lineup with some young pitching and also a veteran mix.  They have R.A. Dickey the knuckleballer and Mark Buerhle.  Drew Hutchison and Daniel Norris are also in the rotation.  The lineup boasts Jose Bautista, Jose Reyes, Edwin Encarnacion and also new catcher Russell Martin. 

The Blue Jays will have a strong lineup, decent rotation and a questionable bullpen.  The Yankees are armed with a strong rotation if healthy, a very good bullpen and a questionable offense.  They are hoping their offense will be better with health.  It looks like they will have Jacoby Ellsbury at the top of the lineup this year with Carlos Beltran, Mark Teixeira, Brian McCann and Chase Headley in the middle.  Alex Rodriguez could be the regular DH batting in the bottom third of the order.  He showed a lot in spring training so maybe he can add some punch to their lineup and then Stephen Drew and Didi Gregorius will be at the bottom of the order.  It could be a good lineup but that will have to prove itself and stay healthy. 

Here are the matchups for the three game series which will take place Monday afternoon and then Wednesday and Thursday night at Yankee Stadium. 

Monday-Masahiro Tanaka vs.  Drew Hutchison

Wednesday Michael Pineda vs. R.A. Dickey

Thursday-CC Sabathia vs. Daniel Norris(the battle of the lefties)

Norris and Hutchison are both kids, Dickey is a veteran knuckleballer.  Last season Hutchison was 11-13 with a 4.48ERA, Dickey was 14-13 with a 3.71 ERA and Norris was 0-0 with a 5.40 in limited action.  Tanaka set the world on fire before getting hurt and then returning for two starts at the end of the year.  He was 13-5 with a 2.77 ERA.  Pineda when healthy was great at 5-5 with a 1.89 ERA and Sabathia was 3-4 with a 5.28 before going down in May with an injury for the rest of the season. 

I would expect the Yankees to win two out of three in this opening series, but we will see what happens beginning on Monday afternoon.