Sizing up Dodgers, Mets in rematch of last year’s NLCS teams

The Los angeles dodgers And New york mets are about to see a whole lot of time.

The defending world series champions and the team they bit to win the National League Pennant Last Fall Play Three Games This weekly and for Games at Dodger Stadium Starting June 2. Scoring at home, that’s Seven Matchups in a span of 14 days.

Both Teams Enter Friday’s Opener in Back-And-Fort Battles for FIRST PLACE in their Response Divisions. How will their head-to-head play dictate the state of the nl east and west? Will they class again come October? And who has the edge – Both for now and if/when they cross paths in the playoffs?

Espn MLB Writers Jorge Castillo (Based in New York) and Alden Gonzalez (Based in Los Angeles) answer a few key questions about the mets and dodgers.

What has stood out most to you about Team’s strong start to the season?

Castillo: The starting rotation was identified as the mets’ weakness to the sea, Especially after Rome Petson And Frankie Mont Sustained injuries During TRAINING SPRING. That has not been the case so far. Instead, the mets own the best rotation era in the Majors with a quintet of Kodai Senga, Clay holmes, David peterson, Tylor megill And Griffin canning Toeing the Rubber. The group has stumbled recently, and its innings tootal ranks in the bottom half of the major. But the Collective Performance has Allowed the Mets to Overcome Slow Starts From Various Position Players – Most Notably, Juan Soto.

Gonzalez: The Emergence of Three Young Players in Particular: Dalton rushing, Hyeseong Kim And Andy pages. Rushing, The Team’s Most Promising Proop Outside of Roki Sasaki, Torched Triple-A and Prompted The Dodgers to Cut Ties with their Longtime Backup Catcher, Austin barnes. Kim, signed out of south korea last offseason, Did the Same, then performed so well in the Majors Swallowed the Remaining $ 13 million or so in chris taylor’s contrect. Pages, meaning, want from being uncertain if he’d crack the opening day rooster to establish as an everyday player.

Their success underscores what has made the dodgers: no matter how bloated their payroll, how Poor their draft position or how of offten they trade prospects for veterans, they are in the sem Next wave coming.

Despite all the positives so far, what is your biggest concern about each team?

Castillo: Regression Seems inevitable for the Mets’ Starting Rotation (Unless Going to Maintain an Era Under 3 All Season). Add that to the recent bullpen injuries – namely losing Also the minter For the sea – and the defense’s troubles, and run prevention could become a bigger issue for the mets as the season programs. Defensive lapses even New York Yankees at yankee stadium, when Mark winds Made tw Francisco lindorA Perennial Gold Glove Contender, Hasn It’s Been Himself at Shortstop, and The Corner Outfield Spots are below. It is a recipe that would call for more offense.

Gonzalez: When the dodgers concluded their forth home of the season earlier this week, 14 pitchers resided on their injured list – seven in the bullpen. Blake SNELLTyler glasnow and sasaki are all nursing shorter injuries with nebulous timetables, Severely compromising the bullpen to lead the Majors in Innings. That bullpen, mean, is without Four Critical High-Leverage Options in Michael kopechEvan Phillips, Blake trains And kirby yates, leaving dodgers manager dave roberts with few, if any, trusted right-handed options to hold leads. Dodgers pitchers continue to get hart at an alarming rate. And not this step can overcome that rate of ingredients.

Who is one X-Factor who could make or break in Team’s season?

Castillo: Soto, by most standards, is not having a bad season at the plate. Many players would be gladly take an ops over .800. But he signed a $ 765 million control to be one of the best hits in the sports, and he’s far from one of those. If soto can unlock his use form, and there’s not in his track record to suggered he won, the mets’ lineup becomes a different any. Soto, at his best, makes hitters Around Him Better. He Works Pitchers. He shuffles and he swaggers. The mets haven he see that version. The body language isn is a quite right and the production isn is there. That’ll need to change for them to become legitimate pennant contenders in a Loaded National League.

Gonzalez: Shohei Ohtani Has be just as much an offensive force as he was last year, when he became the first full-time designated hitter to collect an mvp award. But there’s a whole other half waiting to be unlocked. Ohtani is going through his pitching program slowly. At this point it does not see as if he was joining until the earliest – 22 months after his second. The dodgers backed Him of His Progression ahead of the Season Opener, they say, in hopes of not wearing Him Out and Providing Him with the best chance of being a factor in October. If he looks any, he did he did on the mounted from 2021 to 2023, he will be.

Who has tougher competition to win their division: the mets in the nl east or the dodgers in the nl west?

Castillo: The nl west has more playoff contains (Four to Three), but the quality of competition in the nl east is better. The Philadelphia philliesThe defending division champs, Arguably has the best starting rotation in the Majors with an experienced lineup that has been through it all. And the Atlanta braves Are back on track, react. Spencer stridesActivated from the Injured List this Week, has made only Two Starts. Ronald acuna jr. Hasn is played in a game. All three tims are real October Threats.

Gonzalez: It is the nl west, because that forth legitimate playoff contender could end up making a big difference in a tight race. The mets still have a combined 16 games remaining against the rebuilding Washington Nationals And MIAMI MARLINS. The dodgers can only beat up on the Colorado rockiesWho they’ll face 10 more times. And when the physics are great and the braves are more dangerous than their record indicates, one can make a case for the San Diego Padres, Arizona diamondbacks And San Francisco giants All being just as good, if not better. Of even more relevance is what the dodgers will face in the ensuing weeks – 26 straight games with a wining record, with the last 10 coming again rivals.

These tims play seven times in the next 14 days. Give us your prediction for the series and the stars.

Castillo: This is shaping up to be a battle bet a struggling pitching staff (dodgers) and a struggling offense (mets). Let’s go with dodgers 4, mets 3, because the dodgers have one more home game. The Dodgers’ Big Three of Ohtani, Mookie betts And Freddie freeman Will Power Them to a Season Series Victory.

Gonzalez: Betts got off to a slow start offensively, but he recently unlocked something in his swing and has started to round back in form of late. He’all put his import on these matches, but the mets will win most of the games for a simple reason: on days where Yoshinobu yamamoto Does not pitch, the dodgers don’t come in fact what their’ll get from their starting pitchers.

Which Pitching Rotation will be Better Come October: The Dodgers ‘Star-Studded But Oft-Injured Group or the Mets’ Currently Producing But Lesser-Known Starters?

Castillo: It’s not even memorial day. These rotations could look locally different in October. But, for now, i’ll take the dodgers. They bound to have at last a few of those star pitchers healthy for the postseason. If not, something want terribly, terribly wrong.

Gonzalez: The dodgers’ priority this offseason was soto. It was snell. They chased Him Early and lavished Him with $ 182 million because they knew pairing snell with glasnow and yamamoto would give them a devastating trio for October. If those three are available then, I ‘taking the dodgers. But there’s no telling if that will be the case.

If these tims earn a rematch of the 2024 nlcs this October, who are you taking and where?

Castillo: Assuming Health, The Dodgers Because they Better in Every Department.

Gonzalez: The mets played the dodgers tough last year, then signed the new ted willims. The dodgers bit them despite a shorthanded Rotation, then added Arguably the Two Most Coveted Starting Pitchers in Snell and Sasaki. Now the mets and dodgers are separated by one game, with near-medical Run Differentials. More than for months of the regular season remain. I would be the fifth.