A look at how the Mets and Nationals match up:
Catcher
Kevin Plawecki has played better of late in place of the injured Travis d’Arnaud, but Wilson Ramos has been terrific offensively, with an OPS of .927, and is one of the better defensive catchers in the NL.
Edge: Nationals
First base
Lucas Duda hasn’t been quite as productive as he was a year ago, but Ryan Zimmerman is having his worst offensive season and was recently bumped out of the cleanup spot.
Edge: Mets
Second base
Daniel Murphy makes his return to Citi Field with nothing less than a .400 batting average and an OPS that rivals Bryce Harper’s. And the Mets couldn’t have asked for much more from Neil Walker.
Edge: Even
Third base
David Wright has just two hits in his last 20 at-bats with an alarming 11 strikeouts, but Anthony Rendon hasn’t been much better and was yanked for a pinch hitter Sunday.
Edge: Mets
Shortstop
Asdrubal Cabrera has been solid at the plate and better at shortstop than most had anticipated. Danny Espinosa has 10 hits in his last eight games and is excellent defensively.
Edge: Mets
Left field
Michael Conforto cooled off slightly after a blistering April, but that was to be expected in his first full season, while Jayson Werth is in the midst of a second straight subpar season.
Edge: Mets
Center field
Yoenis Cespedes is proving that his performance after arriving from Detroit at last year’s trade deadline was no fluke. Washington’s new center fielder, Ben Revere, has been awful since returning from an oblique injury suffered Opening Day.
Edge: Mets
Right field
Curtis Granderson has 11 RBIs this season. Bryce Harper has 11 home runs.
Edge: Nationals
Starting pitching
Although the Mets received good news about Steven Matz on Monday, they’re likely to go with Noah Syndergaard, Bartolo Colon and Matt Harvey. And it’s hard to top Max Scherzer, Gio Gonzalez and Stephen Strasburg.
Edge: Nationals
Bullpen
Jeurys Familia gets the nod over Jonathan Papelbon at closer, and the Mets setup men have continued to pitch well.
Edge: Mets
Bench
The Mets have Wilmer Flores on the DL, but they’re still in better shape than Washington, with Stephen Drew and Michael Taylor having terrible starts.
Edge: Mets
Manager
Two longtime managers, Terry Collins and Dusty Baker, were born a month apart and have each won an NL pennant. This is their first meeting in this NL East rivalry.
Edge: Even
