The New York Mets are planning to start Max Scherzer in Game 1 of their National League wild-card series with the hope of being able to skip ace Jacob deGrom altogether, the New York Post reported Wednesday.
The Mets will host the San Diego Padres in a best-of-three series beginning Friday night.
If the Mets win Game 1 against the Padres, the plan would be to have right-hander Chris Bassitt start in Game 2 on Saturday, per the report. A loss in either Game 1 or Game 2, however, would trigger the Mets to pitch deGrom the next game, per the Post.
A Mets two-game sweep would save deGrom for Games 1 and 5 of the National League Division Series against the top seed Los Angeles Dodgers.
Mets manager Buck Showalter was prepared to throw deGrom in Wednesday's season finale against Washington if the National League East were still on the line. The Braves clinched Tuesday night, however.
Showalter said Wednesday it's increasingly unlikely that outfielder Starling Marte will be available for the series against the Padres.
"You can't swing a bat, you can't throw a ball, it's going to be hard," Showalter said, adding, "never say never."
Marte was placed on the injured list Sept. 10 with a nondisplaced fracture of his right middle finger after taking a 95-mph fastball off his hand from Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller on Sept. 6.
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