NEW YORK — After two days of obfuscation, arrogance and general nonsense, the Mets’ players made clear on Friday what Mets manager Buck Showalter refused to say: Jacob deGrom will start Game 2 of the National League wild card series.
Showalter said on Thursday that the team would decide its Game 2 starter based on the outcome of Game 1. He did not elaborate, but even a casual observer could understand that the idea would be to maximize New York’s one-two punch: Win Game 1 with co-ace Max Scherzer, use No. 3 starter Chris Bassitt to try to sweep the Padres in two games and keep deGrom, the other ace, available to start either a winner-take-all Game 3 or, ideally, Game 1 of the NLDS against the Dodgers.