Potential Mets, Cardinals aces match up on mound

NEW YORK -- Jacob deGrom took the final step last season in his emergence as an ace-quality pitcher for the New York Mets. The St. Louis Cardinals hope Michael Wacha begins traveling the same path Saturday afternoon.

Two 2015 National League All-Stars are scheduled to oppose one another Saturday, when deGrom and Wacha make their season debuts as the Mets host the Cardinals at Citi Field.

The Mets beat the Cardinals 9-4 in Opening Day action Thursday afternoon.

DeGrom (15-10, 3.53 ERA in 31 starts in 2017) was one of the few bright spots last year for the Mets, who followed up back-to-back playoff appearance by skidding to a 70-92 finish.

While the rest of deGrom's rotation-mates missed considerable time because of injury, he set career highs in wins, starts, strikeouts (239) and innings pitched (201 1/3). He was one of just seven NL pitchers to throw at least 200 innings and the first Mets pitcher to do so since Bartolo Colon in 2014.

"That's a lot of innings," deGrom told reporters upon reporting to spring training. "The main thing is staying healthy, on the field and taking the ball every fifth day. That's what hurt us last year, guys weren't able to do that. We get our guys healthy and back out there, I like our chances."

Minor back stiffness delayed deGrom's Grapefruit League debut and cost him a chance at his first Opening Day start, though he was fully stretched out by the end of exhibition play and isn't expected to have any limitations Saturday.

The Cardinals would be thrilled if this turned out to be the year in which there were fewer limitations on Wacha, who appeared ready to turn into a 200-inning workhorse when he tossed 181 1/3 innings while going 17-7 as a 24-year-old in 2015. But Wacha has struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness the two seasons, during which he went 19-16 with a 4.56 ERA in 303 2/3 innings.

Wacha, who missed time with a stress reaction in his shoulder in 2014 and shoulder inflammation in 2016, is healthy entering this season. Now he and the Cardinals are looking for him to pitch deeper and more effectively into games.

Opposing batters hit .314 against Wacha in their second plate appearance against him and later last season, including .331 in their third plate appearance.

Wacha spent most of spring training working on a curveball to go along with his two plus pitches, a fastball and changeup.

"It's a chess game out there," Wacha told The Athletic during spring training. "You finish them off the first time through. Are you going to go back to that same pitch to finish them off again the second or third time through, or are you going to mix it up?"

DeGrom is 7-2 with a 4.03 ERA in nine career starts against the Cardinals. Wacha is 6-1 with a 1.26 ERA in seven career starts against the Mets.

The Mets are looking for their first 2-0 start since 2013. The Cardinals are looking to avoid dropping to 0-2 for the first time since 2016, when they opened 0-3.