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WASHINGTON — A crowd of friends and family waited outside the Mets clubhouse to congratulate Chris Bassitt on his dominant Mets debut.
When the hugs and handshakes were finished and Bassitt disappeared behind the door to shower, the excited supporters shouted in an R-rated manner down the hallways a promise that Saturday was just a small taste of big things ahead for Bassitt with the Mets.
How could anyone argue after watching Bassitt scatter three hits and a walk while striking out eight over six scoreless innings to fuel a 5-0 victory against the Nationals?
“I think I’m pretty damn good at reading someone’s swing and just trying to toy with that,” Bassitt said. “I know I’m not the most power pitcher, so I try to keep everyone off balance and try to add a pitch every year. So far, it’s kind of worked.”
What if Chris Bassitt isn’t merely the reliable No. 3 starter the Mets craved to slot in behind pair of Cy Young Award winners Jacob deGrom (sidelined indefinitely) and Max Scherzer and ahead of back-of-the-rotation question marks Carlos Carrasco and Taijuan Walker? The possibilities are endless if the All-Star acquired from the Oakland Athletics in a trade last month is just scratching the surface of his own dominance.
“He has a great feel for pitching and he has an imagination,” Showalter said. “That’s why he’s able to go around t he order some, because he has a lot of different looks he can throw at you.”
Bassitt threw 66 of 93 pitches for strikes and joined Colin McHugh (2012) as the only pitchers ever to throw at least six scoreless innings with eight or more strikeouts in a Mets’ debut. Popular preseason MVP pick Juan Soto went 2-for-3 with two singles — but struck out in the first inning after jumping ahead 3-0 in a count — while the rest of the Nationals’ lineup went 1-for-18 against Bassitt.
“I don’t care who you are, I’m coming after you,” Bassitt said. “I don’t care the name on the back of your jersey. That’s been my mentality no matter who I face. I know [Soto] is probably the best hitter in the world, but I don’t care.”
Perhaps most impressive was that when Bassitt’s defense failed him in the first inning — shortstop Francisco Lindor dropped the ball to get no outs from a routine double-play grounder — he simply took the mound and used his next pitch to induce another twin-killing. He gave those loved ones that traveled from Ohio, North Carolina and other East Coast spots plenty to cheer.
“I’ve got a lot of friends and family that are pretty excited I’m on a different team,” Bassitt said. “Being on the West Coast for so long, those 10 o’clock starts weren’t great.”
Even with West Coast bias, Bassitt’s success shouldn’t be a surprise. The 33-year-old right-hander was 27-11 with a 3.26 ERA over 66 regular-season games with the Athletics after becoming a regular member of their rotation in 2019.
“He’s there to get people out, regardless of what it means to do it,” manager Buck Showalter said. “I won’t say he’s under the radar — go ask some guys in the American League — but I think with the potential with Max and Jake that he’s in a good spot. He’s very capable of ambushing you.”
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