Nationals, Mets look like the pitching leaders in NL East race

As Nationals pitchers and catchers settle in for their final spring training in Viera, Fla., some familiar faces will be elsewhere. Jordan Zimmermann, who came up in 2008 and had a 3.32 ERA in 117 starts, signed with Detroit. Reliever Craig Stammen, a National since 2009, is with Cleveland and Drew Storen, who saved 95 games after joining the team in 2010, was traded to Toronto.

So after missing the playoffs in 2015, the Nationals takes aim at knocking off the New York Mets and their collection of poised, young arms that led them into the World Series last season.

The Nationals, with Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg, and the Mets, with Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom, are the favorites in the National League East. The Miami Marlins, with Jose Fernandez and former Oriole Wei-Yin Chen, have a chance to be formidable.

Atlanta, with Julio Teheran and blue-chip prospects, and Philadelphia, with prospects Aaron Nola and Jered Eichoff, are both developing.

Scherzer, a former American League Cy Young Award winner, and Stephen Strasburg have the potential to be the best one-two combination in baseball, especially since Zack Greinke signed with Arizona and left Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers.

Scherzer and Strasburg are two of the four pitchers in baseball that have averaged at least 10 strikeouts per nine innings for each of the last five seasons.

Scherzer became the first pitcher since Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan in 1973 to have two no-hitters (against the Pirates and Mets) in the same season. He was within one out of a perfect game three times. He finished with 276 strikeouts and a 2.79 ERA.

At 27, Strasburg is going into his free agent year with potential. Last season, he was sidelined with injuries, but if he pitches as he did in August and September - when he put together back-to-back monthly ERAs of 2.70 and 1.48 - he has a chance to be an NL Cy Young contender.

Lefty Gio Gonzalez is No. 3 after having a 3.79 ERA last season. Gonzalez's command can be spotty, but he's also become more of a groundball pitcher and the Nationals expect 30 starts and at least 180 innings out of him.

The back of the rotation is more unpredictable.

Tanner Roark is at No. 4. He's a 29-year-old who won 15 games with a 2.85 ERA in 198 2/3 innings in 2014 and was moved to the bullpen last season. If he returns to 2014 form, the Nationals will have a pitcher who isn't overpowering, but will go deep into games with few walks.

The No. 5 starter could be Joe Ross, 22, who was called up for Double-A Harrisburg after injuries hit the big league staff last season. Ross impressed with his poise during his 13 starts, but he was fatigued late and pitched out of the bullpen in September. His ERA was 3.64.

Ross threw 152 2/3 innings combined in the minors and majors last season. Usually a 20-30 percent increase is normal, so how many innings will Ross be able to pitch?

Another wrinkle: Bronson Arroyo, 39, who pitched for new manager Dusty Baker in Cincinnati, is coming back from injury, and even though he hasn't pitched since 2014, he figures he's a candidate for the rotation. He said he wouldn't have signed with the Nationals unless he was given a chance to make the rotation.

Jonathan Papelbon, the closer who tried to choke Bryce Harper last season, will return, even though the Nationals tried to trade him. Players, including Harper, say the fight will be forgotten because winning is more important that lingering anger. But will Nats fans forget and how will they greet Papelbon each time he takes the mound?

The bullpen has been rebuilt. Yusmeiro Petit will be the rubber-armed long man. Trevor Gott has an explosive fastball, but lacks experience. Oliver Perez is an accomplished lefty and Shawn Kelley, with an improved slider, is likely the eighth-inning guy. The Nationals need a consistent season from Blake Treinen. The Nationals also have the late additions of Matt Belisle and Burke Badenhop.

The Mets, who lost to Kansas City in the World Series, have to be concerned about young arms that went above last season's projected limits. Manager Terry Collins says he'll monitor arms at spring training.

At 27, deGrom is the senior member of the staff and should be fine. He's had ERAs of 2.69 and 2.54 in his first two seasons and he pitched 216 innings. Matt Harvey, 26, who was supposed to be limited to 180 innings after coming back from Tommy John surgery, wound up with 216 innings.

The rest of the rotation has Noah Syndergaard, 23, and lefty Steven Matz, who pitched in six regular-season games and did fine in the postseason. There's also the ageless wonder, Bartolo Colon, who at 42 seldom issues a walk. And Zack Wheeler, coming back from Tommy John, should be ready for the second half. As rookie in 2014, Wheeler had 187 strikeouts and a 3.54 ERA in 185 innings.

While the Nationals rebuilt their bullpen, the Mets will have basically the same crew back. Tyler Clippard is gone, but Jeurys Familia, who had 43 saves, is the closer with Addison Reed and Hansel Robles in the setup roles. Lefties include newly acquired Antonio Bastardo and Jerry Blevins, who was out with a broken arm last season.

The Mets are focused on repeating as NL champions. Before spring training, Syndergaard tweeted that 2015 was the beginning of something special.

No doubt the Nationals have a different take on that.