I've seen this mentioned a few times now. I wonder if it really matters whether they start or not. Z, Harden, and Dempster have been around long enough for the Mets to know what to expect. With Z, probably not. On the other hand, the Mets roster has a combined 32 PA's against him, with only Delgado, Anderson, and Beltran having seen him for more than 3 PA's. Dempster is a very different pitcher this year in terms of stuff and in terms of what the batter sees with the glove flip. He didn't pitch against the Mets when they came to Wrigley. I just question how big of a difference actually facing a guy makes versus seeing enough evidence on tape to know what he throws, and being briefed by the hitting coach as to when he likes to throw it. It's not like teams go into games blindly; they know what to expect from the opposing pitcher. At least they should.