MIAMI — Opening day was a mixed bag for the New York Mets on Opening Day.
The team opened the season in Miami against the Marlins with their number one starter, Max Scherzer, on the mound.
Their lineup got to reigning National League Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara in the sixth inning by scoring two runs and taking a 3-0 lead.
Then, Scherzer allowed the Marlins to tie the game in the bottom half of the frame by giving up two doubles and a home run.
Still, the Mets stormed back in the top of the seventh to score two more to take the lead. Then, the Mets’ bullpen, which lost closer Edwin Diaz before the start of the season thanks to the knee injury he suffered in the World Baseball Classic, shut down the Marlins in the final three innings thanks to a combo of Drew Smith, Brooks Raley, and David Robertson who picked up his first save as a Met.
That was nice but overshadowed by the knowledge that the Mets will be without their co-ace Justin Verlander, for an unspecified time because of a strain of the teres major on his right side which was causing discomfort in his armpit.
Host Ryan Finkelstein of Locked On Mets discussed the Mets' first day of the season on the latest episode of his podcast. He recapped the entire game and was excited about what they were able to do against Alcantara, but the news of Verlander’s injury seemed to put a damper on the mood.
“For now, he’s (Verlander) scrapped and on the IL, and the Mets have to go to plan B, so Tylor Megill, who was going to start the season in Syracuse, guess what? You’re in the rotation again," Finkelstein said. "And he’s lined up to pitch the home opener.”
The Mets set the rotation before Verlander’s injury and it ensured that would be the starter for the home opener while Scherzer was the overall opener.
This is the second year in a row Megill has had to fill in for a reigning Cy Young winner in the Mets' rotation. In 2022 he started for Jacob deGrom when he was injured.
Verlander, who has missed significant time with a lat injury in the past (2020), was relieved that wasn’t the case this time and stated that if this were the playoffs, he’d pitch through the discomfort he’s feeling, but since it’s the start of the season, he’d rather be prudent and err on the side of caution.
He also said, "It’s not the way I wanted my Mets tenure to start, that is for sure. I put in a ton of work to not have things like this happen. We are athletes and unfortunately when you are working at a high level of intensity, stuff like this does come along."
It was diagnosed as a low-grade strain, which is a good sign for Verlander and the Mets. Triston McKenzie of the Cleveland Guardians also injured his teres major but could be out for two months.
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