Almost four months late, we finally have Opening Day and our first series preview of the year. The New York Mets welcome in the defending NL East champion Atlanta Braves. Both teams start the series shorthanded but important games will finally begin the 60-game sprint of a season.
Pitching Matchups:
Friday, 7/24, 4:10 p.m.: Mike Soroka vs. Jacob deGrom
Saturday, 7/25, 4:10 p.m.: Max Fried vs. Steven Matz
Sunday, 7/26, 7:08 p.m.: Sean Newcomb vs. Rick Porcello
Our #OpeningDay lineup! #LGM pic.twitter.com/wG5FgaIKDW
— New York Mets (@Mets) July 24, 2020
The biggest question the Mets fans had about their lineup was Robinson Cano‘s place in the batting order. Not quite the offensive force he once was, Cano is in the six spot for Opening Day. The lineup looks extremely deep with Wilson Ramos, who hit over .300 w/RISP batting eighth in the order.
The Mets are 38-20 on Opening Day, and deGrom dominates day game with a 1.78 ERA. It at least puts the Mets in an excellent position to take the first game against a team they struggled against in 2019. They were 8-11 against the Braves, and taking the final three games of the season saved the record from plummeting even more.
Shorthanded Squads
The Mets had to flip around their rotation when they learned Marcus Stroman would not pitch the second game of the season. His calf injury is not a huge setback for Stroman but Matz and Porcello as pitching earlier than expected to start the season.
The Braves are extremely shorthanded in the catching department. Tyler Flowers and Travis d’Arnaud are on the IL due to COVID-19 symptoms. While both tested negative, neither traveled to New York with the Braves. Alex Jackson and William Contreras will take their place during the series. They also placed Cole Hamels on the 45-day IL to open up roster spots.
The Braves will also start Austin Riley at third over the injured Johan Camargo. Though both teams are not at full strength, it is finally time for America’s Pastime to return even if it includes empty stadiums.