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Bartolo Colon will be the Mets' Opening Day starter when the club begins its 54th major league campaign on April 6 in Washington, D.C., per ESPN New York. This probably comes as a disappointment to fans who were hoping that the Mets would start the season with Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, or anyone else who had an ERA below 4.00 last season on the mound.
Sure, it is always fun to have a really good pitcher throwing for your team on Opening Day, but this decision is something that will have a much bigger impact on sports talk radio ratings than on the Mets' record in 2015.
Even before we learned of the devastating injury to Zack Wheeler, we knew the durable Colon was going to make around 30 starts for this year's team. The fact that one of those starts comes on the first day of the season doesn't change anything in the big picture.
According to ESPN New York, deGrom will start the second game of the season on April 8 after an off day. The reigning National League Rookie of the Year will also be on the mound when the Mets open their home schedule against Philadelphia on April 13. Harvey will make his much-anticipated 2015 debut on April 9 and pitch again on April 14. Blessed with that information, we've put together this chart detailing the pitching rotation for the first week of New York's season.
| Date | Opponent | Starter |
|---|---|---|
| April 6, 2015 | at Washington | Bartolo Colon |
| April 8, 2015 | at Washington | Jacob deGrom |
| April 9, 2015 | at Washington | Matt Harvey |
| April 10, 2015 | at Atlanta | Jon Niese |
| April 11, 2015 | at Atlanta | Fifth starter or Colon on normal rest |
| April 12, 2015 | at Atlanta | Fifth starter or Colon on five days of rest |
| April 13, 2015 | vs. Philadelphia | Jacob deGrom |
| April 14, 2015 | vs. Philadelphia | Matt Harvey |
If Colon does indeed make the start on April 6, he will become the oldest Opening Day starting pitcher in Mets history, barely edging out Tom Glavine, who turned 41 years old just a week before getting the start in 2007 in St. Louis. Colon will turn 42 years old on May 24 and is slated to become the oldest Opening Day starter in the majors since 2006, when Jamie Moyer was 43 years old for Seattle.
An official announcement about the Mets' rotation is coming from the team on Monday.