Mets Morning News: Mets swat Nats to keep up winning ways on Opening Day

Meet the Mets

The Mets opened 2015 with a 3-1 victory over the Nationals, as they continued their winning ways on Opening Day! The club got a strong performance by Bartolo Colon, and some timely hitting by Lucas Duda and Travis d'Arnaud. Buddy Carlyle got his first career save, and the Mets were off and running to start the season. If you want to relive the action, you can choose your recap here: Amazin' Avenue short, long, Daily News, NY Post, NY Times, Newsday, Star-Ledger, ESPN New York

The enthusiasm of the Mets' big day was dampened by an elbow injury to Jenrry Mejia. Mejia left the Mets bullpen after warming up in the ninth inning, and he's being sent to New York for an MRI today.

Kevin Kernan says that the Mets made the right choice in starting Bartolo Colon.

Rich MacLeod says that the Mets have a plan in place if Jenrry Mejia is out for a while.

Bartolo Colon showed that age is just a number, with his strong performance.

In the Washington Post, Alex Prewitt says that Bartolo Colon is an artist, and the baseball is his paintbrush.

Mike Vaccaro says that Ian Desmond and Dan Uggla botching a routine play may be the Mets ticket to the playoffs.

Lucas Duda is not upset at the Mets for cutting off contract negotiations, saying "There’s really no disappointment. I’m actually very fortunate to be put in that position."

Anthony DiComo says that yesterday's win might change the Mets fortunes against the Nationals.

Ron Darling appeared on Boomer and Carton to talk about the Mets playoff chances.

Ian Desmond said that his drop was "embarrasing."

Around the NL East

The Phillies opened their 2015 season in spectacular fashion, as Cole Hamels was smacked around by the Red Sox. The club from Boston, buoyed by new addition Hanley Ramirez, would prevail by a score of 8-0.

The Braves managed to rain on the Marlins parade, behind a stellar performance from Julio Teheran. The game featured a weather delay, as the Marlins forgot to close the roof, and the Braves went on to play spoiler, winning 2-1.

Rob Neyer took a look at what the Braves actually got back for Melvin Upton and Craig Kimbrel.

The Phillies fans have already recognized that there will be no joy in Mudville this year, as Marcus Hayes of Philly.com notes.

Around the Majors

Rick Porcello is the latest baseball player to get paid, as he signed a 4-year, $82.5 million extension with the Red Sox.

Eno Sarris says that the future of statistical analysis includes making sense of spring training starts.

The folks in the Bronx may be hitting the panic button early, after a bad Masahiro Tanaka start, and a rough day for Didi Gregorius.

ESPN released their first edition of MLB Power Rankings, where the Mets were listed at seventeenth.

Owen Watson at Fangraphs tells us about the best Opening Day pitching performances of all time.

Grantland released their 2015 MLB predictions, and two writers had a very, shall we say, surprising choice for their champion.

There were some Opening Day issues at Wrigley Field, as Cubs fans were forced to wait egregious times for bathroom lines.

Yesterday at AA

Aaron Yorke previewed the season opening series against the Nationals, wit the help of our friends from Federal Baseball.

Chris McShane told us what to expect from the one and only Matt Harvey in 2015.

Owen Condon told us what it's going to take for the Mets to win the World Series.

Ben Margolin told us how new Mets pitcher Sean Gilmartin can make an impact this year.

Colby Conetta wrote about some circumstances that could ruin the Mets' season.

If you see a great addition to Mets Morning News, send an email to our tips address, tips@grission.com, and we'll try to add it in!