Mets plan for Noah Syndergaard to start the second game of the season on April 5

The last time Noah Syndergaard pitched against the Kansas City Royals, he sent a fastball flying over the head of Alcides Escobar to start Game 3 of the World Series. No matter whether the message was effective or not, it ended up working as Syndergaard earned a quality start and paced the Mets to a 9-3 victory, the only one they would get in last season's Fall Classic.

According to the Daily News, Syndergaard's first regular season start of 2016 will also be versus the Royals. A team source told the paper that the Mets plan to use the man known as Thor during the second game of the season on April 5 in the finale of a short two-game series in Kansas City.

We already know that the Mets will send Matt Harvey to the mound to start on Opening Day, but the second game of the series could feature more than one New York starting pitcher. Due to a scheduling quirk that has the Mets playing just two games in the five days between April 3 and April 7, the team is thinking about using another of its big arms during the second game.

If Syndergaard does indeed start on April 5, it's looking like Jacob deGrom would be available in the same game. After that, the Mets could start Harvey on normal rest during the home opener on April 8 with either Syndergaard, deGrom, or Steven Matz going on April 9.