ESPN announces three Sunday Night Baseball dates for the Mets

Considering how the offseason has gone so far for the Mets, they don’t figure to be a marquee attraction in April. However, that hasn’t stopped ESPN from lining the club up for three Sunday Night Baseball events when it released its preliminary schedule earlier this week. Maybe the four-letter network knows something that we don’t.

The Mets make their first Sunday Night Baseball appearance of the season on April 8 against the Nationals in Washington. Interestingly, this game was not listed by ESPN as one of their featured rivalry games on the slate. Those include Giants vs. Dodgers, Rangers vs. Astros, Cubs vs. Cardinals, and Red Sox vs. Yankees. New York won’t appear on ESPN again until June at the earliest, but none of the Sunday night games for that month have been revealed yet.

ESPN did, though, release some select dates for July and August, and two of those games include the Mets. First, a crosstown showdown in the Bronx on July 22, and then a special matchup with the Phillies on August 19 at Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It will be the second annual MLB Little League Classic after last year’s event with the Cardinals and Pirates was such a big hit. That weekend, the Mets will play their first three games of a four-game set in Philadelphia before the two teams shift to Williamsport for the finale.

Along with the Cubs and Yankees, two serious World Series contenders, the Mets are one of three clubs set to appear on Sunday Night baseball three times so far. You can see the full schedule at ESPN’s site.

The Mets will also be appearing on ESPN in on April 1 as part of ESPN’s opening weekend coverage, but that game against the Cardinals will be subject to blackout restrictions in local markets, meaning that fans in the New York area will be able to watch on SNY or PIX11.