Mets announce Opening Day lineup

The Mets have their lineup set against the St. Louis Cardinals for Opening Day tomorrow, March 29th. Officially unveiled on their social media accounts, the Mets’ starting lineup looks like this:

CF Brandon Nimmo

LF Yoenis Cespedes

RF Jay Bruce

2B Asdrubal Cabrera

3B Todd Frazier

1B Adrian Gonzalez

C Kevin Plawecki

SP Noah Syndergaard

SS Amed Rosario

A few surprises for sure, the first of which is Syndergaard in the eighth slot. Mickey Callaway has stated before in an interview with Mike Puma of the New York Post that there will be occasions where the pitcher will bat in the eight hole, and it looks like Opening Day will be the first of these occasions. If there is anyone on in the rotation that has the ability to hit eighth, look no further than Thor.

Plawecki gets the nod over Travis d’Arnaud for catching duties, which should be a true platoon to begin the season at least initially. Cabrera hits cleanup instead of Frazier, which is another surprise considering the power in the second and third slots. Perhaps Callaway is looking to space out his power bats throughout the lineup as opposed to have 2 through 5 swinging for the fences. Gonzalez gets the call ahead of Wilmer Flores at first, especially with a tough righty on the mound in Carlos Martinez for the Cardinals. Rosario bats ninth after Syndergaard, giving the Mets another leadoff hitter before Nimmo at the bottom of the lineup.

How often will the Mets’ lineup look like this throughout the season? Probably not very long with Michael Conforto’s return on the horizon. Still, this is a good lineup to trot out on day one of a very long MLB season.