Mets Morning News: Play Ball!

Meet the Mets

If I may borrow from the Backstreet Boys for a moment: Baseball’s back, alright!

Noah Syndergaard will make his second consecutive Opening Day start and is ready to bring the electricity back to Citi Field. Coincidentally, Thursday descends from a word that literally means Thor’s Day. It’s your day Thor. Make us proud.

Today will offer a fresh start for a Mets who had a season to forget last year.

Thor can certainly ignite a crowd, but there was a time Matt Harvey could do that as well. This could very well be his last Opening Day with the Mets and it is important to remember the pitcher he once was and not dwell on the pitcher he became.

The Mets unveiled their lineup for Opening Day and it appears that Mickey Callaway is already shaking things up from last year.

Callaway is hoping to be a manager that blends both analytics and the human element into the game.

This will be Callaway’s first Opening Day as a manager and he is ready and excited to see what his team can do.

The new skipper has developed a respect for Yoenis Cespedes and the feeling is mutual from the slugger.

The powerful left fielder believes this is the best team he has ever played for.

It is no secret that the Mets don’t have a ton of speed on the team but that won’t necessarily prohibit them from being aggressive on the basepaths.

Despite getting the Opening Day starting assignment, Kevin Plawecki still has a lot to prove this season.

The Mets have recently discussed signing free agent reliever Greg Holland.

Beloved Met Rusty Staub died early this morning at the age of 73.

Around the National League East

Braves’ reliever Jacob Lindgren underwent successful Tommy John surgery. The Talking Chop writers made their predictions for the season.

The Marlins’ roster has been depleted by trades and injuries which gives some youngsters an opportunity to play.

The Nationals will have to wait an extra day to get their season underway. Their game in Cincinnati has been postponed due to weather.

Around Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball will be implementing some new rules to help pace of play, and they did help shorten games in spring training.

After a freak accident with some luggage, Royals’ catcher Salvador Perez will miss 4-6 weeks with a MCL tear.

The Rays were dealt another blow when it was revealed that starter Nate Eovaldi will need elbow surgery which will put him out of commission for awhile.

Baseball usually moves in cycles and right now the home run is king, but for how long will that remain?

Even though many teams won’t exactly be competitive this year, every team can still have hope as the season begins.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Matt Varvaro took a look at one of the best starts in Mets’ history.

Lucas Vlahos brought to you Part 2 of his State of the Mets series.

Sean Hanlon previewed Seth Lugo’s season, Brian Salvatore wrote what can be expected from Amed Rosario this season, and Chris McShane wrote about how Syndergaard could be counted among the best in the league if he stays healthy.

It was the Phillies’ turn in Joshua Tessler’s Know Your Enemy season preview series.

Nicholas Schreiber covered the Mets’ Opening Day lineup announcement.

Vasilis Drimalitis wrote about some of the more exciting games from past years on Opening Day.

Chris McShane reported on the Greg Holland rumor.

This Date in Mets History

The Mets opened up their season on this date in 2000 against the Cubs in Japan. Mike Hampton made his Mets’ debut and was a bit shaky as was the bullpen. Mike Piazza hit a home run but it wasn’t enough to overcome the deficit and they fell to the Cubs by a final score of 5-3.