Mets announce starting rotation for first series of season

The Mets have officially announced their rotation for the first series of the year against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field. After some concern that he may miss Opening Day after experiencing back tightness, Jacob deGrom will get the ball this Friday, followed by Steven Matz on Saturday. Rick Porcello will make his Mets’ debut and close out the series on Sunday.

This will be deGrom’s second consecutive season getting the Opening Day nod after winning his second straight Cy Young in 2019. Porcello, meanwhile, was slated to start an intrasquad game earlier today at Citi Field, but Hunter Strickland went in his place. While the team did not provide an explanation at the time, it seems the scratch correlated to his Sunday start.

The Mets have had a rough day on the injury front, as they lost starter Marcus Stroman—the prohibitive favorite to be the team’s number two starter—to a torn muscle in his left calf. With that, Matz and Porcello were moved up. The team also lost Noah Syndergaard to Tommy John Surgery in March. The club has yet to announce who will start in Boston against the Red Sox on July 27 and July 28. Michael Wacha is likely to start on Monday and serve as the team’s fourth starter for the season, but they now need to decide who will take over for the injured Stroman.