Opening Week in baseball couldn’t come back any faster for baseball fans, considering the grueling lockout period. Mets fans might’ve been the most anxious and ecstatic to return for too many reasons. Whether it be the introduction of Buck Showalter as the new Mets’ manager, or various acquisitions like Max Scherzer and Starling Marte, this franchise under the direction of Steve Cohen poised itself to be nothing less than the last team standing. That being said, you can’t be the last team standing if you haven’t begun, and with that, the 2022 season of the New York Metropolitans began in our nation’s capital against division rivals in the Washington Nationals.
The first game of the season started more than an hour later than intended, but began nonetheless. Tylor Megill was given the starting nod in light of Jacob deGrom’s sidelining shoulder injury, and pitched effectively. Over five scoreless innings, he struck out six, gave up three hits and walked none. The ball was then handed to Trevor May where he gave up the only Nationals run of the game in the form of a Juan Soto second deck HR. Otherwise, every player in the starting lineup collected a hit on Opening Day with the exception of James McCann, who was struck in the foot in the fifth inning with the bases loaded to force the first Met run of the season. He was consequently hit in the shoulder his next at bat, and Pete Alonso followed suit in the ninth inning with an even scarier shot to the face. The Mets won Opening Day 5-1, and improved their Opening Day record to 40-13 since the 1970’s.
Game two was rather emotional for Nationals fans, as Max Scherzer took the mound for his first regular season start as a New York Met. In six innings, he gave up three hits, three earned runs, walked a batter and struck out six. Jeff McNeil celebrated his 30th birthday with a home run, signifying back-to-back birthdays with a home run while giving the Mets their first one of the season. Francisco Lindor was struck in the head while posting for a bunt in the fifth inning, clearing the benches. The pitcher, veteran Steve Cishek, apologized to Lindor after the game but was still ejected by the move. A rain delay dampened the end of game two, but couldn’t stop the Mets from winning 7-3.
Game three went similarly to game one, only with Chris Bassitt on the mound. Like Tylor Megill, Bassitt was excellent, pitching through six scoreless innings, striking out eight, walking one batter, and giving up three hits. Starling Marte became the latest Met to get plunked by the National’s pitching staff to the detest of the fans and Buck Showalter, albeit wasn’t a headshot like those in games previous. The game was offensively quiet until the fifth inning, where Pete Alonso hammered his first career grand slam to left field for his first home run of the season. A wild pitch in the ninth inning allowed Brandon Nimmo to grab an insurance run, and the Mets shut out the Nationals, 5-0.
The last game of the opening week series put Carlos Carrasco on the mound, and began rather shaky as he gave up a home run to Nelson Cruz, the 450th home run of his career. Then on, Cookie Carrasco ended his outing by retiring the last 15 batters faced. He pitched through five and two/thirds innings, striking out five and giving up two hits, making it seem like his best outing as a New York Met overall. The Mets tied the game and took the lead in the fourth inning off the back of Francisco Lindor’s first home run of the season and a bases loaded RBI by Mark Canha. It looked like a four-game sweep of the Nationals until a couple of throwing errors by Pete Alonso allowed the Nats to gain three runs in the bottom of the eighth. Not much was done afterwards and the Mets lost their first game of the season 4-2, but won the overall opening series 3-1.
This was an impressive Opening Week for this revamped Mets team. Every major acquisition the Mets made over the course of the offseason contributed to this series win. Mark Canha might’ve been the best offensive player this series by going 4-for-6 with three walks and an RBI. Jeff McNeil looked like his 2019 self by batting for average, and got a birthday home run out of it. Despite a couple of costly errors, flashes of defensive greatness could be seen from everywhere. Buck Showalter’s first outing as a manager for the New York Mets was successful.
However, this series could’ve ended up much worse than what it actually was. Having McCann, Alonso, and Lindor getting beamed by headshots or near headshots is not the way you want to begin the season. Despite none of those pitches having any intent behind them, the Mets were lucky to have not incurred any injuries, Francisco Lindor especially as he was caught almost flush.
The Mets will travel to Philadelphia to take on another division rival in the Phillies (2-1), before traveling to Flushing to open their first homestand against the Diamondbacks (1-3).
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