Mets' Opening Day vs. the Pirates: Here are 5 things to watch
Let’s play ball — but for real this time.
Opening Day for the Mets is upon us, and here are five things to watch for in their game against the Pirates Thursday.
1. How will Carson Benge handle the spotlight?
Benge has accepted every challenge presented to him, and his makeup and talent indicates there’s a good shot that he can continue that trend. That said, this is the world’s biggest stage and Benge, 23, started his season in High-A Brooklyn just last year. For his first game, the results will be far less important than his comfort level and his ability to stay in the moment.
2. How will the corner infield defense look?
This has been the question all February and March as Bo Bichette and Jorge Polanco adapted to third and first base, respectively. Mark Vientos likely will be on the bench, but we’ll eventually have to pay attention to his defense at first; the same goes for Brett Baty, who will get reps at first and right. The Mets defense is solid up the middle, but this will be the start of a true test that could dictate the course of the season.
3. How’s Francisco Lindor?
Lindor missed all of spring training recovering from hamate surgery — something that notoriously saps power from its hitters early in recovery. It doesn’t help that colder March and April temperatures tend to suppress offense at Citi Field, and that Lindor has been prone to slow starts. In additiont, he’s gotten limited reps with Marcus Semien playing alongside him at second base, though both have such acumen at their positions that this seems unlikely to be too significant of a factor.
4. How will Freddy Peralta fare?
Peralta has stated time and again that he loves playing in New York, and has dozens of family members in the area — including many in Queens. He’s likely to get hearty applause, and he also should benefit from his Opening Day starts in New York as a visiting pitcher. Still, it’s always interesting to see how players from smaller markets react to the incessant attention of the city’s stage.
5. Can this offense handle Paul Skenes?
It’s not that anyone expects the Mets to light up the Cy Young Award winner; it's more about observing its approach against one of the most dominant pitchers of our time. Last year’s Mets had plenty of fire power, but often struggled to string together hits, or put together competitive at-bats when behind. There’s plenty of new personnel, though, including what last year was the best situational hitter in the game in Bichette. Seeing how the lineup handles Skenes, protects Juan Soto, and how the lower half fares could provide some decent early feedback.
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
