New York Mets Choose Opening Day Starter

March 24, 2023 ,


Decisions, decisions. It must be tough if you're the New York Mets and you have to choose whether to start a 3-time Cy Young Winner on Opening Day, or... another 3-time Cy Young Winner. 

In the end, they've chosen to go with... youth? 38-year-old Max Scherzer will take his triple-Cy Young resume to the mound on Opening Day for the Mets, while 40-year Justin Verlander will get to rest up for an extra day. 

And what a matchup that'll be next Thursday, when Scherzer faces the most recent Cy Young honoree in the National League, Sandy Alcantara and the Miami Marlins.

Scherzer won his Cys in 2013, 2016 and 2017, but he was still just as dominant for the Mets in 2022, posting a 2.25 ERA with a 0.91 WHIP, and a 173:24 strikeout to walk ratio, with 10.7 K/9. 

Alcantara is no slouch, however, winning the award last season with a 2.28 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP in a major league-leading 228 innings. He actually had six complete games—which also led baseball—in an era when nobody goes the distance.

By the way, if Verlander would have gotten the nod for the Mets, it would have marked the first time in MLB history that the reigning Cy Young Award winners faced each other on Opening Day the following year. 

Photo: Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports



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