3 Biggest Takeaways From Mets Opening Weekend

Although owner Steve Cohen publicly stated he has postseason expectations, whether they want to admit it or not, many people within the fanbase or organization had high hopes coming into the season. Between failing to make any major offseason acquisitions and Kodai Senga being sidelined for the foreseeable future, there wasn’t much to be excited about to begin with. 

Still, The New York Mets started the season with a rare Opening Day defeat and things have not looked much better in the days since.  After getting swept on Opening Weekend by the Milwaukee Brewers, the Mets will look to bounce back against the undefeated Detroit Tigers. Before we move on to the next series, let’s take a look at three significant takeaways from Opening Weekend. 

1) Starting Pitching Will be Mets' Biggest Downfall in 2024 

After Mets ace Kodai Senga went down with a shoulder injury, there were a lot of question marks surrounding the starting rotation, coming into the 2024 season. To be fair, there were already doubts about the capabilities of this rotation but losing Senga meant losing all stability in that group. President of Baseball Operations, David Stearns attempted to bolster the group by adding free agents Luis Severino and Sean Manea but both come with their own question marks. In particular, Severino who has struggled to stay healthy for the majority of his career.

With Jose Quintana, the de facto ace, leading the way, New York’s starters have been terrible through the first few games of the season. None of the three starters that have pitched thus far have pitched past the fifth inning, with Severino the lone survivor of the fourth inning. 

Although Severino managed to go five innings, he surrendered 12 hits and six runs before being pulled. Quintana almost finished with fifth but was relieved with two outs and two men on base. Tylor Megill didn’t even see the mound in the fifth after laboring through four innings and dealing with shoulder inflammation Sunday afternoon. 

The Brewers scored 18 runs against the Mets in the opening series, 10 of those runs were allowed by a starting pitcher. Through three games, Mets starters have pitched just 13.2 innings while allowing 21 hits and five walks with an eye-popping 5.93 ERA. For New York to have any chance of even making the WildCard round, they need the starters to step up their game.