Carlos Mendoza names Jose Quintana as Mets' Opening Day starter
Lefty Jose Quintana, 35, will make his second Opening Day start. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Carlos Mendoza and Jose Quintana go way back, to 2010 when Mendoza was a coach in the Yankees’ minor league system and Quintana was a young pitcher in his first season in the U.S.
Fast forward to 2024 and Quintana will be Mendoza’s first Opening Day starting pitcher. Mendoza made the announcement on Wednesday that Quintana will face the Brewers at Citi Field on March 28.
Quintana, 35, got his second Opening Day nod because of the shoulder injury to Kodai Senga, who is expected to miss the first month of the season.
It’s extra special for Quintana because of who the Mets’ manager is and also because at this time last year, Quintana was dealing with a fractured rib that delayed his Mets debut until July 20.
“I’m really excited,” said Quintana, who was the Opening Day starter for the White Sox in 2017 and allowed six runs in 5 1/3 innings in a 6-3 loss to Detroit. “It’s a great opportunity. I can’t say how excited I am right now. That’s a great opportunity, that’s special for me, to be the Opening Day starter.”
Once Senga went down, Quintana was the leader in the clubhouse. He will be followed in the rotation by, in some order, Luis Severino, Adrian Houser, Sean Manaea and, most likely, Tylor Megill.
“Obviously, this is a guy that’s been in the league for a long time,” Mendoza said of Quintana. “He’s one of those guys that competes, takes the ball, knows how to pitch, and we like how he’s bouncing back.”
Quintana has a 2.08 ERA in three spring training outings after he threw four shutout innings vs. Washington on Tuesday.
Severino stellar again
Facing the Astros, Luis Severino (four innings, one run) gave up his first run of spring training on a Jake Meyers’ home run in the second inning that barely cleared the rightfield fence after hitting Starling Marte’s glove. Severino allowed two hits, walked none and struck out three.
Baty scratched
Brett Baty, who was in the original lineup, was scratched because of what the Mets called “minor back tightness.” . . . Kodai Senga, who had a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) shot in his shoulder on Feb. 23, “might take an extra week or so” before he begins throwing, Mendoza said. "We want to make sure that before he picks up a baseball that he's strong and we're comfortable," he said . . . Joe Suozzi, the son of U.S rep Tom Suozzi, had a walk-off sacrifice fly in ninth inning to give the Mets a 6-5 victory over Houston.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
