Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander to start Opening Day for Mets?
Mets pitcher Justin Verlander during a spring training workout on Tuesday in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — With few roster uncertainties at the outset of spring training, one of the Mets’ fun questions is: Which ace will start on Opening Day?
Max Scherzer had a career-best 2.29 ERA last season, albeit in only 23 games in an injury-interrupted debut year with the Mets. But Justin Verlander was even better — a majors-leading 1.75 ERA to win the AL Cy Young Award — and enters camp as the Mets’ marquee offseason addition.
Manager Buck Showalter indicated he and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner had already decided on the season-opening rotation, but he was cagey about the details.
He also pointed out that, with a normal five-man setup, the guy pitching the third game would get the ball for the Mets’ home opener on April 6, too. So maybe Verlander and Scherzer — in some order — will get split up.
“If you don’t think we haven’t already approached that . . .” Showalter said Tuesday, a day before the first pitchers-and-catchers workout. “It’s a good problem — it’s not a problem. It’s a good challenge to have. We might surprise you.”
Verlander has started 12 Opening Day games in his career. Scherzer has done so six times.
Last year, when Scherzer was the new ace in town, he deferred to the incumbent, Jacob deGrom. (DeGrom missed out because of another injury, and Tylor Megill wound up with the honor.) This year, with the uber-competitive Scherzer and Verlander the candidates, it’s not as straightforward.
Sometimes, Showalter said, a pitcher will be offended when he is not chosen.
“I have had that be the case, but not lately,” he said. “We’ll see what this year brings. Sometimes those things solve themselves. I think it’ll be handle-able.”
Changeups
Showalter was obsessed last spring training with removing the on-field bullpens on the Mets’ spring-training stadium. Now, they are gone, replaced by normal, safe, flat foul territory. The Mets added bullpen seating for relievers beyond the leftfield wall, complete with a cutout that offers a view of most of the field.
Among the other changes at the facility this year:
* Clover Park received an all-new surface, plus a drainage and filtering system. The field is 18 inches higher than previously, making up for the building apparently sinking about that much since it was built prior to the 1988 season.
* The stadium also has a new orange line atop the outfield wall, a more obvious demarcation of home run territory. And the batter’s eye screen in straightaway center is darker, which makes it easier to see the ball.
* The primary practice field has been dubbed “Citi Field South,” its dimensions changed to match those of the Mets’ regular ballpark. This field also got a scoreboard. It did not have one previously.
Additionally, Showalter said the Mets are planning to build a new minor-league building at the opposite end of the facility. He characterized it as the missing piece after much of the rest was redone in recent years.
TV time
The Mets will be on television aplenty during spring training.
SNY and PIX11 will carry a combined 14 exhibition games — almost all of the home schedule — beginning with the first Clover Park contest, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. against the Marlins, SNY announced Tuesday.
Also, ESPN will carry a pair of Mets games: Feb. 27 at the Cardinals (1 p.m.) and Feb. 28 versus the Astros (1 p.m.).
Extra bases
In just his third tweet since last season ended, Mets owner Steve Cohen said he will visit spring training this weekend. He has made a habit of doing so since buying the team. “Hope to see some of you there,” he wrote . . . Showalter said there is no reason to believe rightfielder Starling Marte (core muscle surgery in November) won’t be ready to start the regular season.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
