If Max Scherzer is unable to go on Opening Day for the Mets, the team’s top two starters would be unavailable, with Jacob deGrom now sidelined for more than a month, at the least.
Does that mean newly acquired Chris Bassitt would be in line to take the ball for the season opener?
Don’t count on it.
Buck Showalter told reporters on Saturday, shortly after Scherzer discussed his hamstring “hiccup,” that Bassitt was still scheduled to pitch in Sunday’s spring training game, which would likely take him out of the running for Thursday’s season opener. Showalter also said he would like to keep Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco, and Taijuan Walker lined up to pitch in their originally scheduled spots of games three, four, and five of the season, meaning someone else would likely be pitching the first two games of the season.
Would it be David Peterson? Tylor Megill? What about a bullpen game?
“It’s one of the things we’re considering,” Showalter said of a potential Opening Day bullpen game. “I’m trying to think if there’s anything we wouldn’t consider.”
A bullpen game to start the season after the Mets had deGrom, Scherzer, and Bassitt atop their planned rotation just two days ago is a startling turn of fortune, but New York is suddenly dealing with injuries to its biggest stars, and Showalter doesn’t seem to want to disrupt his other starters’ schedules, so it could be a stampede of relievers welcoming in the 2022 season.
Of course, Scherzer could also wind up being ready for Opening Day, which Showalter hasn’t ruled out.
“We’ve been talking to him,” Showalter said. “Really like the fact that he told us. He’s been very frank, and we trust him. He know his body. He’s dealt with this before….I think it’s still an option.”
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