Thursday was supposed to be a day of new beginnings for the Mets franchise.
A new owner, a new and recently extended superstar shortstop and new, heightened expectations were supposed to help ring in the new season when New York took the field for Opening Day against the Nationals.
Instead, the Mets will have to wait an extra four days to ring in a new era.
With the Nationals dealing with multiple COVID-19 cases, the entire opening series in Washington was postponed, leaving the Mets waiting a bit longer to take the field for the first time in 2021.
"Immediately, you can feel a little turned off because you had the excitement going, but you just have to get back on track immediately," manager Luis Rojas said during a Zoom call with reporters on Friday. "Things are happening everywhere. We've been living like this since last year, and the best you can do is react quickly and start planning on what you can do to keep moving forward. I think we did that."
Having to quickly simmer the excitement on Opening Day was tough for Mets players and coaches, but ultimately, it was a harsh reminder of what teams and the league will have to continue to deal with as the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I think it was just more of a confusion and once we got word of what happened, but once we got worked we were a little disappointed but at the same time we were fortunate enough, because at least the season didn't get canceled," J.D. Davis said. "That's the worst-case scenario. Just a couple games got postponed. The season is still going on and we're still all together and ready to play baseball."
Davis woke up ready for Opening Day on Thursday, but now, the Mets will have gone nearly a week without playing against an opposing team since spring training concluded, and the challenge will shift to staying fresh for the Phillies on Monday.
"It's definitely something we need to be able to be in control of," Davis said. "I think Rojas has been doing a good job of getting us hitters some live ABs and seeing guys from our bullpen and seeing and tracking pitches. We're kind of learning from last year and trying to adapt…and executing and staying ready and staying locked in."
Davis has been doing his best to stay ready, using a virtual reality headset paired with an app that lets him track 100 pitches from Max Scherzer in just 20 minutes, from the comfort of his hotel room. He doesn't have a bat in his hand, but it keeps his eyes sharp for what the team hopes is a full slate of games next week.
As for logistical plans, the team will stay in Washington and continue to practice and stay loose before bussing to Philadelphia on Sunday.
"We talked about Philly, we talked about New York too," Rojas said. "But Philly, they're playing there and we wouldn't be able to work out and do the things we wanted to do to prepare for Monday. That's our focus right now. So we're staying here we have the stadium and can work out here the next couple days. We'll have an afternoon workout [Saturday] and some sort of sim game or live BP so pitchers can get on the slope and face batters."
Many Mets fans reacted angrily to the news of the postponement, feeling the Nationals should have played with the players still available or forfeited the games entirely. But the Mets can empathize with Washington, and will do their best to stay sharp for when their season finally does get off the ground.
"It would be nice to walk out of here with three wins, that would be pretty cool," Davis laughed. "But it could happen to anybody…it could have happened to us or another team. I feel for the Nationals over there. It happened to them last year and it happened again this year. Nobody wants to be in this situation. It is disappointing, especially when you're so looking forward to opening day and all those emotions…I feel their disappointment. A lot of us are. I woke up at 9 a.m. on Opening Day and was ready to go…it was definitely a punch to the stomach, but it is what it is. If we have to make up those games down the road, then so be it."
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