🍎 PLAY BALL!
Morning Dose: Opening Day 2026
☀️ Good Morning:
The world sucks and baseball doesn’t, at least not all of the time.
I wish I could say that comes from somewhere more prestigious than my own head, but it’s the best way I can describe this crazy experience of following the Mets.
Will the next six (hopefully seven) months be all sunshine and smiley faces?
Quite the opposite. In fact, even if the season ends with Devin Williams closing out the franchise’s first World Series since Jesse Orosco tossed his mitt into the Shea Stadium sky, there will be pain and frustration along the way.
That’s how baseball works. Today is the first of 162+ days where some part of our happiness will be dictated by what a group of grown men do on a diamond-cut field that most of us left behind in our childhood. There will be good days. There will be bad days. There will be more bad days. And if we are super duper lucky, there will be a rush of euphoria if somehow enough good days happen during the right time of the year.
Whatever happens, I consider it an absolute honor to experience it all with you!
😎 Loyal readers of this newsletter know I have been more optimistic than most about the potential of this year’s roster, despite the massive turnover. It’s going to look different. We know that much. There will be early growing pains as players adapt to new positions and new roles. But in the end, I think we will be in a better place than where things ended last fall.
📲 METS FIX APP: In case you missed the announcement yesterday, we rolled out a new tool for fans to keep up on everything about the Mets. I’m humbled by the reception.
For those of you stuck at work, make sure you keep the site open today. There will be a live scorebug so you can follow along in real-time. Of course, if anything noteworthy happens, you will also learn about that on the site.
📺 WHERE TO WATCH: Remember, today’s game will be on NBC/Peacock. You can learn more about where to find the Mets this season in our Streaming Guide.
🍎 OPENING DAY
🤔 FINAL ROSTER SPOTS
The roster is set.
Jared Young and Richard Lovelady became the final two players to earn a spot for Opening Day. That exposed Vidal Bruján, Bryan Hudson and Ben Rortvedt to the waiver wire, as all three were out of minor-league options and thus designated for assignment.
⇢ The decision to pick Young is a bit surprising. In some ways, this is a positive development. Bruján was the safer choice. By going with Young, the front office is showing a willingness to ride with the player they feel offers the higher offensive ceiling over one that fills a positional need and could fit a tightly-defined role as a pinch-runner.
