Mets Schedule: 3 teams we should be excited to see return to Citi Field

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ARLINGTON, TEXAS – OCTOBER 07: Fernando Tatis Jr. #23 of the San Diego Padres prepares for his first at bat during the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game Two of the National League Division Series at Globe Life Field on October 07, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

The Young and the Exciting San Diego Padres

The 2021 calendar will not have flipped just yet to summer when the Mets host them, but the “Slam Diego” Padres will be trying to cool down the New York heat with their mighty bats. It should be fun to see players like Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Eric Hosmer, and Wil Myers take mighty rips in the batter’s box to see how far they can aim to hit the balls into the Citi Field bleachers.

The best part of this is that it is a young team, with Hosmer being the “greybeard” of the group at the ripe old age of 31. Tatis is always going to try to put on a show since he probably STILL feels like he should have won the ‘19 National League Rookie of the Year instead of Alonso. Machado is just entering his baseball prime, which should be quite scary for the rest of the league.

When it comes to the pitching side, they don’t have quite the sexy matchups as other teams. One person to watch, though, is Dinelson Lamet, who made a lot of bats miss over the course of the ‘20 season. “El Flaco” is looking to build on a year that saw him strike out 93 hitters in almost 70 innings. Imagine him matched up against a healthy Thor or Jacob deGrom. Chris Paddack is solid at No. 2.

When the Padres come to town, they are going to be looking to show that their success last year was not an aberration. Their hitters are going to be the main attraction, though. This could be a series that sees Mets pitchers get a LOT of strikeouts or one that might resemble a Jets-(formerly San Diego) Chargers game score.

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