2 former NY Mets players who had an impressive Opening Day, 1 who had a day to forget

Zack Wheeler predictably kept the Phillies in the game on Opening Day

Zack Wheeler could have sent artificial intelligence to the ballpark for his Opening Day start. The National League stalwart didn’t factor into the decision but tossed 6 innings of 2-hit ball with only one run allowed. Yeah, it was earned. A 1.50 ERA after one game has given the Philadelphia Phillies ace a strong start to his case to finally take home a Cy Young.

Wheeler struck out 8 in his appearance. He was far outdone by the opposing pitcher MacKenzie Gore who stole the show. In his 6 innings of 1-hit ball, Gore struck out 13 Phillies.

There’s an alternative universe out there where the Phillies go down and the former Mets pitcher, Wheeler, suffers a tough luck first loss because the offense didn’t support him. This one ended up going into extra innings thanks to a late rally. The Phillies took the win and moved ahead of the Mets for at least one day.

It’s easy to almost forget Wheeler was even a member of the Mets at any point. He has been with the Phillies since 2020 and an entirely different pitcher for them. Yet again, we’ll need to deal with the follies of past front office decisions. This one has left a permanent scar.