3 NY Mets Opening Day starters since 2020 you might have already forgotten about

Opening Day is quickly approaching. The New York Mets will suit up for their first game of the season on March 27th in Houston against the Astros, while their first game back in Citi Field will be on April 4th, kicking off a series against the Toronto Blue Jays. There have been plenty of memorable Opening Day performances, but also a handful of players you forgot were in the Mets’ line-up in their first game of the season. Even since the turn of the decade, you may have forgotten these three former Mets got the nod for Opening Day.

1) Yoenis Cespedes

Yoenis Cespedes’ tenure with the Mets was quite interesting. When Cespedes was on the field for the Mets, he was rather productive, batting .279/.344/.549 with 76 home runs and a 136 OPS+ through 1304 plate appearances. He also regularly displayed his super-human arm strength. But he’d play just 127 games from 2018 through 2020, missing all of 2019. However, he’d play his final games in Major League Baseball in 2020.

2020 was a strange year for everyone, but especially Cespedes. It was revealed that his previous ankle injury occured in an incident with a wild boar on his ranch. By the time the delayed start to the 2020 season began, Cespedes was healthy enough to play and was the Mets’ Opening Day designated hitter, marking his fourth Opening Day start for the Mets. He had previously opened the year as the Mets' left fielder in 2016 through 2018. He hit a home run in his first game of the year in 2020. 

About a week later, in Atlanta, Cespedes reportedly went missing. He did not report to the ballpark during the middle of a series against the Braves, and security could not locate him in his hotel, which was vacated of him and his stuff. According to then-general manager Brody Van Wagenen, he apparently did not reach out to the team. A day later, he decided to opt out of the rest of the 2020 season due to ‘COVID-related issues,’ an option all players in 2020 were given if they chose not to play.

This was the last time Cespedes played in the Major Leagues. The strong-armed outfielder became a free agent after 2020, but nobody picked him up, nor has he since. Cespedes returned to baseball during the 2022-2023 offseason in the Dominican Winter League and was a representative for Team Cuba during the World Baseball Classic.