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The first week or two of the regular season is always a little strange. Rainouts, snow outs, and built-in off-days to make sure those who paid for an Opening Day ticket get to see the actual first game of the season allows for a gentle ease into the season as opposed to a quick rush. The New York Mets begin their adventure on Thursday March 27 just like everyone else who doesn’t have Mother Nature planning against them. Playing on the road against the Houston Astros with the luxury of a dome, they get no immediate day off. They’ll march on and play Friday night and again on Saturday.
But here’s the thing. After playing Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, there’s no game on Sunday. An untraditional off-day for MLB teams, their series with Houston concludes on a Saturday.
The first MLB weekend of the year won’t have Mets baseball on Sunday
The Mets aren’t the only victims of this preposterous decision. The Detroit Tigers visit the Los Angeles Dodgers to begin the year. Both teams will also have off on Sunday.
The reason is simply because of the interleague matchup. The MLB schedule is loaded with games on Friday taking place exclusively in stadiums with domes or Southern California in anticipation of any rainouts on Thursday. The one exception is the opener for the Colorado Rockies vs. Tampa Bay Rays that’ll take place at George Steinbrenner Field due to the devastation of Hurricane Milton last October.
Given the choice, some might prefer three straight games before an off-day even if it is a Sunday. You can’t argue that. But then the Mets do something odd. They get to travel for three in Miami against the Marlins. Before returning to New York, they get another off-day before Citi Field makes its regular season debut on Friday, April 4. Have the schedule makers not learned their lesson? Thursday would have been ideal for Opening Day because even weeks out we already know what the forecast will be: wet, dreary, and depressed. The sky will look like a song by The Smiths.
The first Sunday of the MLB season with no Mets game followed by another off-day on Thursday for no exact reason. Win or lose, that first week is going to leave us craving more.