The Mets Opening Day starting pitcher doesn't matter

Getting named the Opening Day starter is a privilege. Kodai Senga was supposed to get the honor for the New York Mets, but an injury took him out of the running. The Mets are now left with the remaining field of pitchers in a competition no one is competing to necessarily win.

Newcomers Luis Severino and Sean Manaea along with originally projected fifth starter Adrian Houser are among the options. Then there’s veteran holdover Jose Quintana and homegrown Met Tylor Megill who started for the team in game one back in 2022 on short notice.

Take your pick. It doesn’t matter.

The Opening Day starter is more ritualistic than meaningful

The starting lineup for any NHL team matters more than who starts on Opening Day for the Mets. Rotations don’t naturally go one through five on any regular basis. This isn’t a matter of choosing your best starting pitcher to go up against another team’s most elite arm. It’s nothing more than to become the answer to a trivia question.

Shockingly, the Mets don’t have a whole lot of debate in terms of personnel or roles on the roster this year. One bullpen role is essentially all they currently have open for any sort of argument. The rest of the team will fall in line as expected with very little chance of a surprise along the way.

Whoever does get the nod will do so for whatever random purpose Carlos Mendoza has. Seniority? It’s Quintana. Longest tenured? It’s Megill. Highest upside? You go with Severino.

Almost no strategy goes into naming an Opening Day starter even when you have a roster of two aces—something the Mets have grown accustomed to. This year, their number one won’t be available.

So who will it be? The roll of a die can answer it. And if it lands on six, blow on it then roll again. Chances are we'll remember the winner as much as fans remember when Randy Jones opened the season for the Mets.