Scherzer named Opening Day starter

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — One of the game’s biggest big-game pitchers will be on the mound for the Mets on Opening Day.

MLB Network announced the Opening Day starters for all 30 clubs Friday, with the Mets revealing Max Scherzer as their choice to start March 30 in Miami against the Marlins. He’ll oppose Sandy Alcantara at LoanDepot Park.

“It’s awesome. It’s a heck of a day to pitch on,” Scherzer said after taking the win in the Mets’ 10-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday. “The atmospheres are crazy at every single venue that you’re in. It’s going to be a great day and it’s really fun to go out there and get the ball in that situation.”

This will be Scherzer’s first Opening Day start for the Mets but the seventh of the veteran ace’s career. Scherzer made six Opening Day starts for the Washington Nationals, including four straight Opening Day starts from 2018-2021.

The Mets have long planned to put Scherzer up there on Day 1 but declined to announce it in order to allow MLB Network to reveal all the matchups.

“I think it became official a few days ago when they tipped me off,” Scherzer said. “But when we set out in spring, we had kind of already mapped it out.”

This is exactly what the Mets envisioned when they signed the three-time Cy Young Award winner in December 2021. The Mets had hoped to use Scherzer or Jacob deGrom in the 2022 opener, but deGrom failed to make it out of camp healthy and Scherzer needed a few extra days to deal with an oblique issue that later landed him on the injured list.

Instead, Tylor Megill made the start and earned the win over the Washington Nationals. It was a strong outing by Megill, but he’s currently slotted into the back end of the rotation since it currently looks a lot different than it did at this time last year.

Justin Verlander is expected to start the home opener April 6, also against the Marlins, but he’ll start the third game of the season instead of the second.