2024 schedule offers chances for early wins, then gets much harder
The 2024 schedule presents the Mets with prime opportunities to pick up some early wins — but gets much harder in a hurry.
Four of the Mets’ first five opponents are projected to win fewer than 80 games, according to Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA sabermetric system. First up are the depleted Milwaukee Brewers, who open the season with a three-game series at Citi Field beginning March 28.
The Brewers won 92 games and the National League Central last season but traded away ace Corbin Burnes in the offseason and are expected to be without fellow frontline starter Brandon Woodruff for most, if not all, of 2024 as he recovers from shoulder surgery. The Brew Crew also lost president of baseball operations David Stearns to the Mets and manager Craig Counsell to the Chicago Cubs.
Following the mass exodus, the Brewers are expected to win only 79 games in 2024, fewer than the Mets’ 83.
After hosting Milwaukee from March 28-31 (with a March 29 off day), the Mets welcome the Detroit Tigers — who won 78 games last season but are projected for three fewer victories this year — from April 1-3.
The Mets then embark on their first road trip with stops in Cincinnati (April 5-7) and Atlanta (April 8-11). The up-andcoming Reds, at 82-80, flirted with a wildcard spot last season but fell just short.
The Braves, meanwhile, remain a juggernaut after last year’s MLB-best 104-win campaign, having added injury-prone Chris Sale to a rotation already featuring 20-game winner Spencer Strider and fellow All-Star pitchers Max Friend and Charlie Morton. Also back are reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr., reigning NL home run leader Matt Olson, and Ozzie Albies, whose 33 homers led all MLB second basemen.
The Mets then return home for threegame sets with the Kansas City Royals (April 12-14) and Pittsburgh Pirates (April 15-17), neither of whom came close to making the 2023 postseason.
A brutal West Coast road swing is set to follow, with the Mets scheduled to visit the reloaded Los Angeles Dodgers from April 19-21 and the similarly retooled San Francisco Giants from April 22-24.
The Dodgers won 100 games and the NL Central last year, then signed two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani and Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto to long-term contracts totaling more than $1 billion between them.
The Giants, meanwhile, added reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, Gold Glove-winning third baseman Matt Chapman and KBO star Jung Hoo Lee — all Scott Boras clients — in hopes of improving on last year’s 79-83 record.
The Mets, fresh off their own disappointing 75-87 season, hope to make the playoffs in 2024, and a strong start before the schedule heats up would go a long way toward that goal. They’ll have to do so, however, without ace Kodai Senga, who is out indefinitely with a shoulder strain.