A rematch of the 2015 World Series highlights Opening Day when the Mets visit Kansas City. New York will have to endure the pain of watching the championship banner raised at Kauffman Stadium, but could be motivated by the sight as the Mets are a favorite to return to the Fall Classic in 2016.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
The old baseball adage says good pitching stops good hitting. If that’s the case, the Mets could be in for a wonderful summer. Stocked with some of the finest arms in the game, the Metropolitans are the overwhelming favorite at -123 to win the NL East. Their surprising run to the 2015 World Series was fueled by outstanding pitching and the aces are back to try and end the team’s 30-year championship drought.
Ironically it had been 30 years since the Royals won a World Series and they claimed MLB’s top prize by knocking off the Mets in five games last season. With consecutive trips to the Fall Classic, the Royals’ reign in the American League could be slipping, according to oddsmakers. Kansas City enters the season at +1481 to win its second straight Commissioner’s Trophy, behind favorites Houston and Toronto.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Matt Harvey has been cleared to pitch on Opening Day after dealing with a bladder infection earlier in the week. Manager Terry Collins said he has no reservations about Harvey pitching on Sunday. Now 30 months removed from Tommy John surgery, Harvey is coming off a season that saw him set career-highs in starts, innings and wins.
Also, for his career, Harvey is 8-0 with a 2.15 ERA and 77 strikeouts over 67 innings in his April starts.
Five months after starting the final game of the 2015 season, Edinson Volquez will take the hill on Opening Day for the Royals. Volquez was KC’s most trustworthy starter last season, posting a 3.55 ERA while logging more than 200 innings for the first time in his career. He finished 13-9 with 155 strikeouts and stabilized a rotation that spent much of the year in flux.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“It’s a great honor for any pitcher to pitch the first game. If you don’t’ like it, you got to do it. You’ve got no choice, like I do.” – Edinson Volquez on being named the Royals’ opening day starter.
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Volquez had stated that he would prefer to avoid an opening-day assignment. He repeated the stance during spring training, though the comments were delivered with a smile each time. But Volquez claimed to be sincere. He enjoyed being an observer for the pomp and pageantry of opening day, he said. Volquez had logged three opening day starts in his career, and claimed he didn’t need another. His stance softened when manager Ned Yost tabbed him to open the 2016 season. It is an honor to start the first game of a new season and we wonder just how sincere Volquez is about getting the assignment. Too many glances at the flag hanging behind the outfield wall could doom him and the Royals on Sunday.
PROP TALK
The Mets took off last season after acquiring Yoenis Cespedes at the trade deadline. Having him around for an entire season should bolster an offense that spent much of the first half near the bottom of the league rankings. Cespedes hit .287 with 17 homers and 44 RBIs in his 57 games after arriving from Detroit and manager Terry Collins has decided to move his slugger to his more comfortable defensive position in left field. That should make Cespedes more of a threat at the plate while not worrying about playing D in a position he’s not suited for.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
It’s tough to envision Volquez being the ace of any staff, let alone that of the defending champs. He was handed the torch by manager Ned Yost because of his body of work last season and during the spring. He was a middle-of-the-rotation guy last year stringing together 13 wins, his second-highest career total, for a team that won 95 times. He put together decent numbers as the No. 3 starter but it’s a different game when slotted at No. 1. Volquez has even said he’d rather not pitch on Opening Day. Yost went ahead and penciled him in anyway. The Mets will be geeked to get some revenge and spoil the banner raising ceremony behind their ace.
New York 6, Kansas City 3
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