José Quintana is ready. Francisco Lindor will have butterflies. Edwin Díaz expects chills.
Opening Day is tomorrow (weather permitting) at Citi Field vs. the Milwaukee Brewers. Quintana is scheduled to throw the first pitch in anger at 1:10 p.m.
“It means a lot,” Quintana said of the start. “It’s a great responsibility. It’s amazing, and I think at this point, for me, it’s just be ready to compete every single pitch. Throw the ball with conviction and do the best to get a really good opportunity to win the game.”
It will be Quintana’s second career Opening Day start; his other was with the White Sox in 2017.
“It’s amazing to have the ball for day one,” he said.
Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized
“Opening Day,” Lindor said, “always feels special. It gives me butterflies. And Mendy said today, ‘Don’t take it for granted,’ and I think that’s great because you can’t take it for granted. It doesn’t matter how many opening days you have; you never know if it might be your last one.”
Perhaps no one knows that better than Díaz, who missed all of last season after a freak injury in the World Baseball Classic.
“I will feel really excited because it will be the first time since 2022 I will pitch,” the closer said. “Back home, pitching back in a big league game. Sounding the trumpets, I know the fans will get loud. And I will feel it. I will feel the chills while at the same time, I will try to do my job.”
Díaz thinks the Mets are ready to rebound from a disappointing 2023.
“I like everything,” he said. “I like the energy in the clubhouse. I like everything, man. I think we have a really good team. We improve our defense. I think the hitting department is really good. Our bullpen is really good. I think our starting pitching is really good, too. So I think we got a really good team and we will compete this year. I think we got the chance to make the playoffs.”
