Jacob deGrom to start for the New York Mets tonight!

deGrom is expected to wear a road jersey.

I know you guys just want to talk about Donald Trump Supporter Mike Piazza, or if the Mets will invite Rudy Giuliani to the 9/11/21 game or Chris Christie’s opinion on boycotting major Mets sponsor Delta and the Mets players reluctance to get vaccines, but I am her to talk about baseball.

Jacob deGrom will make his third career Opening Day start tonight…This marks his third consecutive Opening Day start…deGrom made his first career Opening Day start in 2019 against the Nationals in D.C…He earned the win, hurling 6.0 scoreless innings, issuing only one walk and allowing five hits while striking out 10…He is the 27th different pitcher to start on Opening Day for the Mets…He is the 11th pitcher to start multiple Opening Days for the franchise…Including deGrom, there have been seven Mets to start at least three Opening Days for the team…Tom Seaver holds the record with 11 Opening Day nods…All 11 of those pitchers started at least one set of consecutive openers…Noah Syndergaard (2017-2018), was the last Mets starting pitcher to get consecutive Opening Day nods.

Tonight’s start is the first of deGrom’s eighth major league season…In his first seven seasons, he has posted a 2.61 ERA in 183 starts… Since the earned run became official in 1913, only eight pitchers have recorded a better ERA through their seventh career season (min. 175 starts)…The only active pitcher with a better mark through seven years in the majors is Clayton Kershaw (2.48 ERA from 2008-2014)…Tom Seaver, who, like deGrom, won NL Rookie of the Year and two Cy Young Awards in his first seven campaigns, ranks third on the list with a 2.38 ERA

According to Elias, only three other pitchers in the last 50 seasons have held an ERA of 2.10 or lower over a span of three years (min. 400.0 innings): Clayton Kershaw (four times from 2012-2017), Pedro Martinez (1999-2001 and 2000-2002) and Greg Maddux (1992-1994, 1993-1995 and 1994-1996).

After losing their first eight Opening Day contests, the Mets have won 39 of their last 51 Opening Day games (.765)…New York took nine straight openers from 1975-1983 to tie a major league record…The Mets have won 12 of their last 15 openers, including each of the last four.

he New York Mets announced that they will wear a “41” Tom Seaver tribute patch on the right sleeve of their home and road uniforms during the 2021 season…Seaver passed away on August 31, 2020 at age 75…Seaver won 311 games, had a 2.86 ERA and struck out 3,640 batters over a 20-year major league career that spanned from 1967-1986, earning 12 All-Star selections in the process…He led the National League in wins three times, ERA three times and strikeouts five times…Seaver was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992…Seaver spent 12 years with the Mets and went 198-124 with a 2.57 ERA and 2,541 strikeouts…He is the Mets’ all-time leader in wins, strikeouts, shutouts (44), ERA, complete games (171) and starts (395)…He won three Cy Young Awards with the team in 1969, 1973 and 1975 as well as the NL Rookie of the Year Award in 1967.

The 2021 Mets enter the season with several new players on the roster including OF Albert Almora, Jr. (free agent), RHP Jacob Barnes (waiver claim), RHP Carlos Carrasco (trade), INF Francisco Lindor (trade), LHP Aaron Loup (free agent), LHP Joey Lucchesi (trade), RHP Trevor May (free agent), C James McCann (free agent), OF Kevin Pillar (free agent), INF Jonathan Villar (free agent) and RHP Taijuan Walker (free agent).

Collin Cowgill and Todd Hundley are the only two Mets to hit a grand slam on Opening Day…Cowgill went deep on April 1, 2013 off San Diego’s Brad Brach…Hundley’s slam came on April 26, 1995 at Colorado off Billy Swift.