Mets Beat Marlins as Justin Verlander Hits Injured List

In an N.L. East in which the Atlanta Braves are the defending division winners and the Philadelphia Phillies are the defending pennant winners, the Mets have little margin for error. The massive spending, Eppler pointed out, was part of Cohen’s plan to make the Mets contenders when he took over as the owner. His goal, Eppler said, is to stick with a high-spending strategy as the farm system is restocked so that in the future the team could use free agency “a little bit more as a luxury rather than necessity.”

So now is the time to lean on the depth the Mets have amassed. Tylor Megill, who had a 5.13 E.R.A. last year, will come up from Class AAA and substitute for Verlander, a three-time Cy Young Award winner. David Peterson, who will start the Mets’ second game of the season on Friday, will fill Quintana’s void.

And in terms of a closer, Showalter said he will lean on several relievers but he pointed out that the veteran right-hander David Robertson, another off-season addition, had the most experience in that role. With two strikeouts and a flyout, Robertson earned the save on Thursday.

“I’ve never been part of a team from start to finish, no matter how good of a team, whether it’s a World Series-winning team or playoff team or whatever, that didn’t deal with injuries throughout the course of the season,” Verlander said. “It just seems like it piled up a little bit at the very beginning of the season. But maybe we’re getting it all out of the way now.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/30/sports/baseball/mets-marlins-opening-day.html