The New York Mets, which are continuing their bold investment toward winning the World Series, had some changes in the mound’s ‘ace’ game ahead of this season.먹튀검증

Jacob deGrom (Texas), the “best pitcher at the moment” who served as the team’s ace, declared an opt-out and signed a five-year contract with Texas after obtaining free agent (FA) qualifications. The Mets also had the idea of ​​catching deGrom, but preferred a short-term contract out of concern for his physical condition, and could not match Texas, who bet on a five-year contract.

Instead, they hired Justin Verlander (40), a veteran starting pitcher and last year’s American League Cy Young Award winner, to fill the void. Here, as a sure third starter, Senga Kodai, one of the best pitchers in Nippon Professional Baseball, was recruited to build a powerful three-punch.

In particular, the meeting between Verlander and Max Scherzer (39), who played an active part as the team’s one-two punch from 2010 to 2014 during his Detroit days, is highly anticipated. Verlander and Scherzer are the best pitchers of their time, each winning three Cy Young Awards. Combining the career multipliers of Verlander (244 wins) and Scherzer (201 wins) amounts to a whopping 445 wins. As if to show off their long-standing friendship, the two players went to work together during team training on the 15th (Korean time) and drew attention.

However, one title, which is a great honor for all pitchers, cannot be shared between two players. It’s the opening match selection.

Legendary pitchers who went through the Mets, such as Dwight Gooden, Tom Glavin, and Johan Santana, were named as the opening starters, followed by Matt Harvey in 2016, Noah Syndergaard in 2017-2018, and Jacob deGrom in 2019-2021. Last year, due to team circumstances, Matt Megill started the opening game.

Both players had many memories of winning the honor of starting the opening match in their former team, and if the two players were not on the same team, they would have started the opening match in different teams. Assuming both Verlander and Scherzer are in good physical condition, Mets manager Buck Showalter’s concerns are expected to deepen.

However, Verlander did not attach much importance to the opening day selection. In a media interview held on the first day of team pitching training on the 16th, Verlander flatly said “no” when asked if he was expecting to be selected for the opening game.

“It (Opening Day selection) is a fantastic celebration of baseball, and I cherish it whenever I can,” Verlander said. I’m pretty sure it’s not a big problem even if it isn’t. Attention is focusing on what Showalter’s final choice will be.