Get In Quick On Opening Day With Pirates

Pirates vs. Mets, 1:15 ET

It is officially Opening Day in Major League Baseball. I love the start of all seasons, of every sport, but with baseball, it always brings me back to the idea of hope. Every team, right now, has the same record. Everyone has the same batting average, ERA, and all other stats. This is the only day of the year when that happens. Hope is in the air that this can be the year it all clicks. Obviously, it is unlikely for some teams, but both of the teams in this game have their eyes on something big this year. The Pirates want to make the playoffs this year, and the Mets are essentially World Series or bust. Both of them start their march to their goals here.

The Pirates need to get going and make some progress in a hurry. They have a generational talent on the mound today, and in the rotation. I think if they start to get some wins this year, and at least make a push for the Wild Card, it will stop some of the thoughts that Skenes will walk as soon as possible, or that they need to trade him.  They didn’t have a huge offseason, but they did make some adjustments and get a few guys who can make a difference. Marcell Ozuna will be a nice middle-of-the-order guy. Brandon Lowe could help, and Ryan O’Hearn should be an upgrade from last year. They have guys in the minors that could help, so this has to be a step forward year for the Pirates. Skenes starts it today, the reigning Cy Young. I’m most interested to see if they handle him with kids gloves once again. He was phenomenal last year, as you’d expect a Cy Young winner to be. But, a lot of his starts only went five innings as they seemed to limit his work. Mets hitters have done okay against Skenes, getting six hits in 25 at-bats.

Feb 19, 2026; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets pitcher Freddy Peralta (51) poses for a photo during media day at Clover Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The Mets were once again active in the free agent market. However, they somewhat struck out with most of the guys they were expecting to get. Pete Alonso left for the Orioles, and that was a bit of an obvious breakup. They replaced Alonso with Bo Bichette. He is a significantly different player from Alonso, but still a very talented one. Luis Robert Jr. was added via trade, and he could provide some of the pop that the team will lose without Alonso. The other trade they made in the offseason was for Freddy Peralta, who makes the start today. Peralta is the ace on the roster that the Mets were missing, and could be the key to push them over the top. This is a different environment than he is used to, but he went 17-6 with a 2.70 ERA, and a 1.08 WHIP last year. Pirates players are familiar with him considering he pitched for the Brewers for so long. They have been decent against him going 28-for-119 with 18 RBIs. 

This should be an exciting game for more reasons than the hope of Opening Day. The Mets get to unveil their new lineup. Skenes gets to battle to maintain his Cy Young crown. For this game, though, I think the best play is to take the Pirates through five innings. Skenes is going to allow a run, maybe two. Peralta could match that, but I think it is much more likely that he allows a few runs and has a rough debut. I’ll back the Pirates through five innings. 

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