Getty Image / Jasen Vinlove
The Mets are set to face the Miami Marlins on the Opening Day of the 2023 MLB season. Expectations for the New York Mets are sky-high this season after multi-billionaire owner Steve Cohen.
Max Scherzer is set to take the mound for the Mets on Opening Day. The team is in great hands with Scherzer who manufactures K’s as easily as Walter White makes blue meth.
But the Mets were dealt a setback hours before the first pitch of Opening Day… They announced that 40-year-old pitcher Justin Verlander, who is getting paid $43,333,333 this season, will be placed on the IL.
Justin Verlander will be placed on the IL with a low grade teres major strain. He will continue throwing at moderate intensity and we will rescan in a week. We will provide an update at that time.
— New York Mets (@Mets) March 30, 2023
Verlander played in 28 games in 2022 but prior to last season, he’d been sidelined by injuries. He didn’t make an appearance in 2021 and only played in 1 game in 2020.
New York Mets fans greeted the team’s Justin Verlander injury announcement with the ‘here we go again’ spirit many come to expect from the franchise’s faithful. Mets fans chimed in with memes like these:
— Biz (@Stambreezy) March 30, 2023
It’s always nonsense:
— Jack Eble (@Jack_Eble) March 30, 2023
‘Hello darkness my old friend…’ playing in the background.
— Conor McCormick-Cavanagh (@ConorMichael28) March 30, 2023
For context, here’s how much Justin Verlander is getting paid:
$1.87 million: What Justin Verlander will earn this week.
$1.85 million: Darryl Strawberry's highest yearly salary with the Mets (1990) https://t.co/NTRxWyffC5
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) March 30, 2023
It’s kind of odd to see an actual Minor League Baseball team reply like this, isn’t it?
bro getting paid to be hurt
— Portland Pickles (@picklesbaseball) March 30, 2023
It’s going to happen. Not a doubt in my mind.
I swear to god, if Verlander is injured all year and deGrom is healthy
— Noah Gittell (@noahgittell) March 30, 2023
The New York Mets are +165 to win the NL East this season. They are +900 to win the World Series, only trailing the Yankees, Dodgers, Braves, and Astros.
Should the Mets actually be in contention to win it all this season they will need Verlander at his best. So here’s to hoping, for the sake of Mets fans and Justin, for a speedy recovery.