Mets round out Opening Day roster with several fun stories
From left, the Brett Baty, Hayden Senger and Max Kranick have made the Mets' Opening Day roster. Credit: Newsday / Alejandra Villa Loarca
HOUSTON — For all the attention it gets, the Opening Day roster is the roster just for Opening Day. It can and will change — frequently — as needed for the ensuing six months, especially for the Mets, whose boss, David Stearns, values a degree of depth and churn.
There still is something special, though, for players who get to be there for the first game, stand on the line for the national anthem and big flag and take in the hoopla in person.
For several Mets, Opening Day — Thursday against the Astros — will matter especially so. Team officials rounded out the day one roster on Wednesday with a trio of players who are not guaranteed long stays but come with fun stories: infielder Brett Baty, catcher Hayden Senger, reliever Max Kranick.
“Great story there,” Stearns said of Senger specifically, though the sentiment applied to each. “Very happy for him.”
Baty, the 25-year-old former top prospect, is getting a second chance via second base. In the absence of Jeff McNeil (right oblique strain), he is due to get most of the playing time at his new position, an opportunity earned with a strong spring training after he entered surrounded by uncertainty.
Senger, who turns 28 next week, will be the Mets’ backup catcher in his first time in the majors — after seven years in the minors. He has slowly climbed the ladder since he was a 24th-round draft pick in 2018, never hitting much but impressing Mets officials across regimes with his defensive ability.
And Kranick, a 27-year-old righthander who grew up a Mets fan, is one of the last arms in the bullpen. He has been in the majors before, but not since 2022 with the Pirates, so his first appearance of the year will mark the end of a long drought that included Tommy John surgery, a change in organizations and a conversion to relief pitcher.
“I said it at the beginning of camp, any way to get to the major leagues is fine by me,” said Baty, naturally a third baseman. “I’m proud of myself, and I’m happy too.”
Senger said: “It was a very nice conversation. I feel like I couldn’t really get words out. I was really excited. All the years I put in, kind of overwhelming. Pretty speechless.”
The Mets told Senger the good news before they left spring training Monday. Called into the manager’s office to chat with Carlos Mendoza, Senger walked in and found major-league catching coach Glenn Sherlock and minor-league catching coordinator Bob Natal in the room as well. That was when he knew “something important was happening,” he said.
Mendoza opened by referencing Senger’s offseason job at a Whole Foods at home in Nashville.
“I know what you do in the offseason,” Mendoza told Senger. “I don’t know if you ever got a promotion there, but you got one here.”
Senger’s first move afterward was to call his wife, Ryann, a physician assistant.
“I have to give a shout out to my wife. She has worked for a lot of years to support me through this,” Senger said. “It kind of made it all worth it now that I can say I’m a major-league baseball player . . . She was ecstatic for me and kind of emotional. She’s very, very proud of me.
“There is a lot of down time and a lot of time I felt like I was on top of the world. It’s a roller coaster, playing in the minor leagues for that long. Being here does make it all worth it.”
Stearns said: “He’s worked incredibly hard his entire career, and he’s earned this opportunity. It is a good story. He’s not getting the job because it’s a good story. He’s getting the job because we think he can help us win games. He’s an elite defensive catcher. Our pitchers love throwing to him. That really matters to us.”
Notes & quotes: Luisangel Acuna also will be on the Opening Day roster, a source said. Mets officials informed him after the team’s workout Wednesday. They had been holding off in case they made a late external addition of an infielder . . . Paul Blackburn will go on the 15-day injured list with right knee inflammation. He won’t throw for at least a week, but the Mets expect him back “at some point” in April, Stearns said. Without Blackburn, who had been slated to be a long reliever, the Mets had room for Huascar Brazoban, who fills out the bullpen . . . Francisco Alvarez (broken bone in hand) got his stitches out and is starting strengthening activities . . . Frankie Montas' MRI this week showed "really good healing" in his strained right lat, Stearns said. He still is a week or two away from starting a throwing program.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
