Scherzer-Verlander Opening Day watch gets first clues

JUPITER, Fla. -- When Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer were teammates on the Tigers, it was never much of a question which All-Star hurler would start Opening Day. Verlander was already receiving the assignment by 2008, the year Scherzer broke into the big leagues with Arizona. So by the time Scherzer arrived in Detroit in 2010, Opening Day was established turf: Verlander’s gig. And it stayed that way. Verlander started Opening Day for the Tigers every year but one from 2008-17, including all four he shared a rotation with Scherzer.

Things are different in a lot of ways now in Queens, where Verlander and Scherzer reunited this winter with the Mets. Take Opening Day, which remains something of an open question. While everyone knows the Mets will tab either Scherzer or Verlander for their March 30 regular-season opener in Miami, the team has yet to specify exactly how it plans to line up its co-aces atop the rotation.

Slotting Verlander in for his spring (and team) debut Saturday might provide the first hint at their thinking. Scherzer, who made his spring debut Sunday while Verlander threw in a controlled setting, will make his next start Friday against the Nationals in Port St. Lucie. So for now at least, the order appears to be: Scherzer, Verlander.

Will it stay that way through Opening Day?

“I think I’ve got an idea of what we’re going to do if everything falls in place,” manager Buck Showalter said before the Mets' 12-7 loss to the Cardinals. “I just hope it does.”

The particulars of those plans, Showalter isn’t ready to reveal. A lot can change over the next month, and best-laid pitching plans in particular can change on a dime come late spring, as the Mets well know. It was only last year the club pivoted at the last minute to Tylor Megill on Opening Day, due to surprise injuries to Scherzer and Jacob deGrom.

This year’s schedule provides the Mets more flexibility, enough to effectively line up their pitching however they want (barring injury). They have three days off between their final spring game and their regular-season opener in Miami. Should Scherzer and Verlander make their starts this weekend and then take the ball every fifth day through the end of camp, both would be on extra rest come Opening Day. Scherzer would be on five full days, Verlander six.

For what it’s worth, whomever starts Game 2 would also be on full rest for the Mets’ April 6 home opener, also against the Marlins.

“We’ve looked at it,” Showalter said. “We still have a million [possible] maneuvers, especially with the off-day.”

For the Mets, this is one of those good problems to have. And they know however it shakes out -- Scherzer for Opening Day, Verlander for Game 2, or vice versa -- there really isn’t a wrong choice. In the end, who lines up in front of who on Day 1 will make little difference over the course of the 162-game season, and the long playoff run the Mets hope their co-aces lead them on.

Still, until the Mets formalize that order, how they plan to deploy their star hurlers will remain a slice of intrigue through what’s so far been a quiet camp for the Mets.