In the few minutes I have this morning allow me to welcome you to New Year’s Day and thank you for hanging out for the 26th season of Infrequent Comment on Uniform Numbers and Stuff ‘Bout the Mets.
I think the word that best describes my mindset about this team is “curious.” It’s not necessarily excited or dreading. I mean they have to go out there and perform and hopefully they are ready, even if they didn’t look like it when I checked in last. It would be interesting had David Stearns communicated his gameplan on Signal with a journalist eavesdropping. But we have to take starting Clay Holmes on Opening Day as a solid move on faith.
Holmes is among the seven six new guys who’ll wear a Mets uniform on the opening day roster. They are:
19 Jose Siri
22 Juan Soto
30 Hayden Senger (reassigned from 98 and into NRI Oscar Azocar’s uni)
33 AJ Minter
35 Clay Holmes
46 Griffin Canning
58 Paul Blackburn
Plus we got Brett Baty in 7. Danny Young still hanging on and hanging out in 81.
Play Ball!
Update: Paul Blackburn was a Met in 2024. Or so they tell me.
Now to numbers. Brett Baty whose 22 went to Juan Soto, revealed he’d be wearing No. 7 this year. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see that number in circulation again — although 8 would better. Seven had been unissued since Marcus Stroman took it upon himself to shelve it in 2019.
Other numbers for new guys on the 40-man roster: Jose Siri wearing 19, which I believe is pulling even with 6 as the most-issued number in team history (I’ll check on that). Infielder Jared Young (who?) in 29; and Jose Azocar in 30.