Nolan McLean won't get the Opening Day start for the New York Mets. No worries. We'll see Freddy Peralta make his regular season debut instead.
There was no wrong choice here. If you were looking for a legacy type of matchup, McLean versus Paul Skenes would have been the one. A pair of young studs against one another would have been the perfect way to begin the 2026 season. Instead it's a pair of former NL Central rivals in Peralta's first post-Milwaukee Brewers game.
Not excited? There's another rivalry we could see. Carson Benge is far from the only rookie position player vying for a spot on his club's roster. Konnor Griffin, a 19-year-old Pirates prospect, is under consideration for an Opening Day roster spot.
Carson Benge vs. Konnor Griffin isn't a bad consolation prize on Opening Day
It's the pitchers who tend to carry the show in game one of the season. That's what lands on the marquee. What about the debuts of two of the league's best hitters? Benge is MLB Pipeline's 16th rated prospect. Griffin is number one.
There'd be no direct matchup other than one hitting the ball to the other or maybe a tag attempt by Griffin, a shortstop with some center field experience.
Two young position players won't have non-fans going out of their way to tune in. With Opening Day going to NBC and Peacock, it'll be more accessible (in some ways) for fans of the sport rather than the team to get a glimpse.
An early Benge vs. Griffin competition is no guarantee as neither has yet to win a roster spot out of camp. Griffin is younger than Benge and has only 21 games of experience in Double-A. Pittsburgh did seem to take things a little more seriously this offseason with several additions and big time offers to players like Kyle Schwarber. Griffin can force his way onto their Opening Day roster in the same way Benge can. No one is blocking either on the depth chart.
While the McLean vs. Skenes thing would have been nice to see, we'll take 9 innings of a back-and-forth battle between Benge and Griffin. A walk-off hit by Benge would be a fun way to start things off.