April showers sure are putting a damper on things in Queens.
The Mets’ Thursday-afternoon matchup with the Philadelphia Phillies was postponed due to inclement weather — the third time since Sunday that a game has been either suspended or rained out.
Thursday’s game will be made up on Friday, June 25 as a part of a doubleheader beginning at 4:10 p.m. ET.
Whether the weather or COVID concerns, the Mets have had six of their first 13 regularly scheduled games to start the 2021 season.
“I think we can find a way to be prepared,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said. “We found a way to do it before this series and just won three games in a row against the Phillies. I think the guys will be prepared whatever comes our way.
“What else can we do? We just shift for tomorrow and get ready to play the Rockies.”
If there’s one positive that comes out of another postponement, it’s that the Mets get an early jump on traveling out to Colorado for a three-game set against those Rockies.
“Even when things that you don’t plan on happening, you have opportunities,” Rojas said. “You have an opportunity to leave early. If we leave out of here a little earlier than planned, it gives us a chance to be even more ready for tomorrow. The change with the altitude, the weather, and an hour is an hour [time difference].”
But getting out of New York doesn’t mean an escape from uncertain weather. Forecasts suggest that there will be snow showers between Friday and Saturday with temperatures in the 20s.
“Tonight there’s a big chance of snow all the way to tomorrow morning and then closing into game time, I think we’re looking a little more clear,” Rojas hoped. “We’re expecting to play tomorrow. We’ll start those conversations once we get there.
“We know the weather’s been a challenge. We just have to stay focused and be prepared to play when we can and right now, that’s tomorrow.”
Jacob deGrom, who was supposed to pitch on Thursday, will now pitch on Friday while Joey Lucchesi and Marcus Stroman get the call to toe the rubber over the weekend.
Thursday was Jackie Robinson Day around Major League Baseball, which annually celebrates the Hall-of-Fame trailblazer’s anniversary of breaking MLB’s color barrier in 1947.
“We can only say thank you to Jackie Robinson for breaking the barrier,” Rojas said. “Me being here and doing what I love on a daily basis is because of him. He led to a lot of doors being opened. For the inclusion of different ethnicities in the game, we just have to say thank you.
“That’s what you want to do in life, you want to impact everyone and I think that’s what Jackie Robinson did in this game. I look around where I am right now and that’s because of him.”
