The set-up: The St. Louis Cardinals remained in the wild-card chase until game No. 159 last season, while the NY Mets began "looking ahead" to 2018 by the All Star break. However, both teams head into the current season with optimism. Starting with the Cards, they've made winning seem like a birthright since the last round of expansion. The Cards have made the playoffs in 12 of the last 20 years and have missed the postseason in back-to-back years just twice, 2007-08 and 2016-17. The team has no linterest in seeing 2018 become a 'hat trick.' As for the Mets, they won 90 games in 2015 and then made it to the World Series, before making the playoffs as a wild card team in 2016 with 87 wins. Therefore, last year's 70-win season was to say the least, a huge disappointment. St. Louis responded to the second straight playoff absence by shaking up the coaching staff. Mike Maddux was hired as pitching coach while franchise icons Jose Oquendo and Willie McGee, who were already working for the organization, were named the third base coach and assistant coach, respectively. All that activity around manager Mike Matheny gives off the perception that Matheny is on the hot seat entering his seventh season, even though he has directed the Cardinals to a 544-428 record during his tenure. Marcell Ozuna (.312, 7 HRs & 124 RBI) was part of Miami's off-season fire sale and teh Cards landed the promising 27-year-old. He joins an outfield that rivals the best in the majors, with Tommy Pham (.306, 23 HRs, 73 RBI, 95 runs scored & 25 stolen bases) and Dexter Fowler (.264, 18 HRs, &64 RBI) looking to help the Cardinals improve upon their 83-79 campaign in 2017. The Mets have a new manager in Mickey Callaway calling the shots and the team believes that it made wise off-season investments. The team's 70-92 mark in 2017 loosened the purse strings as outfielder Jay Bruce (three years, $39 million), third baseman Todd Frazier (two years, $17 million), left-hander Jason Vargas (two years, $16 million) and right-hander Anthony Swarzak (two years, $14 million) signed contracts. AHowever, a return to health of what could be an excellent starting staff, will be a must.

The pitching matchup: The Cardinals send Carlos Martinez (2017: 12-11, 3.64 ERA) to the mound against the Mets' Noah Syndergaard (2017: 1-2, 2.97). Martinez is another in a long line of relievers turned starters for St. Louis. He receives his second consecutive Opening Day nod, after leading the team in quality starts (20), innings (205.0) and strikeouts (217) last season. He set career highs in strikeouts and innings pitched, plus in starts (32). However, he was victimized by the home-run ball in 2017, as he tied now former teammate Lance Lynn after being taken deep a club-high 27 times in 2017. Martinez is 3-2 with a 2.41 ERA in eight games (five starts) against the Mets, limiting them to a .220 batting average. Noah Syndergaard was a breakout star in 2016, going 14-9 with a 2.60 ERA and 218 Ks in 182 1/3 IP. However, he missed approximately five months of last season with a partial tear in his right lat, going just 1-2 (2.87 ERA) in seven starts (team was 2-5).

The pick: I'm a big fan of Martinez who has won 42 games the last three seasons for the Cards but when healthy, Syndergaard is one of MLB's best pitchers. Note that Syndergaard had a 1.73 ERA and a 30/0 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his first four starts last year before he tore his right lat muscle on April 30. He didn't return until making a pair of brief "peace of mind" starts in late September, during which he tossed three scoreless innings. He also looked good this spring, showing no ill effects from last year's injury woes, posting a 1.35 ERA while striking out 23 against just six walks in five Grapefruit League starts.Make the Mets an 8* play.