“Opening day. All you have to do is say the words and you feel the shutters thrown wide, the room air out, the light pour in. In baseball, no other day is so pure with possibility. No scores yet, no losses, no blame or disappointment. No hangover, at least until the game’s over.” -Mary Schmich

The New York Mets have the opportunity to avenge their Fall Classic defeat on Sunday night with a matchup against the Kansas City Royals.

The beauty of Opening Day is exemplified by the quote above: past successes or failures aren’t indicative of a team’s chances.

For the Amazin’s, Opening Day is the perfect chance to eradicate any past shortcomings.

Here are some stats to help you get a grasp of where the team stands:

Facing Kansas City tonight for the Metropolitan’s is Matt Harvey, who was given the nod to make his first Opening Day start over the likes of Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom.

While deGrom will be forced to miss at least the first weekend due to personal matters, Syndergaard would’ve been a solid pick as well: he was hitting 96+ MPH on nearly every fastball this Spring.

Terry Collins released his 25-man roster this week, and Eric Campbell was listed, which came as a surprise to many. Also of note: Hansel Robles will miss the first two games after getting handed a suspension for throwing near the head of the Philadelphia Phillies’ Cameron Rupp last season, while Syndergaard, Plawecki and Conforto are all top prospects who found their way to Flushing in 2015.

That’s a lot of games for the captain. Will be intersting to see how he copes with Spinal Stenosis and a deteriorating throwing arm.

Both are mind-boggling statistics, although the Mets should have a much improved offense in ’16.

Only one remains on the team: Bartolo Colon, who took a discount to return to New York.

[graphiq id=”bbcbmXkMDhb” title=”Bartolo Colon Career ERA and Wins” width=”600″ height=”403″ url=”https://w.graphiq.com/w/bbcbmXkMDhb” link=”http://baseball-players.pointafter.com/l/3131/Bartolo-Colon” link_text=”Bartolo Colon Career ERA and Wins | PointAfter”]

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Justin Weiss is a staff editor at Elite Sports New York, where he covers the New York Islanders and Brooklyn Cyclones. In 2016, he received a Quill Award for Freelance Journalism. He has written for the Long Island Herald, FanSided and YardBarker.