The Mets curse is in full effect right before Opening Day

The New York Mets curse is in full effect with the latest Taijuan Walker injury news.

On today’s episode of why the New York Mets cannot have nice things, starting pitcher Taijuan Walker said his surgically repaired right knee was bothering him in Tuesday’s spring training start.

Walker had knee surgery back in January. He was not able to put much weight on his leg, which led to a poor final outing in spring training, allowing six runs in 1.1 innings pitched. Though he is not expected to miss his first start of the season, he becomes the latest Mets’ starting pitcher who has been bitten by the injury bug. If Walker has lingering issues from this, the Mets are in trouble.

This puts even more stress on Max Scherzer and his hamstring to carry the Mets’ starting rotation while Jacob deGrom is on the mend from right arm inflammation.

New York Mets: Taijuan Walker has knee issues in final spring training start

With deGrom out for two months at least and Scherzer dealing with a minor hamstring injury, the last thing the Mets will want is for their starting rotation to take another hit with Walker. When the Mets are firing on all cylinders, they have great pitching set up by timely hitting. Unfortunately, a depleted starting staff limits what they can do in most ball games. This is their margin for error.

Though the Mets have a new manager in Buck Showalter, they are expected to contend right away this season. New York plays in the same NL East the defending World Series champion Atlanta Braves. While there is another postseason spot to be had in both leagues this year, the playoff-starved Philadelphia Phillies could be the biggest challenger for one of three NL Wild Card spots.

Again, this right knee soreness may only be temporary for Walker, but his health could impact the Mets right out of the gate. While no team can win a division in April, a team can lose one in the first month of the season. Not to say the Mets are destined for a bad season, but things are not looking promising for them as Opening Day rapidly approaches. Cursed or not, this is not ideal.

If the Mets are short-handed in the rotation to start the season, they will have to play catch-up.