The New York Mets made a surprising Opening Day starter decision on Wednesday. Of course, Kodai Senga would have been the obvious option but he is battling a shoulder injury. So who is going to start Opening Day for New York? Jose Quintana.

“Official: José Quintana will be the Mets' Opening Day starter, Carlos Mendoza says,” Anthony DiComo of MLB.com wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Quintana is a veteran left-handed pitcher. He's carved out a respectable MLB career. Still, he wouldn't have been most people's prediction to start Opening Day for the Mets.

However, with Senga out of the conversation, there was not much competition. Other alternatives were Luis Severino and Sean Manaea.

Quintana, 35, did pitch to a quality 3.57 ERA in 2023. He also appeared in only 13 games, though. Severino and Manaea, who are both set to make their regular season debuts with the Mets, struggled throughout the 2023 campaign. So Quintana does make sense when breaking down the numbers, but it's still a shocking decision without question.

So when will Kodai Senga, who is still the Mets ace, going to return from his injury?

Kodai Senga injury update as Mets prepare for 2024 season

In late February, it was reported that Senga would not be able to start throwing for three weeks. The latest update on Senga is a promising one, though, via Andy Martino of SNY.

“The word on Mets’ Kodai Senga’s health continues to be, by all accounts, very positive,” Martino wrote on X.

Carlos Mendoza also provided an update on the Mets star pitcher, via SNY.

“Not a setback, none of that,” Mendoza told reporters Wednesday. “But we want to make sure that before he picks up a baseball he's strong and that we're comfortable. It might take an extra week or so, but that doesn't mean he's having any setback or anything.

“It's just more that, like, we want to make sure we feel pretty comfortable, he's feeling pretty comfortable about starting his progression. But overall, he's moving in the right direction and we're pretty happy where he's at right now in his rehab process.”

We will continue to monitor and provide updates on Senga's injury status moving forward. For now, Mets fans can expect Jose Quintana to get the ball to begin the 2024 season.