A baseball season is a marathon—a slog. A group of games, over a period of six months, was measured by only a select handful of contests.
The first game – Opening Day – is always special. Every team has zero wins and zero losses. It’s a time for festivities, a time to look ahead to the promise of an upcoming season. Each club is a phoenix, ready to rise anew.
A marathon isn’t defined by a start, but it certainly has an impact. Dan Szymborski of Fangraphs recently published empirical research noting that teams with poor Aprils are less likely to reach the playoffs. A postseason berth isn’t marked down to zero by the end of the opening month, but any postseason hopes can certainly be dashed with a poor start. Granted, that conclusion is based on MLB’s playoff setup, but a promising start can serve as a sign of good things on the way.
Noah Hall led the Cyclones in the first mile of their 26-mile march of the 2026 Minor League Season, hurling 4.2 effective innings, but Brooklyn fell to Hudson Valley 3-1 in their home opener at Maimonides Park.
Despite the loss, Opening Day marked the new era of Mets baseball; New York’s two top picks from the 2025 draft made their debut with the Cyclones. SS Antonio Jimenez, the club’s third-rounder, tallied an extra-base hit, while their team’s first-rounder, 3B Mitch Voi,t was held silent over four at-bats. Daiverson Gutiérrez, one of the Mets’ recent IFA splashes, smacked a fifth-inning double in his High-A debut.
Entering the season, Voit was ranked as MMN’s 12th-ranked prospect. Meanwhile, Jimenez was listed 18th, and Gutiérrez was named among the honorable mentions.
Voit, Jimenez, and Gutiérrez are projected to anchor the Cyclones’ starting nine, at least until Elian Peña arrives. Manager Eduardo Nunez said it was hard not to be impressed by the Mets’ draft selections, given their draft pedigree, calling them both hard workers.
Voit’s impressive force plate data at the MLB Draft Combine drove his early draft selection, and his underlying offensive metrics portend future upside. In his cup-of-coffee with the St.Lucie Mets, the Big Ten product produced a .638 OPS, but chipped in 20 stolen bases. Brooklyn, fresh off a season tallying a franchise-record 257 stolen bases, figures to be a suitable home for the speedy Voit.
Renegades’ starting pitcher Pico Kohn treated Brooklyn’s lineup like putty, slinging 5.2 innings of one-run ball. Making his professional debut, the southpaw didn’t allow a hit until two outs in the third inning when Cyclones’ left-fielder John Bay took him deep. Bay, one of the 20 holdovers from Brooklyn’s 2025 roster, slashed .103/.333/.207 in limited time last year.
The Cyclones threatened throughout the game, but 17 strikeouts and a 0-for-8 mark with runners in scoring position proved to be their downfall.
Brooklyn’s best chance to tie the game came in the bottom of the sixth. Jimenez collected his first High-A with a resounding double with one out, celebrating at second with a loud cheer befitting his first hit on Coney Island, but was stranded. The shortstop’s double was one of Brooklyn’s four hits on the night.
In the early going, Cyclones’ starting pitcher Noah Hall matched Kohn, despite a lineup clock-full of lefties, eliciting six whiffs on the backings of his trademark cambio. He mitigated damage in the first and fourth innings despite ducks on the pond.
His arsenal, which he alluded to in an interview with MetsMinors.net, consisted of his high-spin change, a gyro slider, and a series of fastballs sitting in the low-90s. Over the offseason, he removed his sweeper from his repertoire, replacing it with his curveball.
The right-hander set a franchise record by making his third consecutive Opening Day start for the Cyclones. As a testament to his longevity with the club, Hall is at or near the top of several Brooklyn records, currently placing third in club history in starts and fourth in innings pitched.
Hall handed the ball to his new skipper, Eduardo Nunez, after 4.2 strong frames of two-run ball. Nunez, like the aforementioned Voit, Jimenez, and Guiterrez, made his Brooklyn debut on Opening Day in the managerial chair. The former Mets infielder took the job over from Gilbert Gomz after the latter received a much-deserved promotion to the big-league club to serve as their first-base coach.
Nunez credited his managerial role to Gomez, saying:
I was just waiting to have the opportunity…I learned a lot from him. I appreciated the way he went about his business. He was very responsible and organized
The Cyclones’ bullpen carousel performed admirably. After Hall departed, Nunez brought in Gregori Louis, a southpaw, to counter Hudson Valley’s lefty-heavy lineup. Louis danced in and out of trouble over his inning of work, managing to hold the Renegades scoreless. Parker Carlson, an undrafted free agent whom the Mets took a flyer on, popped 93 mph in his scoreless inning and a third. Bryce Jenkins and Hoss Brewer combined for a run over two innings.
Tomorrow, the Cyclones will start RHP Wyatt Hudepohl in Game 2 of their series with the Renegades. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 pm. The club’s full roster can be found here.