Mets' 26-man: One Day Away
Spring training ends, regular season begins.
You’ve made it. Spring training is over. The Mets, and baseball, begin their 2025 seasons tomorrow.
Let’s go through the Mets’ 26 man roster, what to expect Opening Day, expectations, and timetables to follow.
From the beginning of spring training — the process was in place. Those who showed up early (Clay Holmes, Tylor Megill) were the ones who ended up being rewarded with rotation spots in the end. Emphasis on family and hard work for a reward, are two ingredients to the Mets’ secret sauce.
While the Opening Day starter is nothing more than just a title — Clay Holmes has shown a real ability to be a good starter long after Opening Day. The rotation seems to still be the primary concern, where the true value of David Stearns’ tool chest will be shown. Luckily, many rotation injuries are not major.
In the mini season of itself that spring training is, you don’t just get to see the depth of the Mets’ revamped rolodex of arms, you can piece together a depleted rotation.
To begin the year, the 2025 Mets rotation will be:
Clay Holmes
Tylor Megill
Griffin Canning
David Peterson
Kodai Senga
Not terrible. Megill and Canning will go the opening series against Houston after Holmes, whereas Peterson and Senga will pitch against Miami. The Mets don’t have to deploy their desired 6 man rotation right away — they can wait until the beginning of May to go full throttle. Once you get Sean Manaea back at some point in April, the Mets should be moving in the right direction by May.
The same month thereafter that Brandon Sproat could be called up, as well.
All you need are innings eaters who get ground balls and limit walks, which the Mets have shown, walking 117 batters in 814.0 combined innings this spring as a complete staff. For the first few months, even if the Mets are middle of the pack, Brandon Sproat will be an energy boost — at the right time.
Like many injuries for the Mets, besides Frankie Montas’ lat strain and possibly Francisco Alvarez’s hamate bone in his left hand, who had stitches removed this week, could possibly linger longer than others. Another injury which popped up today which hopefully shouldn’t linger is Paul Blackburn, who was slated for a long relief role.
David Sterans announced today that Paul Blackburn has right knee inflammation, and will be shut down for 7-10 days, no throw. He got through his recent outing in good shape, but reported soreness the day after, which ended up lingering. If nothing serious, he should be back before too long. A.J. Minter, who was being built up this spring, will be ready to go Opening Day.
Two others players who made the team are Max Kranick and Huascar Brazobán. Kranick, a life long Mets fan, racked up 15 strikeouts this spring while pitching 12.1 IP, posting a 1.46 ERA in 8 games. He should get meaningful innings as a middle reliever, primarily in lower leverage situations.
The 2025 Mets bullpen, to start, will primarily be:
CL) Edwin Díaz
SU8) A.J. Minter
SU7) Ryne Stanek
MID) José Buttó
MID) Reed Garrett
MID) Danny Young
MID) Huascar Brazobán
MID) Max Kranick
In terms of the Mets offense, not many holes to poke. We’ve covered various lineup constructions in the past, which open the door to various ways this Mets team can be a lot. Three serious changes have been made — and all are interesting.
With the injury to Francisco Alvarez, Luis Torrens will be the starter until he returns. Hayden Singer, who was working at Whole Foods in Nashville, earned the backup catcher spot. Senger, 27, was the Mets’ 24th-round pick back in 2018.
The final spots went to Brett Bay and Luisangel Acuña, who will be the second baseman and utility infielder, respectfully. Baty hit 4 HR this spring and led the Grapefruit League in OPS (1.186). The case for Acuña in totality is that he way need more development, and he may be able to get some early on, even at the big league level. As a pinch runner and backup infielder, Acuña is extremely valuable as a right handed bat.
If he continues to hit well, there’s a chance he wins the second base spot from Jeff McNeil someday. But, when McNeil returns, he’ll get the start at second right back, putting pressure on Baty to do well. There will be plenty of opportunities early on for Baty to do well, as well.
In the end, excited for all. The 2025 Mets offense on Opening Day (LHP) should look like:
1) Francisco Lindor (SS)
2) Juan Soto (RF)
3) Pete Alonso (1B)
4) Brandon Nimmo (LF)
5) Mark Vientos (3B)
6) Starling Marte (DH)
7) Luis Torrens (C)
8) L. Acuña (2B)
9) Jose Siri (CF)
Bench:
J. Winker (DH)
T. Taylor (OF)
B. Baty (2B/3B)
H. Senger (C)
The Mets’ identity is their offense. They will score many runs. They should not be shutout often. Adding a player the caliber of Juan Soto elevates the floor of the Mets to be a consistent playoff team moving forward.
When it comes to a fanbase that has not seen three straight postseasons, the time could, and should, be now. The Mets can win the NL East if they stay healthy, but the Braves and Phillies can be just as good.
The Mets should win 90 games. The National League is going to be a gauntlet in it of itself. You can make the case that the Philadelphia Phillies’ window is closing, but they can still win 90+ games, making it difficult on the Mets and Braves, who appear to be the frontrunners within their own division.
The Braves have injuries of their own, though.
Some other quick notes on the Mets’ spring training, the depth is legitimate. The foundation is solid. Names such as Justin Hagenman give you hope that the Mets can clearly evaluate pitching well. Over the course of many spring trainings, there will always be arms ones that work out, and arms that don’t.
My predictions for the 2025 season:
NL East: Braves
NL Central: Cubs
NL West: Dodgers
AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Twins
AL West: Rangers
AL Wild Card 1: Red Sox
AL Wild Card 2: Mariners
AL Wild Card 3: Orioles
NL Wild Card 1: Mets
NL Wild Card 2: Padres
NL Wild Card 3: Phillies
ALCS: Yankees over Red Sox
NLCS: Dodgers over Mets
AL MVP: Bobby Witt Jr.
NL MVP: Elly De La Cruz
Baseball is back.