Tuesday, February 25

Welcome back to the Mets Beat newsletter! Anthony DiComo has covered the Mets for MLB.com since 2007, including the past 16 seasons full-time on the beat. This is the first part of a five-part Around the Horn series detailing the Mets’ roster heading into 2025. First up: Starting pitchers.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Doubtless, the news that both Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas will miss Opening Day due to injuries was difficult for the Mets to endure. But team officials don’t consider it a killer. To the contrary, they expect to have Manaea back before the end of April and Montas later in the first half. In the grand scheme of a 162-game season, that’s not so bad.

For those reasons, the Mets don’t expect to pursue additional help from outside the organization -- at least not at this time. They’re comfortable with a depth chart that may lack ceiling but features a slew of big league-tested arms.

Here’s how things stand with the starting rotation two weeks into camp:

On the 40-man roster: Sean Manaea, Kodai Senga, Clay Holmes, Frankie Montas, David Peterson, Paul Blackburn, Griffin Canning, Tylor Megill, Justin Hagenman

On the 60-day IL: Christian Scott

Notable departures: Luis Severino (A’s), Jose Quintana (free agent)

Top 30 prospects: Brandon Sproat (No. 1), Blade Tidwell (No. 8), Nolan McLean (No. 9), Jonah Tong (No. 10), Jonathan Santucci (No. 11), Dom Hamel (No. 15), Nate Dohm (No. 21), Jack Wenninger (No. 29)

Non-roster invitees: Sproat, Tidwell, Hamel, Brandon Waddell

The projected starters
Barring additional injuries, Senga, Holmes and Peterson have guaranteed jobs, but all three come with question marks attached to them. Senga, for example, made only one start last season due to right shoulder, triceps and left calf injuries. While he’s been healthy and throwing in the mid-90s this spring, it will be difficult for the Mets to feel confident until they see him do it regularly -- and with control.

Holmes has likewise been sharp early in camp, but he’s a longtime reliever set to start games for the first time since 2018. Even with a strong recent history of pitchers making that transition around the Majors, including Seth Lugo and Michael King, Holmes’ success is not guaranteed.

Finally, Peterson consistently outperformed his metrics last season, most notably with a 2.90 ERA versus a 4.59 expected ERA. It will be interesting to see if the left-hander shows genuine improvement or regresses to the mean.

Any competition?
At the moment, Blackburn, Canning and Megill are competing for the final two jobs in a five-man Opening Day rotation. All of them feature checkered resumes.

Blackburn, whom the Mets acquired at last year’s Trade Deadline, missed September and October due to a fluid leak in his spine. He’s healthy now but hasn’t pitched in eight months, and he owns a well below-average 83 ERA+ for his career. It’s unclear how sharp he’ll be.

As for Canning, Mets officials believe they can coax more success out of him than the Angels could. Canning doesn’t feature eyepopping metrics, but he’s been working on a two-seam fastball and a cutter this spring and may eventually feature a six-pitch mix.

Finally, Megill has long tempted the Mets with above-average ability, but control and command issues have always held him back. He sits behind Blackburn and Canning on the depth chart, simply because he has an accessible Minor League option. But if Megill puts together a strong camp, the Mets could consider carrying him in the rotation and bumping Blackburn or Canning to a swingman role.

Team officials did discuss a six-man rotation at the outset of spring, but injuries and other factors prompted them to revisit that plan -- at least for now.

What about the future?
At this time last year, the Mets hoped Scott, Hamel and Mike Vasil would fortify their rotation for the foreseeable future. Then, attrition hit. Scott underwent Tommy John surgery while the latter two struggled through poor seasons, with Vasil subsequently going to the Rays in the Rule 5 Draft.

The good news is that Mets officials are even more excited for their next wave of youngsters. In addition to Sproat, who’s the No. 46 prospect in baseball, the Mets believe Tidwell, McLean and Tong can develop into useful rotation arms sooner rather than later. The Mets also selected Dohm and Santucci in the first three rounds of last year’s Draft.

What’s unclear is how the team might operate at this year’s Trade Deadline, particularly if a frontline starter like Dylan Cease becomes available. By that point, the Mets could have enough prospect depth -- and enough need -- to swing a blockbuster.

Who leads the Mets in wins this century (since 2000)? 

A) Jacob deGrom 
B) Tom Glavine 
C) Al Leiter 
D) Steve Trachsel 

The Mets recently announced their 2025 theme games and specialty ticket package schedules, with highlights including:

• July 21: WWE Night, featuring a WWE-themed Mr. Met bobblehead
• Aug. 25: Pokémon GO Night, featuring a specialty item to be announced
• Aug. 28: A Celebration of Queens culture
• Sept. 12: Stranger Things Night

... and many others. The Mets are also giving away Hall of Fame bobblehead sets on May 13, June 25 and Sept. 17. These events require special event ticket purchases, which are available at mets.com/themegames.

• The Mets learned Monday that infielder Nick Madrigal has a fractured left shoulder and will miss significant time. (For those asking, no, the Mets are not interested in a reunion with Jose Iglesias. Despite Madrigal’s injury, they’re comfortable with the depth they have.) 

• In better news, Juan Soto was an absolute beast in his Grapefruit League debut, clubbing a homer in his first at-bat. Pretty auspicious sign. 

• Old friend Johan Santana, who hasn’t spent much time around the Mets since retiring, wants to change that. He reported to camp this week as a special instructor and plans to return next month.

• I explored the concept of pre-arbitration extensions for young stars Francisco Alvarez and Mark Vientos. The brief summary: It’s a fun idea, but probably not going to happen right now.

• Finally, Holmes -- featuring a modest beard -- had some thoughts about his old team, the Yankees, eliminating their longstanding facial hair policy.

A) Jacob deGrom 

Although Leiter had more overall wins with the Mets than deGrom, only 65 of those came after the turn of the century, compared to 82 for deGrom. 

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