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. |
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NEW YORK -- Nolan McLean knew he would be attending the Mets’ annual holiday party on Thursday, handing out presents to local schoolchildren. What he didn’t realize until closer to the event was that the Mets would dress him, Brandon Sproat and Jonah Tong in green-and-red elf suits, including hats, jackets, pants and pointy shoes. “I don’t know who Nolan is,” quipped McLean, the Mets' top prospect and the No. 11 prospect in baseball. “I’m just an elf.” Playing caddy to this year’s Santa Claus, Clay Holmes, the three rookies caused a stir when they walked into the main room of the party, where kids were singing Christmas carols. “It kind of reminds me of when I was a little kid,” said Tong, who kept a grin plastered on his face throughout the proceedings. These three have become accustomed to being front and center since arriving in late summer for the playoff push. While the Mets didn’t reach their core goals, the rookie trio still transformed the team’s rotation dynamic heading into the winter. McLean, who provided eight sensational starts down the stretch, figures to lock onto a rotation spot heading into Spring Training. Sproat (the Mets' No. 5 prospect) and Tong (Mets No. 4, No. 46 in baseball) will compete for jobs alongside another youngster, Christian Scott. |
“All three of us have come up together, and that’s super fun,” Sproat said, noting that the group texts each other almost every day. “You build a close bond with each other. To be able to be here with each other, it’s super fun. The friendships that we’ve made, it’s so great.” “We’ve got a special group with the Mets,” McLean added. “It’s cool to be around all the guys every single day and just try to push each other to be better.” This is not just about vibes, though; for the Mets to achieve their goals in 2026, they’ll need heavy contributions from a group of rookies that continues to grow and evolve. While McLean’s short-term future appears secure, Sproat and Tong don’t profile as surefire rotation members quite yet -- not with a list of incumbents including veterans Holmes, Sean Manaea, Kodai Senga and David Peterson. The Mets also continue to search for frontline rotation help on top of that, which has already resulted in Sproat’s and Tong’s names popping up in trade rumors. |
Depending on what happens over the next three months, one or more young Mets starters could begin the season on another team, in the Minors, or even the bullpen. And that’s fine. “They’re kids that are very driven,” Holmes said. “You can tell that they want to do the right thing. They want to be great. All the tools are there, so it’s exciting to see. There are definitely a lot of bright moments ahead of them.” For now, all three rookies are in their offseason programs, ready to begin ramping up once the holidays pass. At that time, they’ll ditch the elf costumes for Mets uniforms, ready to make their second seasons better than their first. |
MLB MORNING LINEUP PODCAST |
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Since 2020, Jeff McNeil has posted the Mets’ lowest strikeout rate (minimum 100 plate appearances) five times in the past six seasons. Who’s the only other position player to lead the team in a single season over that stretch? A) Luis Guillorme B) Jose Iglesias C) Billy Hamilton D) Joe Panik |
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In addition to their holiday duties, McLean and Holmes were newsworthy this week for another reason: Team USA named them to its World Baseball Classic roster alongside fellow starters Tarik Skubal, Paul Skenes and Joe Ryan, and relievers Mason Miller and David Bednar. “I was very surprised,” McLean said. “But I think they kind of figured it’d be something I’d be passionate about and ready to do.” For both McLean and Holmes, who have never pitched in the WBC, it’s a potentially once-in-a-lifetime type of assignment. Holmes said his preparation for the tournament, which begins for Team USA on March 6, should not be much different than normal. Last year, Holmes had already stretched out to three-plus innings in Grapefruit League play by that point. He won’t be asked for much more in WBC play, making the decision to play for Team USA “an easy yes.” The assignment came as a surprise to McLean, considering he only has eight starts of Major League experience. It’s a chance for him to enter high-level competition against world-class players at a formative point in his career. “There’s a lot of great players that are going to be in the locker room,” Holmes said. “To be as young as he is, to get to be around some of those guys and just to see how guys carry themselves, how they work, just ask them questions -- he’s a guy that really soaks up his surroundings. So I think [for] Nolan, it will be a special experience for him, and he’ll really get to be around some great players, some great pitchers that he can learn from. Obviously, he's got some stuff working for him, too, right now.” |
• The Mets remained active over the past week, signing infielder Jorge Polanco to a two-year, $40 million contract, followed by reliever Luke Weaver to a two-year, $22 million pact. In the wake of the first deal, Mike Petriello broke down Polanco’s 2025 offensive resurgence, which included one pretty notable statistic. • Earlier this week, I glanced back at the Mets tenures of Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo and Edwin Díaz. Like it or not, it’s time to say goodbye. • In our weekly Pipeline segment, Sam Dykstra highlighted five areas that stood out on the farm in 2025, including scintillating seasons from McLean and Tong. |
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B) Jose Iglesias Iglesias struck out in 13.4 percent of his plate appearances during his “OMG” season in 2024, finishing just ahead of McNeil to lead the team. (McNeil did him one better this season, however, striking out in just 11.9 percent of his plate appearances.) |
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