The New York Mets are taking a brief hiatus in their roster overhaul, but they’re now officially on the clock. With the calendar flipping over to February, there’s less than a month to go before pitchers and catchers report for most teams, and some of those players will be ramping up early to prepare for the World Baseball Classic in March.
That doesn’t give the Mets a lot of time to make more moves, but let’s assume they don’t. That means they’d come to camp with six possible starter, which raises the possibility that they could begin the season with a six-man rotation, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, so let's go there and see how this would break down.
Freddy Peralta and Nolan McLean, RHPs
These are the two pitchers whose names are carved in stone at the top of the rotation. The Mets traded for Peralta to step into the ace role, of course, and McLean showed more than enough in his brief cameo last year to assume a role near the top of the rotation. If both perform to expectations, the weakness that was exposed in the second half of last season will become a strength.
Jonah Tong, RHP
This is where things get interesting. Tong showed that his stuff plays and then some at the big-league level, but he also got exposed and lit up a couple of times. Would the Mets actually go with two rookies in their rotation when there’s a distinct possibility that Tong could use more time at Triple A Syracuse?
Clay Holmes, RHP
Holmes and fellow starter David Peterson often get dumped in the same bucket as mid-rotation starters who are viable options for 2026, but Holmes was slightly more reliable with an ERA of 3.53, and he led the team in wins with 12. He’s on a reasonable contract that will pay him $13 million this season, and Holmes has a player option at the end of this season, which is the reason his name comes up frequently in trade talks.
David Peterson, LHP
Peterson is two years younger than Holmes at 30, and he’s been durable, pitching 168-2/3 innings this year. He flagged badly down the stretch, though, and he’s even cheaper than Holmes at just over $8 million for this season after signing for that amount to avoid arbitration. The Mets may not keep Peterson and Holmes, but starting the season with both at the back of the rotation wouldn’t be the worst scenario in the world.
Sean Manaea, LHP and Kodai Senga, RHP
Manaea is the pitcher the Mets would probably love to unload, but his bloated contract makes that extremely unlikely. Senga’s status was especially murky during the second half of last season, so it’s hard to imagine him being a part of a six man rotation, which means Manaea would get the nod.