The New York Mets are 3-3 through the first week of the 2026 Major League Baseball season, but the early returns on the starting rotation are fantastic.
The New York Mets are 3-3 through the first week of the 2026 Major League Baseball season with some ups and downs, but this team looks like it’s geared toward a deep postseason run after missing the playoffs in 2025.
The Mets have played a lot of close games so far, with three of them making it to extra innings (1-2 in those games). Aside from Opening Day when New York defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-7, most of the games have been low-scoring with the Mets scoring no more than four runs in the other five games.
While part of that is because the Mets offense has been a bit quiet in the early going, it’s a testament to the starting rotation New York has built. After how the rotation crumbled over the final months of the season, it was imperative that the Mets address its pitching woes. And it did just that a few weeks before spring training began.
The Mets acquired All-Star right-hander Freddy Peralta and righty Tobias Myers from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for MLB No. 49 prospect infielder Jett Williams and MLB No. 96 prospect right-hander Brandon Sproat, a deal that shocked the baseball world.
Peralta is only making $8 million this season and the Brewers have been perennial National League Central champions over the past five years, so trading away its ace seemed odd, but that’s how Milwaukee operates. The Mets are certainly happy with its decision to add Peralta, though, and despite a bumpy first start (six hits, four runs in five innings), Peralta bounced back against the St. Louis Cardinals by giving up just one run on three hits and two walks in 5.1 innings with seven strikeouts.
The rest of the rotation also looks good and MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo believes it has great potential to be one of the top units in the league this season.
“Freddy Peralta makes a big difference though, while Nolan McLean and -- surprise, surprise -- Kodai Senga both look legit,” DiComo wrote Wednesday. “With those three atop their rotation and Clay Holmes and David Peterson serving as steady sources of innings, the Mets could really be onto something here. And that’s without even considering Christian Scott, Jonah Tong and the next wave of depth behind them.”
Here are the final lines from each starter’s first outing:
Peralta: (W) 5.0 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 7 K
Peterson: (ND) 5.1 IP. 6 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
McLean: (ND) 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
Holmes: (W) 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
Senga: (L) 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 9 K
If the rotation can pitch like this consistently and keep the offense in games, the Mets should avoid the epic collapse it went through a season ago.