The Mets' starting rotation will look a bit different this season.
Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea and David Peterson will be familiar faces, but Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes are new additions that the organization hopes will elevate the 2025 Mets into potential World Series contenders.
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns spoke to the media for the first time this spring on Wednesday and fielded questions on a variety of topics including, how he feels about his rotation, where the 2025 Mets stack up in a loaded NL East and much more.
Here are some takeaways...
Views on starting rotation
The Mets are entering 2025 with plans to use a six-man rotation. It makes sense, considering the questions surrounding Senga's health and the viability of Holmes as a starter.
With that in mind, the Mets and Stearns are hoping they can recapture the magic the team's rotation provided last season, when Manaea and Luis Severino headlined their starting staff. With Severino pitching for the Athletics this season, Stearns added the aforementioned Holmes and Montas, with the sixth starting spot up for competition this spring.
Stearns was asked about his additions and the perception that the team's weakness is in the rotation, and the second-year Mets executive said he's more optimistic about the current staff, compared to his feelings a year ago.
"I will say, I feel much better about our starting pitching depth sitting here today than I did a year ago," he said. "We made that a priority of our offseason. We brought in a number of players at all levels of free agency... We're coming into camp in a pretty good health spot. I feel good about our starting pitching depth."
Pitching injuries to impact rotation/bullpen depth
It's difficult to predict when injuries will happen over the course of a season, but the Mets are aware of a number of pitchers who will either not be ready for 2025 or will not impact the team until later in the season.
The Mets announced they re-signed reliever Drew Smith on Wednesday to a one-year deal with an option for 2026. The right-hander is recovering from his second Tommy John surgery after suffering an elbow injury last summer. Stearns said the signing is more of a move for 2026 than this upcoming season, but wouldn't rule Smith out for a late-season impact.
“With Drew, potentially [being an option] in September. We don’t want to rush this. We want to get it right," Stearns explained. "We’ll have a better feel for that once we get into the summer months. That’s possible, but we’re not going to count on that.
“He’s been a long-tenured Met whose given a lot to the organization. He’s a good teammate, a good pitcher, and so having continuity in his care, that he can be under our supervision for his rehab in a place where he’s comfortable, where he can trust the medical staff is important for both sides. Hopefully, this goes well and he’s pitching big innings for us in 26.”
And then there's young hurler Christian Scott.