Mets Notes: When Jose Siri could start, confidence in starting rotation despite injuries

After their rally fell short on Opening Day, the Mets came back with an impressive 3-1 win over the Astros in Houston on Friday night. Manager Carlos Mendoza had a few things to talk about before and after the game, including his starting rotation, Brett Baty and when we'll see outfielder Jose Siri in a game.

Why Tyrone Taylor get the start over Jose Siri on Friday

One of the notable acquisitions for the Mets this offseason was the trade for outfielder Jose Siri. The right-hander has a great glove and some sneaky pop, but he has not appeared in the first two games of the 2025 season.

Mendoza was asked about why he started Taylor against starter hard-throwing right-hander Hunter Brown on Friday.

"Hunter Brown, there’s velo, there’s the sinker, cutter, it’s more of that," Mendoza explained. "There’s a good chance Siri plays tomorrow."

Taylor went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts on Friday and has started the season 1-for-8.

A media member asked the Mets skipper if Siri would sit against the team's best pitchers, which Mendoza answered plainly.

"It’s the big league;s you’re facing the best of the best every day. Siri is going to get a lot of opportunities. First two games of the season, and he’s not there. He’s going to play a lot." 

Siri had a solid spring with impressive numbers coming from the power department. In 16 games, Siri hit three home runs while driving in 11 runs.

The Mets will take on right-handed pitcher Spencer Arrighetti on Saturday, so we'll see if Siri is in the lineup.

Confidence in starting rotation to start season?

The Mets, like many other teams, saw many injuries this spring. For New York, their starting rotation took huge hits when Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas went down.

They got more injury news when Paul Blackburn had to start the season on the IL with a knee issue, something that is seemingly close to clearing up. Those injuries have left Mendoza to roll out a rotation that includes Friday's starter Tylor Megill, amongst other question marks like reliever-turned-starter Clay Holmes and Kodai Senga, who hasn't pitched many innings in two years.

Despite that, Mendoza is confident in his rotation.

"We feel really good about it," he said. "We got the guys in there, they’re going to give a chance to win baseball games game in and game out. We feel good with that."

Holmes was solid yet erratic on Opening Day, but Megill proved his skipper's confidence right. The big left-hander was solid, allowing just one run on three hits and one walk across five innings while striking out six.

"I thought he was really good," Mendoza said after Friday's game. "Early on he was attacking. They hit some balls hard but that's what we're asking him to do, throw strikes and stay on the attack. When they scored that run I thought he kept making pitches. He settled in nicely and limited the damage, which is something we also want to see... I thought overall, he threw the ball really well."

Message to Brett Baty

Baty made his first start of the season Friday at second base. While he went hitless in his two at-bats -- before being pulled for Luisangel Acuña for defense -- it was still a good outing for the young infielder.

It was a pivotal game for Baty, who is looking to solidify himself as a major leaguer after a couple of underperforming seasons. Mendoza has dealt with young infielders like this just last season. When Baty was demoted a year ago, Mark Vientos came up and took the third base job. The Mets skipper, and the rest of the organization reassured Vientos of his role, and they are doing the same for Baty.

"[I told him] be yourself. Same thing you’re doing here [in spring training], just continue to be yourself," Mendoza said. "Don’t feel like you have to get three, four hits to be in the lineup the next day. Trust the work. We saw results in spring training. Now it’s up to him."

Mendoza raved about Baty's advances at second. The improvements in his communication from pitch to pitch and his range, which he has shown in spring.

With a right-hander on the mound for Houston on Saturday, Baty is likely to start at second again.