It's Opening Day! What to expect from the Mets in 2025

Everything you need to know going into Opening Day. Plus, the Just Mets round table makes their predictions for the season.

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️

• The Mets will open their 2025 regular season against the Astros this afternoon in Houston

• INF Brett Baty, RHP Max Kranick, C Hayden Senger, INF Luisangel Acuña, RHP Huascar Brazobán and LHP A.J. Minter all officially made the club’s Opening Day roster

• The Mets open their 64th season in franchise history this afternoon — they are 41-22 on Opening Day, the best in MLB history

• New York has won 41 of their last 55 Opening Day games after losing their first eight in a row

Injury Updates 🏥

• C Francisco Álvarez (fractured left hamate bone) had stitches removed from his surgery earlier this week and could return to the team by late April if all goes well

• RHP Frankie Montas (high-grade right lat strain) showed good progress in his latest MRI, but still is not throwing and will require a full Spring Training period before returning to the major league club

• RHP Paul Blackburn (right knee inflammation) he received an injection after his last spring start and will not throw for at least 7-10 days - he is starting the season on the injured list

Today’s Game 🗓

Match-up: Mets at Astros

Where: Daikin Park – Houston, TX

Starters: RHP Clay Holmes (Mets debut) vs. LHP Framber Valdez

When: 4:10 PM EDT

Where to Watch: SNY

Just Mets Round Table: 2025 Season Expectations 📝

Today on Just Mets, the staff offers their final quick thoughts ahead of the 2025 season, final record & playoff positioning…

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Linda Surovich

Expected record: 92-70 (2nd in NL East, 4th seed in NL)

After, by all accounts, a successful season in 2024, the Mets went out and got one of the best players in all of baseball in Juan Soto. If that was the only move made this offseason, it would be enough to improve upon their 89-73 record from a year ago. But in addition to Soto, Clay Holmes looks to be an outstanding, albeit risky, addition to the rotation, and Max Kranick appears to be a weapon out of the bullpen. Sean Manaea, Pete Alonso, and Ryne Stanek were all the right choices to bring back as free agents. David Stearns built a team with solid depth that can withstand injuries, which will get tested early with Griffin Canning in the rotation and Brett Baty at second base.

While this team looks good on paper, unfortunately, both the Phillies and Braves are still loaded with talent, and the Nationals are poised to take a step forward this year. The Marlins should be bad, but they tend to be annoying when they play the Mets. The NL East will be a dogfight to the end, but I think the Phillies ultimately take the crown as they try to avenge their early exit in the playoffs next season. The Dodgers are still the champs and got even better, so they will most likely be the top seed in the playoffs. The Mets just need to get in and see if they can somehow top the magical moments from a year ago.

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Justin Mears

Expected record: 97-65 (NL East champs, 2nd seed in NL)

On paper, this is the best roster the Mets entered spring training with in a long, long time. While Francisco Alvarez, Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, and Jeff McNeil all starting the season on the injured list is far from ideal, none of their absences are for a catastrophic length that would impact this club’s ceiling.

A lot of attention is being given to the Mets’ relatively weak starting rotation at the outset, but I think it’s important to remember two things. The same comments were being made this time last year, and the unit ended up being a strength coming down the stretch, and the front office is not going to sit on its hands and ignore a problem if it’s clear a part of the team needs help. In fact, even in a world where the current group exceeds expectations, I still think David Stearns and company will bring in an impact starter in July. It’s important to also remember that elite offense is a great elixir for lackluster pitching, and if this team is scoring five to six runs a game, they’ll be just fine.

At the end of the day, this is a Mets team that I expect will go toe to toe with the Braves and Phillies in the NL East for the next six months and ultimately come out on top in a heated three-horse race. I also have a hunch that in a little less than seven months, they’ll have earned a much-coveted rematch with the Dodgers in the NLCS.

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Andrew Steele-Davis

Expected record: 90-72 (2nd in NL East, 4th seed in NL)

I think the NL East will be the most fascinating division in baseball to watch unfold throughout the 2025 season. It will effectively be a three-horse race for the division, and I also believe the on-the-rise Nationals will generate some noise here and there too.

Anyway, without wanting to be Mr. Negative in these predictions for the second year running, I don’t see the Mets winning the NL East. I like the Braves a lot and I think they are the second-best team in the National League behind the juggernaut Dodgers. I don’t think you can understate how big a deal getting back both Ronald Acuña Jr. and Spencer Strider will be for Atlanta. The Phillies are also built to win now, so you can’t overlook either of New York’s two main competitors in the NL East.

However, in saying that, I don’t believe the gap between the Braves, the Phillies, and the Mets is all that big, and the Mets certainly have a boatload of talent to take what I think will be an incredibly tight race for the division right down to the wire. I love this lineup, and it has the upside and all the ingredients needed to end up as one of the most potent and formidable lineups in all of baseball in 2025. I think Juan Soto will put together an MVP season in his first year in Queens, Francisco Lindor will play at an All-Star level once again, and I’m also expecting a much better and more consistent year from Pete Alonso. Brandon Nimmo will put up better numbers given the talent around him, and I think both Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez will emerge as real offensive X-Factors too. Also, don’t be surprised if someone in the ilk of a Brett Baty or a José Siri has a really productive year offensively to help make this lineup even more dangerous than it already is.

The bullpen is without doubt in a much better place heading into Opening Day, and I have a strong inkling that A.J. Minter will enjoy a really strong first year in Queens, which in turn will ease the pressure on Edwin Díaz and allow the closer to truly thrive in 2025. I really am confident that the bullpen as currently constituted will be a real strength throughout the season.

Now, of course, I do have some qualms over the starting rotation. Not having Sean Manaea to start the year is a big loss, and I’m hoping Kodai Senga’s injury-ravaged 2024 season was a one-off. I wasn’t sold on the Frankie Montas signing to begin with, so I’m not sure just how productive he will be once he does return. And, as lights out as he was throughout spring training, Clay Holmes will be expected to double his workload as a starter in 2025, and that could be a tough ask, especially down the stretch. Granted, the Mets have the resources to go out and make improvements to the rotation, and my bold prediction is that Dylan Cease will be a Met by the end of the regular season. I also think Brandon Sproat will emerge as a late-season boost for the rotation.

But, with all that said, I think the lack of certainty in the starting rotation will prove to be a problem here and there, ensuring that the Mets just out on winning the NL East to the Braves. But, I still expect a hell of a great year and, hopefully, another long and memorable postseason run.

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Rich MacLeod

Expected record: 95-67 (2nd in NL East, 4th seed in NL)

The weight of expectations is not something that I take lightly anymore. As a fan of the “bad” New York teams, I’ve often experienced my biggest moment of disappointment in seasons that started with plenty of hype and promise.

The 2023 Mets were coming off of a 101-win season with a lot of the same players and wound up blowing the team up by late June. The Jets had all the hype of Aaron Rodgers only for it to melt down in a tragically appropriate fashion. Even this year’s Knicks, who still have more of their story to tell, look far from being able to accomplish their preseason goals of competing for a championship.

So, why would things be any different for the 2025 Mets? Well, hope is a powerful drug.

But in all seriousness, it’s important to remember that none of these things are actually related to each other. One season’s disappointment or promise does not dictate what will happen in the following year as we’ve learned plenty of times around these parts. For the first time in years, though, the New York Mets feel like a team that is operating like a well-oiled machine that has synergy and cohesion throughout all levels. They have a fearless leader that the team respects in Francisco Lindor, they’ve brought in the star power of Juan Soto, they held onto a fan-favorite power demon in Pete Alonso, and this is a squad that has now gotten that playoff experience.

Yes, the rotation is going to be a question mark at various points this year, especially early on, much as it was last year. But even if there are bumps in the road, this team has the promise of reinforcements if not from their farm system (hello Brandon Sproat), then at the trade deadline.

I expect this season to be a continuation of that fun and promise we experienced in 2024, hopefully without the terribly slow start. They’re playing in a beast of a division – likely MLB’s best – but the Mets were the last guys standing a year ago and they’ve brought in reinforcements, so the possibilities are pretty endless here.

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Michael Baron

Expected record: 94-68 (NL East champs, 2nd seed NL)

I know the starting rotation appears a mess right now. But David Stearns has already said that not only will they make changes as needed, they won’t wait around until the trade deadline to make moves, either. So I am not as worried about the rotation as some people claim to be. And I don’t think the Mets will fix their rotation on the margins, either. It will be fine, and it will probably look refreshingly different at the end of the season than it does now.

This lineup - if it stays healthy - is as good as it gets in the game. It’s stacked, it’s imposing, and they should score a lot of runs. In fact, I wouldn’t at all be surprised if this club sets the franchise record for runs scored.

I really like the bullpen too. I am never usually a fan of the way the Mets go about constructing their relief corps, but I think Stearns and co. did a great job putting together a strong, swing-and-miss supporting cast around Edwin Díaz, who isn’t what he was in 2022 but outside of a concerning month of May last season and some expected blips here and there, was still a very strong closer.

Overall, this is a top team in the game on paper despite the thinner-than-desired starting rotation, and as I said, they’re not piecing this together. They’re going to be fine, and I think they’re going to win the NL East this season.

It’s not going to be easy. The Phillies are formidable. The Braves are the Braves, and despite what I think is a team that didn’t improve that much in the winter, they’re good if they’re healthy. But while I think it’s going to be a three-team race down to the wire, I think the Mets will push through. They have the talent, they have this growing aura, and they have the resources to course-correct at the first sign of trouble.

Around the League 🚩

• Rex Sox manager Alex Cora announced that Rafael Devers will the club’s everyday DH, while Alex Bregman will man third base

• Major League Baseball released the results of the automated ball-strike challenge system used in Spring Training (MLB.com)