The multiple paths the Mets can take towards finalizing their pitching staff
The Mets can go with a four, five or six man rotation out of the gate, which will all determine how many spots in the bullpen are available
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AJ Minter threw a second bullpen on Saturday, and while Carlos Mendoza wants him to take it slow, he was very impressed with how Minter looked - Minter (recovery from lat surgery) is expected to return in May
Marcus Semien arrived in Port St. Lucie on Sunday and faced Nolan McLean in live batting practice
Every player will be free to challenge balls and strikes with the Automatic Ball and Strike System in Spring Training, but the team will come up with a strategy on how to and when players can use it during regular season games, Mendoza said
🌴 SPRING TRAINING IS HERE! 🌴
Mets pitchers and catchers are now officially in camp. The full squad’s first workout is on Monday, February 16th.
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How are the Mets constructing their pitching staff out of the gate? ✍️
The Mets have a lot going on in camp this year.
They have to teach Bo Bichette third base, they need to teach Jorge Polanco first base, they need to teach Brett Baty how to be a Major League outfielder, they need to find a role for Mark Vientos, they need to decide how many starting pitchers they’re deploying in the first couple of weeks of the season, they may need a contingency plan at shortstop to start the year, they need to figure out how to extract production from Luis Robert Jr., and I am sure I am missing something at the moment.
I think we have hit on a lot of that already, and there will be plenty more to discuss about all of that and the issues which pop up over the course of the next five weeks leading into Opening Day.
But, one of the more interesting storylines for the Mets in camp is how exactly they’re going to deploy their pitching staff out of the gate. And how they do that could determine how they construct their bullpen over the first part of the season.
It seems all but certain Christian Scott and Jonah Tong will start their year in the minors if everyone is healthy, and Scott will probably go to the minors no matter what considering he hasn’t pitched in a year and a half after he recovered from Tommy John Surgery.
Make no mistake - these guys will be back if they don’t make the team, and these guys are very likely to play a prominent role in 2026. Opening Day is simply the first mile marker, and we know what a team looks like on March 26 is vastly different than what it will look like on September 30.
That leaves Freddy Peralta, Nolan McLean, Sean Manaea, Kodai Senga, Clay Holmes, and David Peterson for the first run through the rotation in some order, and the Mets won’t technically need a fifth starter - let alone a sixth - during the first week with the off-day on March 27 on the schedule. The first day they’ll need a fifth starter is Saturday, April 4 in San Francisco. Of course, the Mets could simply roll with five starters out of the gate anyway, but that still leaves an extra starter with two off-days in the first 10 days of the season, so the Mets could conceivably deploy one of these arms to the bullpen temporarily until they need a sixth starter which wouldn’t be until Sunday, April 12 against the A’s, if they roll with five arms out of the gate.
Got all that?
If the Mets were to do that - whether that’s Senga, Peterson, or whoever - that means there’s Starter X, Luis García, Brooks Raley, Luke Weaver, and Devin Williams as the five locks for the bullpen out of the gate, again assuming everyone stays healthy.
The Mets would seem likely to carry a second left-handed reliever on Opening Day considering they’ll eventually have two when AJ Minter is activated in late April or early May, so it would seem logical for the Mets to carry Bryan Hudson to pair with Raley on the left side. He’s the only other left-handed reliever on the 40-man roster now, so unless he completely underwhelms in camp, there’s no reason to expect otherwise. What will happen to Hudson when Minter is activated is another story.
So, that’s six arms for the bullpen, two spots open, and potentially three on April 12 if the Mets go with a six-man rotation.
The 40-man roster options for the Mets are hard-throwing RHP Dylan Ross, who caught the eye of Mets officials in his time in the minors last year and was added to the roster very late in the 2025 season. They also have Justin Hagenman and Tobias Myers, who can be swing arms from the right side, Joey Gerber, Alex Carrillo, Huascar Brazoban, Jonathan Pintaro, and Austin Warren.
My gut says Myers has the inside track on one of those spots among this group, so that would leave one spot open for Adbert Alzolay, Craig Kimbrel, Carl Edwards Jr., Kevin Herget, Ryan Lambert, Nick Burdi, and a few other right-handed non-roster invitees to camp, and at least right now, Alzolay and Kimbrel are the standout candidates for that roster spot.
The Mets brought Alzolay in last year on a two-year contract, but he spent all of last year recovering from Tommy John surgery. He only threw 17.1 IP with the Cubs in 2024 to the tune of a 4.67 ERA, but was very successful in a relief role with Chicago in 2023, striking out 67 hitters in 64 innings with a 2.67 ERA in 58 appearances that season. So, there’s upside to Alzolay despite having not pitched a whole lot in the last three seasons, and the Mets were intrigued enough by that upside a year ago to give him a two-year deal.
Then, of course, there is Kimbrel and his Hall of Fame resume, which he’s brought to camp in 2026. Even in his age-37 season last year, Kimbrel brought a big swing-and-miss presence to the Braves and Astros in limited duty (he did pitch in the minors before the Astros brought him up late last year). He may not be what he was earlier in his career, but that’s okay. His presence alone adds value to a pitching staff alongside his ability to still get outs. The questions, of course, will be: what does he have left in the tank, how much can he be used as, can he throw back-to-back games on a regular basis at this stage of his career, and how durable is he?
Kimbrel could have the advantage of not being optionable to the minor leagues, whereas most others do outside of Hudson or aren’t on the roster at all. But he has to show he has more to offer than counsel for the pitching staff.
Now, remember, these paths are in the ideal world, and the world is never ideal in baseball, let alone with the Mets. Something always happens, and there are going to be injuries somewhere in here over the next five weeks. And as each complication arises, that will alter the trajectory for each one of these candidates in some way, shape, or form.
But that’s all a part of a team’s story. Spring Training doesn’t count in the standings, but there are these other races which unquestionably count for players and their career path.
Around the League 🚩
The Padres signed OF Nick Castellanos (NY Post) Griffin Canning (FanSided) and German Marquez (ESPN) on Saturday
The Brewers signed C Gary Sánchez to a one-year contract (NY Post)
The Diamondbacks and RHP Paul Sewald have agreed to a one-year contract (Official)
It seems funny, but I actually have more doubts about the offense than I do about their pitching. Of course, if Polanco, Baty, and Alvarez hit and Robert rejuvenates (all real possibilities), we'll finish 140-22 and sweep the postseason. Ok, maybe the Dodgers will steal one game in the series, but 4-1 isn't bad.
Now that MLB has managed to shorten the games, I wonder how much challenging balls and strikes will lengthen them.