By Eddie Castro
Last year, the Mets Universe was taken over by clutch hitting, an unlikely pitching hero in Sean Manaea, the unofficial team mascot from McDonald’s, and an active player/songwriter whose hit song “OMG” became a national treasure at home games. General manager David Stearns’s goal going into the 2025 season was to make a splash, a splash that could take the team a step closer to a World Series.
How do you go about doing that? You reel in the biggest fish available in the free agent market in the 26-year-old phenom Juan Soto. Soto joins a lineup that already featured all-star caliber players such as Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso, who was also brought back by the team on a new 3-year deal.
After a disappointing National League Championship Series loss to the eventual champion Los Angeles Dodgers, Stearns was determined to put out a better roster on both sides of the field. After one week, it sure looks like the magic the team had from last year has made its return.
As we go to press, the Mets have had a pretty good start to the season. After dropping 2 out of 3 games to the Houston Astros, the team took 2 out of 3 games against the Marlins in Miami and then headed home where they swept the 3-game series versus the Blue Jays and secured another win their last time out at home against the Marlins.
As good as the team’s hitting has been, it is the pitching that has raised eyebrows. Through the first turn of the rotation, Mets pitching has an ERA (earned run average) of 2.90 and neither pitcher in the rotation has allowed more than two earned runs in any start.
The bullpen, which was the team’s weakness in 2024 has allowed just 4 earned runs in 22 innings. All and all, the team’s pitching era is 2.38 which ranks them fourth in all of baseball behind the Dodgers, Padres and Rays. The obvious question for the pitchers is will they be able to continue this recent success?
For the most part, Stearns’ plan to create more of a roster balance both pitching and hitting is off to a great start thus far and if all goes to plan, it could possibly get better. Pitcher Clay Holmes still has to prove himself as a reliable starting pitcher for the team after being used out of the bullpen for the last couple of years while with the Yankees.
Help will be on the way for the Mets as far as the pitching goes, albeit in late May with the return of Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas. Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor’s hitting will only get better as the season progresses.
The one scary part about this team is that although Juan Soto has hit to a batting average of .286, he only has 1 home run. Once his power stroke returns, it will be one of many adjustments opposing pitchers will have to make going against this much improved Met lineup. It should be a very fun summer for Met fans. Stay tuned.
Sports Notes: (Baseball) The Mets get a well-deserved day off today before heading west to begin a 3-game set with the Athletics. The Yankees are off today. The team will head back to the Bronx to begin a 3-game set with the San Francisco Giants. (Basketball) The NBA regular season ends on Sunday. The Knicks have already secured the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. The team will head to the Motor City to play the Detroit Pistons.