MLB

2025 New York Mets Season Preview: A Star-Studded Lineup, But Is the Pitching Enough?

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By
Colin Lynch
Author photo
Colin Lynch Sports Editor

Colin Lynch covers the NFL, MLB and WNBA for Heavy.com, with a focus on the New England Patriots. His sports coverage has been featured on The Sports Daily and Basketball Insiders, as well as FanSided's Chowder & Champions. A New Hampshire native and former D1 baseball player at St. John's University, Colin was drafted by the San Diego Padres in 2008 and enjoyed a four-year professional baseball career.

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Published07 Mar 2025

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2025 New York Mets Season Preview: A Star-Studded Lineup, But Is the Pitching Enough?

The New York Mets expect to win the World Series. That’s the new standard in Queens. That’s the expectation. And after years of near-misses, heartbreaks, and rebuilds, the mandate is now crystal clear.

Owner Steve Cohen has never been shy about spending—but this off-season, he took it to another level. After a strong second half and a deep postseason run that saw the Mets push the Dodgers to six games in the NLCS, Cohen made the move Mets fans have been waiting for: signing Juan Soto to the richest contract in MLB history.

The deal? 15 years, $765 million. A signing bonus of $75 million, with an annual salary of $46 million over the final decade of the contract. But more than the numbers, the message was clear: the Mets are in this for the long haul. They are all in.

New York Mets Preview: Offense

A Lineup Built for October

The Mets’ lineup was already one of the top 10 offenses in baseball last season. Now, with Soto in the mix, it has the potential to be elite.

In 2024, the Mets posted a .320 wOBA and a 109 wRC+, ranking among the best in the league. They finished seventh in runs scored and were one of just six teams to hit at least 200 home runs. All four players who hit 20 or more homers are back, and now they add Soto’s 41-homer, .421 OBP presence to the heart of the order.

Projected Lineup:

  1. Francisco Lindor, SS
  2. Juan Soto, RF
  3. Pete Alonso, 1B
  4. Brandon Nimmo, LF
  5. Francisco Álvarez, C
  6. Jeff McNeil, 2B
  7. Brett Baty, 3B
  8. Starling Marte, DH
  9. Harrison Bader, CF

The Soto Effect

Few hitters in baseball change an entire lineup the way Soto does. His 18.8% career walk rate and elite OBP skills mean the Mets will have more base traffic than ever before.

But the most significant impact? He changes everyone else’s role.

  • Pete Alonso now has more RBI opportunities after struggling in key spots last year. Despite hitting 34 home runs, Alonso only managed 88 RBI, partly because he hit just .215 with runners on base. If that normalizes, his numbers could skyrocket.
  • Jeff McNeil, a contact machine, can move further down the order, helping turn the lineup over.
  • Francisco Álvarez, one of baseball’s top young catchers, can develop without the pressure of hitting in the heart of the lineup.

Simply put, this offense is built to be a top-five unit. But can the pitching hold up its end of the deal?

New York Mets Preview: Pitching

This is where the questions begin.

Projected Rotation:

  1. Kodai Senga
  2. Sean Manaea
  3. Paul Blackburn
  4. David Peterson
  5. Clay Holmes / Griffin Canning

The Concerns at the Top

The Mets finished 15th in ERA and 17th in FIP last season, without Senga for most of the year. His return should help stabilize things, but the rest of the rotation is full of question marks.

  • Sean Manaea was excellent last year (3.47 ERA, 3.75 xERA), but his career-best numbers came with a career-low .245 BABIP—a sign that regression could be coming.
  • Paul Blackburn has never topped 111.1 innings in an MLB season and has a career ERA over 4.25.
  • Clay Holmes hasn’t started a game since 2018.

The biggest risk? Health.

  • Frankie Montas is already hurt.
  • Senga missed nearly all of last season.
  • David Peterson overperformed his metrics last year (2.90 ERA, 4.59 xERA).

And yet, this is a team expected to win 90+ games. The rotation lacks high-end upside and could become a major concern by midseason.

The Bullpen: Strong, But Not Overpowering

The Mets’ biggest bullpen addition was A.J. Minter, who joins Edwin Díaz to form a solid late-inning duo.

  • Díaz remains one of the best closers in baseball.
  • Minter is a high-leverage lefty who can handle tough matchups.
  • The rest of the bullpen? Serviceable, but not dominant.

Final Outlook: Can the Mets Win It All?

The Mets have the talent.

  • An elite lineup featuring Soto, Alonso, and Lindor
  • A strong bullpen anchored by Edwin Díaz
  • A deep, experienced roster

The biggest concern?

The rotation is full of question marks.

This team will hit. This team will win games. But if they want to win a World Series, they must upgrade the rotation at the trade deadline—or risk falling short once again.