MACK - MY Sunday Observations - Where Should The Prospects End Up At The End Of The Season – Relievers, Manaea, Reimer, Mauricio, All-Stars

 

Where Should The Prospects End Up At The End Of The Season – Relievers

 

The fate of chain relievers is based on two factors…

1)     what they are turning out this season

2)     what’s going on above them

This is further complicated by how many parent relievers are under contract for 2026, plus how many starters are. Remember… there is room for only five starters in the Mets rotation. This determines the fate of contracted pitchers, causing many to be redirected to the pen. The days of sending them to AAA to await a phone call are over these days. The AAA rotation has too much talent to make room for them.

The current Mets starters that are under contract in 2025 are Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, Clay Holmes, David Peterson, Tyler Megill, and Christian Scott. In addition, Blade Tidwell, Brandon Sproat, and Nolan McLean will be ready to graduate. That’s 10 starters. That’s won’t work.

Right now, Senga, Holmes, and Peterson are a lock to return. In addition, I give McLean a lock to graduate. Tidwell and Sproat could clog up the Syracuse rotation on opening day 2026, but they equally could be candidates for conversion to either the Mets or Syracuse pen.

This leaves Manaea, Montas, Megill, and Scott to fill one Mets rotation slot.

All this translates into the probability of FIVE new Mets relievers in 2026.

Now, let’s look at the current Mets relievers under contract for 2026: Edwin Diaz, AJ Mintor, Reed Garrett, Huascar Brazoban, Max Kranick, and Deniel Nunez. I expect Diaz to opt out and go for the bucks elsewhere. Garrett and Brazoban are locks. Mintor’s ETA is a 3/26-5/26 window, so my guess he starts the 2026 season still on the IR. IMO, Kranick will be healed and ready. Currently, Nunez is a mess.

So, as I write, there are currently only THREE LOCKS FOR THE 2026 METS BULLPEN.

So, this opens the door for Syracuse relievers to graduate?

Well, not really. First, you have that five excess Mets starters to deal with. Next, Diaz could sign back up. Next next, Mintor could be ready on opening day. And lastly, no one in the current AAA pen is, as they say, burning up the charts.

So, right here and right now…

I see both the 2026 Mets rotation and pen totally filled with contracted pitchers.

Eno Sarris’ MLB starting pitcher rankings for the rest of 2025

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6375745/2025/06/03/sarris-mlb-starting-pitcher-rankings-rest-of-2025-season/

#85                             Sean Manaea

#N/A                         4.18 ppERA  

Health                       84%

Proj. IP                      75

ppERA                       4.18

ppK%                         23.7%

Top 100 MLB Prospects for 2025

https://www.justbaseball.com/prospects/top-100-mlb-prospects/

80. Jacob Reimer – 3B – New York Mets

Height/Weight: 6’2″, 205 | Bat/Throw: R/R | 4th Round (119), 2024 (CIN) | ETA: 2027

HIT      Plate Disc.    GAME POWER        RUN   FIELD FV

40/50 60/60 50/55 45/45 40/45 50

A California prep bat, Reimer was selected in the fourth round of the 2022 draft, turned in an impressive first pro season in 2023 before injuries limited him to just 21 regular season games in 2024. The Mets sent Reimer out to the Arizona Fall League to make up for lost reps, where he posted mostly average numbers, but started to make the mechanical adjustments that have him breaking out in 2025.

Hitting

Reimer previously started with his weight stacked on his back side and back knee bowed out towards home. Starting so stacked with his back knee at that angle likely made it more difficult to hold his weight back as he began his launch, resulting in some drift forward.

He now starts more upright, coiling into his back side with rhythm along with his barrel getting into a slot that is much easier to get on plane (he dropped his hands too low with the bat more vertical as he loaded before).

These improvements have Reimer’s barrel living in the zone much longer while putting him in a more powerful position to hit. He has cut his ground ball rate by 10% while his hard hit rate has jumped from 33% in 2023 and 2024 combined to a whopping 49% through his first 50 games in 2025.

While finding more barrel depth, Reimer has maintained solid contact rates while his pitch recognition skills and feel for the strike zone stand out. There’s above average power potential with the feel to hit and approach to get into it.

Defense/Speed

Not necessarily the fleetest of foot, Reimer’s range is fringy at third base, but he has an above average arm and is comfortable throwing on the run and from different angles. He may ultimately profile best at first base, but Reimer should be able to provide passable defense at third.

Outlook

Earning high marks for his work ethic and knowledge of his swing, Reimer followed an injury-riddled 2024 season with tangible adjustments in the box and added strength that have him breaking out offensively in 2025. Even if there is limited value beyond the bat, Reimer has the offensive ingredients to get on base at an above average clip and hit 20-25 homers.

Ronny Mauricio

https://www.justbaseball.com/mlb/mets-francisco-lindor-pete-alonso-news-rockies/

Mendoza opted for Ronny Mauricio at shortstop on Friday after starting Luisangel Acuña on Thursday in L.A.

“With Ronnie we just wanted to get a switch-hitter there. This is kind of like his natural position,” Mendoza said pre-game. “When he started playing his rehab games this year, he played at short and we just felt like adding another switch-hitter into the lineup today and give him an opportunity.”

Mauricio began the year on the injured list recovering from a right ACL tear suffered all the way back in December 2023. His rehab assignment in St. Lucie and Binghamton went fine, then he caught fire following a promotion to Triple-A. The 22-year-old had a slash line of .515/.564/.818 (17-33) with eight runs batted in and four stolen bases over nine games with Syracuse.

Since being recalled on June 3, Mauricio has cooled against big league pitching. He was 0-for-8 with three strikeouts in two starts at third base during the Dodgers series. 

His luck didn’t change during his first three at-bats, going 0-for-3 and striking out on three pitches with the bases loaded in the sixth inning. In the eighth-inning, he added a two-out double that traveled an estimated 409 ft. At home in Queens, it would have been a home run; it actually would have been a home run anywhere except Coors Field.

“It’s good to see him put a swing like that. I thought it was going to be out of here.” Mendoza said. “It’s been hard the first 10-11 at-bats. But it’s part of it. We knew this coming in. We got to be patient with him. We got to continue to support him, help him. He’s a really good player, so he’s going to be fine.”

Which Mets deserve to be All-Stars?

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6412689/2025/06/09/mets-all-star-candidates/

Pete Alonso (1B)

Alonso hasn’t always had the easiest path to an All-Star berth at a position of depth in the National League. He’s competed with the likes of Freddie Freeman, Paul Goldschmidt, Matt Olson and Harper.

That shouldn’t be a problem for Alonso this year. He should be a shoo-in to be on the team, and the only question is whether his fifth trip to the All-Star Game is his first start.

He’s tied with Freeman in wins above replacement (according to FanGraphs) to lead all first basemen, and his 17 homers and 61 RBIs are well ahead of Freeman’s.

 

Francisco Lindor (SS)

Yep, it’s going to happen: Francisco Lindor is going to make his first All-Star team as a Met.

Lindor’s five consecutive summers without an All-Star appearance will go down as a historical anomaly — a product of one canceled Midsummer Classic and four years when he wasn’t at his peak when voting was held. His OPS on the morning of June 9 during his years as a Met: .637, .758, .716 and .723. This year it’s .842.

That gives him a leg up at a loaded position, ahead of last year’s starter Trea Turner, converted shortstop Mookie Betts and the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Geraldo Perdomo, whom every Mets fan remembers chiefly for getting an All-Star nod over Lindor in 2023.