Reese Kaplan -- Starting Pitcher Subs Could Be Much Better in 2026

When people analyze the pros and cons of the disappointing 2025 Mets team and the current group that will be heading north later this month when the 2026 season begins there are a great many obvious variables to analyze.  

How will Bo Bichette adapt to his new role at 3rd base?  How will Jorge Polanco make the transition to first base?  Who will play right field?  Is anyone going to be the DH?  How will they manage six starting pitchers?  Will Devin Williams revitalize his prior to 2025 spectacular career?  All indeed are valid questions worthy of debate over a decent amount of adult beverages among Mets fans.  No one can offer up definitive answers to any of these questions today nor will we really know for sure until the games start for real.

One aspect of the upcoming season that should be quite a bit better than 2025 is the subject of starting pitching.  No one is disputing how much it helps to have a true ace at the top of the rotation with the arrival of Freddy Peralta.  Health plays a huge role in starting pitcher quality as well.  

For now you have Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga both recovering from major health problems that impacted the effectiveness of what they were able to do on the mound.  Then you have Clay Holmes who hopefully arrives back from the WBC in good shape a ready to resume his second full season as a starter.  David Peterson is coming off a terrific first start in the preseason.  Then you have last year’s rookie sensation Nolan McLean ready to begin the year with the big club to provide his skill all year long.  All of these glass half-full evaluations could indeed make the club a more formidable opponent than the one who scrambled with an assortment of AAAA pitchers supplementing the starting corps last year. 

What is most interesting to me as a Mets fan is who resides behind these current six starting pitchers.  In the past the Mets relied on a variety of less than stellar options to be on standby should extra starting pitching be needed.  We can all remember numerous DFA castoffs acquired to help fill in when necessary.  It also obviously became very clear when they got the opportunity to take the mound why their former employers gave up on them. 

Now it is not always a question of older and unheralded pitchers.  At times both David Peterson and Tylor Megill were in the group of backup starters.  This past season they found Nolan McLean out of late season necessity as well as less effective rookies Brandon Sproat and Jonah Tong.  This coterie of pitching fodder should at least have been more effective than the rag-armed options also getting opportunities out of injury necessity. 

Going into 2026 the Mets do have two very strong options starting the season in AAA.  The aforementioned Jonah Tong had a brief trial in Syracuse after totally dominating in Binghamton but his first taste of the Show was not one for the record books.  He’s added some pitches and continued his development.  The Mets are indeed hoping he can rediscover what made him so effective in the minors as he prepares for a 2027 ascent to the majors (or sooner if injuries or ineffectiveness by others requires an earlier advancement).

The other pitcher getting back into game-ready condition is the still recovery Christian Scott.  Many have forgotten what his background was when he fell into the long term Tommy John Surgery and subsequent recovery.  As a minor leaguer, Scott was pitching at a level to rival what McLean and Tong did in the minors.  Over 49 games in the minors he went 11-7 with a 3.19 ERA, a WHIP of 1.059 and delivering 11 strikeouts and just over 2 walks per 9 innings pitched.  

In his first looks during Spring Training it seems like he’s again healthy and highly effective.  He and Tong are a much stronger AAA duo as backup than anyone the Mets have had in quite some time.