Following a 2025 season where the Mets went from the team with the best record in baseball to one that missed the playoffs, president of baseball operations David Stearns overhauled the roster, which included trading or letting go of a bunch of its core players.
While the club led in part by Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, and Jeff McNeil helped make New York go during its magical run to the 2024 NLCS, that group was also part of the incredibly disappointing 2025 season, the massive failure that was 2023, and the 2022 team that squandered the division lead late and was eliminated in the Wild Card Series at home to the Padres.
Also gone from the recent core is Edwin Diaz, though his departure seemed less intentional from the Mets' end and more like a negotiation gone wrong.
In any event, out are Diaz, Alonso, Nimmo, McNeil, and most of last year's bullpen.
In are Bo Bichette, Freddy Peralta, Devin Williams, Jorge Polanco, Luis Robert Jr., and others.
With the Mets opening the regular season this week at Citi Field against the Pirates, here are five big storylines to watch...
Is the starting rotation a strength?
It was the rotation that was largely responsible for the Mets' downfall last season.
While injuries impacted things, the starting staff in 2025 was a debilitating combination of ineffective and allergic to pitching deep into games.
The group heading into 2026 has been bolstered in a big way by the addition of Peralta, and should be further transformed by getting a full season from Nolan McLean -- who made eight starts toward the end of last season in what was his first taste of the bigs.
Back are Clay Holmes and David Peterson, with the latter's struggles late in 2025 possibly attributable to fatigue as he tossed a career-high 168.2 innings.
Also back: Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea, whose campaigns last year were marred by injury and underperformance.
Senga looked terrific in spring training, with his fastball routinely reaching the high-90s, and Carlos Mendoza repeatedly said Senga simply looks like a healthy player again.
Manaea's spring was up and down, with his decreased fastball velocity (which hovered around 88 mph) being the main focus.
If you squint just a bit, you can see a staff that could have three top-of-the-rotation starters and three solid mid-rotation starters.
But it's fair to wonder how Manaea's stuff will play in the regular season and whether Senga will stay healthy. And the Mets are seemingly wondering about Manaea, too, with the lefty in a bullpen/piggyback role to start the season.
Fortunately for the Mets, their depth is very good, including Christian Scott (who is healthy after recovering from Tommy John surgery), Jonah Tong, and Jack Wenninger.
How will Carson Benge acclimate to the majors?
While the Mets haven't announced Benge is on the team, it will be a massive shock if he doesn't come north. He has earned the right field job and is the clear best option.
Stearns said last November that Benge would get a real chance to win a starting job out of camp, and held that position all throughout the offseason and spring training, including when Juan Soto unexpectedly shifted to left field.
And Benge, who has played just 24 games above Double-A, looked the part all spring.
It wasn't just the results (which were great). It was Benge's approach at the plate, his long at-bats, his ability to hit the ball with authority to all fields, his defense, and his demeanor.
Most of the focus has been on Benge's offense, but he's also a plus outfield defender, which includes a cannon of an arm.
While there will be pressure on Benge to perform, he should have a bit of a soft landing since he won't be viewed as a lineup anchor from the jump, with him likely hitting in the lower third of the order.
Francisco Lindor's power
Lindor returned to game action over a week before Opening Day, as he completed his recovery from hamate surgery in his left hand.
The shortstop's presence in the lineup for the start of the season was never really in doubt, but it's fair to wonder how the surgery might impact his power -- at least in the short-term.
Earlier this spring, SNY spoke with Deepak Chona, MD, a Stanford and Harvard-trained orthopedic sports surgeon and founder of SportsMedAnalytics, to get insight regarding Lindor's surgery and what it could mean for his 2026 season.
"The amount of time varies," Chona said about the power aspect, "but generally projects to six weeks after returning."
In other words, while the impact to Lindor's power should not be significant, it could still be notable -- as was the case with Francisco Alvarez last season.
"Most likely, this timing correlates with the recovery of grip strength and control of the bat," Chona explained. "This dips after surgery (1) because of the generalized trauma/swelling to the muscles of the hand and (2) because the part of the bone (called the hook of the hamate) that they cut out to treat the fracture is involved in generating grip force as well."
Chona added:
"The area near the hamate sees greater force on a left hand when batting right-handed, so it’s possible – if not likely – that Lindor being a switch hitter may help him bounce back faster than other batters.
"Limited data exists, but we’d anticipate a greater effect when he bats right-handed early on in the recovery. By one-to-two months post-return, most data suggests he’d be near his baseline level from both sides of the plate."
Will Devin Williams bounce back?
The Mets' bullpen would undoubtedly be more fearsome if it had Williams and Diaz.
But Williams' relative struggles last season should not cloud the kind of reliever he was for his entire career before that.
Over the first six seasons of his career, Williams had a 1.83 ERA (2.39 FIP) and 1.02 WHIP in 235.2 innings while striking out 375 batters -- a rate of 14.3 per nine.
While he didn't perform up to his standards in 2025, with a 4.79 ERA over 62.0 innings, pretty much all of Williams' underlying metrics suggest it was largely a fluke.
Specifically, Williams' 2.68 FIP was more indicative of how his stuff played than his top line numbers. Meanwhile, his WHIP, HR/9, BB/9, and SO/9 were all near his career rates.
As far as the stuff? Williams' fastball remained an above average offering, and his vaunted changeup was in the 95th percentile.
Put it all together, and it's fair to expect Williams to be elite again in 2026.
The first base plan
Jorge Polanco got lots of time at first base in spring training games as he learns a position he has yet to play in a regular season game.
And in those games, Polanco looked pretty comfortable.
However, Brett Baty also got a significant amount of burn at first base in Grapefruit League play as he also learns the position.
With Baty frozen out at third base byBo Bichette and at second base by Marcus Semien, it's fair to believe he'll be mainly at designated hitter or first base when he's in the lineup.
Add to that the mild health concerns surrounding Polanco and you get a situation where it might make sense to use Baty at first base and Polanco at DH more often than not -- if he handles the position as well or better than Polanco.
