This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo’s Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- The Grapefruit League schedule is in the past now, and while the Mets still have a couple of roster decisions to make before Thursday, Spring Training is effectively over. Bring on the regular season, which will begin Thursday against the Pirates at 1:15 p.m. at Citi Field. (Important programming note: That game will air on NBC and Peacock, not SNY.)
It should be another fascinating season for the Mets, who turned over around a third of their roster in hopes of curing the issues that resulted in them missing the playoffs last season.
So much of this is impossible to forecast. But because it’s what we do this time of year, here are some predictions on what will happen during the 2026 season.
What Needs To Go Right?
The rotation must be better than a year ago, when the Mets featured one of the league’s top starting staffs in April and May before collapsing in June (and never coming close to recovering). Freddy Peralta is here now to stabilize things, but Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga still represent major what-ifs for the Mets. The team will also look for Nolan McLean to continue developing into a superstar, and for Clay Holmes and David Peterson to provide steady veteran production.
Great Unknown
Spring Training is one thing. Senga needed to re-establish himself following injury-plagued down years in 2024 and ‘25, and he absolutely did so with a 1.86 ERA over three Grapefruit League outings. He hit 99 mph on the radar gun and looked every bit the frontline starter he was back in 2023. But the regular season is quite another animal, and Senga still must prove he can withstand the rigors of a long year. If he continues down this path, the Mets will have another top-of-the-rotation arm to pair with Peralta and McLean. But if he falters? Well, we’ve seen that movie before.
Team MVP Will Be ...
Juan Soto. Because he’s one of the five best players in baseball. Because as solid as Francisco Lindor has been, Soto was even better in his Mets debut despite a change-of-scenery slump to start the year. Because Soto has none of the lingering injury concerns that Lindor does. Because he’s still just 27. Because he decided he wanted to be better at stealing bases last year and wound up leading the league. Because he is motivated to win an NL MVP. Because he’s plenty good enough to do it.
Team Cy Young Will Be ...
McLean. That’s no slight on Peralta, who will start Opening Day and has all the pedigree to be New York’s ace. But McLean features some of the best pure stuff in baseball, which gives him a higher ceiling if he’s able to harness it. The best version of this Mets team has McLean starting Game 1 of a playoff series. The potential is there for him to blossom into a Cy Young-caliber pitcher.
Bold Prediction
There will be no NL East drama this year. No Game 162 theatrics to determine whether the Mets will make the playoffs. As the Phillies slowly age out of relevance and the Braves deal with myriad pitching injuries, the Mets will lock up the division by mid-September.