Bullpen Blues: Mets Legend Sounds Alarm on Team’s Weakest Link

With Opening Day just a few days away, expectations for the New York Mets this season have never been this high.

After a surprise playoff run last year that saw the Mets reach the NLCS for the first time since 2015, New York perhaps strung together their best offseason in recent memory. Of course, the biggest move was signing superstar outfielder Juan Soto; the Mets were also able to bring back homegrown talent Pete Alonso, re-sign Jesse Winker, Ryne Stanek, and Sean Manaea, and bring in former reliever Clay Holmes to transition him to a starter, which panned out very well during spring training.

But while the Mets are expected to compete for a division crown and go on another playoff run this year, Keith Hernandez has one concern about the ballclub leading up to Opening Day.

Speaking with Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of the New York Post on their podcast The Show, Hernandez named the Mets’ pitching rotation as a main area of concern for at least the start of the regular season.

“The pitching is worrisome you know, you lost two starters,” Hernandez said. “I don’t care how deep you are going into the minor leagues. I do think the bullpen is a little better, I would like to see a second left-hander…but the bullpen I think is better. The starting pitching is the question mark.”

Hernandez, of course, played for the Amazins’ from 1983 to 1989 and is currently one of their color commentators on SNY.

The former Met captain’s reasoning for the rotation being a concern should not come as much of a surprise, as New York will be down two key starters heading into 2025. First-year Met Frankie Montas will be out until at least June after suffering a high-grade lat strain to begin the spring, while 2024 ace Sean Manaea will also start the season on the injured list with a right oblique strain. The latter, however, is expected to return by mid-April.

Despite Hernandez’s obvious concern about the Mets’ rotation which has been viewed as the team’s biggest weakness, they have been able to hold firm during the spring with the pieces they currently have.

The aforementioned Holmes was dominant as a starter this spring, as he posted a 0.93 ERA across 19.1 innings pitched with 23 strikeouts. This resulted in the righty being named the Mets’ Opening Day starter against the Houston Astros. Lefty David Peterson also picked up right where he left off from the career year he strung together in 2024, as he pitched to an ERA of 0.57 in his 15.2 innings of work this spring.

New York also saw great springs out of Tylor Megill and another first-year Met in Griffin Canning, which resulted in them both being in the rotation to begin the year. The Mets were also able to have a healthy Kodai Senga during spring training; while Senga is expected to be on a pitch count to begin the year, having him healthy to start the season is something the Mets will certainly take with the hopes he can step up for their already injury-riddled rotation.

Even though the Mets’ rotation stepped up very nicely during the spring and may have brushed off some concerns, Hernandez certainly brings up a valid concern about this team’s weakness, for at least the start of the regular season. Hopefully, this current staff can prove Hernandez wrong and step up during the absences of both Manaea and Montas.