Mets' 2025 Pitching Success May Hinge on These 3 Things

Despite signing Juan Soto, the New York Mets have a few question marks that need answering this offseason.
Jul 26, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Kodai Senga (34) looks back at the main scoreboard during the fourth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Jul 26, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Kodai Senga (34) looks back at the main scoreboard during the fourth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
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Despite ultimately coming up short, the New York Mets making it to the 2024 NLCS capped off what was an extremely entertaining and successful season.

And the Mets have kept the good vibes rolling this offseason, specifically by signing Juan Soto to the biggest contract in sports history. While there's no question that bringing Soto on board has immensely improved New York's offense, not everybody is convinced that this signing immediately made them a World Series favorite next season, given their other roster holes.

Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller alluded to this in a December 26 article when he wrote, "Re-signing Sean Manaea (albeit at nearly double his 2024 salary) was a near must, but this starting rotation sans Luis Severino and Jose Quintana still leaves something to be desired, pinning a lot of hopes and dreams on A) Kodai Senga staying healthy, B) Clay Holmes making a seamless transition from closer to starter and C) Frankie Montas pitching better than he did last year.

"They do have a deep stable of options to combat inevitable injury, but let's just say no one would presently expect the Mets to have the edge in starting pitching in a best-of-seven NLCS against the Dodgers, Phillies or Braves," Miller continued.

All three of these concerns are valid, especially because Senga missed nearly the entire 2024 season due to several injuries, Clay Holmes has been a closer for almost all of his career and doesn't have a typical starter's pitch arsenal, and Frankie Montas struggled last season.

Then again, if Senga does stay healthy, Holmes develops into a reliable starter, and Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner orchestrates a successful rebound season for Montas, the Mets' rotation could become a dominant force.


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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.