The New York Mets head into 2026 with something they haven’t had in a while: a top of the rotation that looks, on paper, like it could go toe-to-toe with just about anyone in the league. Freddy Peralta and Nolan McLean are the two names leading that charge.
Whether you want to call Peralta the ace or split the title with McLean, the Mets have a pair of arms with serious upside. McLean’s lack of big-league experience is the only thing keeping him from officially claiming that ace label-but the talent is undeniable.
Still, this rotation isn’t a finished product, and there are plenty of questions to go around. Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga are both looking to bounce back after tough 2025 campaigns.
Clay Holmes had a strong year, but the question now is whether he can sustain-or even build on-that success. And then there’s David Peterson, who struggled mightily in the second half of last season.
Can he find consistency over a full year?
That’s the backdrop as the Mets settle into early spring down in Port St. Lucie. On Wednesday, it was Freddy Peralta’s turn to address the media, and his message was measured, confident, and refreshingly grounded.
“I think it's going to be really good,” Peralta said when asked about the rotation. “I'm excited to see what we're going to bring this season, because I see a lot of talent.”
It wasn’t a bold prediction or a headline-grabber, and that’s exactly what made it stand out. Peralta didn’t overpromise.
He didn’t talk about dominance or make declarations about being the best staff in baseball. He simply acknowledged the obvious: there’s talent here, and potential-now it’s about putting it all together.
And that’s a far cry from what Mets fans heard last winter, when Frankie Montas confidently claimed the team had “five number one starters.” It was the kind of quote that sounds great in January and gets replayed in frustration by July.
The 2025 Mets, at times, were scrambling just to have one reliable arm in the rotation. The idea of five aces?
That didn’t age well.
Peralta, on the other hand, seems to get it. He’s new to New York, but already sounds like someone who understands how quickly things can get spun out of proportion in this market.
There’s a time for big talk, and early February isn’t it. A calm, confident tone is what you want to hear from a guy expected to lead this pitching staff.
That same quiet confidence seems to be trickling through the clubhouse. Jonah Tong, another young arm in camp, hasn’t made any bold proclamations about cracking the roster.
Like Peralta, he’s focused on the work, not the headlines. And that kind of mindset might be exactly what the Mets need right now.
This isn’t the time to start dreaming about parades or making symbolic gestures about winning it all. The Mets have done that before-remember the spring training drill in 2021 where players pantomimed a World Series celebration? It made for a fun clip, but also set expectations that didn’t match the reality of the season.
This year, the tone feels different. It’s grounded.
It’s focused. And if the Mets are going to climb back into contention, that’s the kind of mindset they’ll need-especially from the top of the rotation.
With Peralta setting the tone and McLean coming into his own, the pieces are there. Now it’s about staying healthy, staying consistent, and letting the results speak louder than the quotes.