The 2026 Mets officially take the field for the first time this afternoon!
In 2005 the Mets signed Carlos Beltran and Pedro Martínez. They rolled into the season with the slogan “The New Mets”. They should bring that slogan back this year with the amount of roster turnover. The Mets rank 28th in how much of the 2025 roster is returning in 2026. Jorge Polanco, Marcus Semien and Bo Bichette join Francisco Lindor in the infield. Luis Robert Jr and Carson Benge join Juan Soto in the outfield. Freddy Peralta makes an Opening Day start in Queens. Devin Williams and Luke Weaver will now close out games. Meet the Mets! There are a lot new faces to learn!
The Mets trading for Freddy Peralta was a real turning point of the off-season. Peralta is coming off of a career season where he made 33 starts totaling 176 2/3 innings with a 2.70 ERA, 3.64 FIP, 1.075 WHIP and a 154 ERA+. He faced the Pirates three times last season totaling 15 1/3 innings allowing five runs, four earned (2.35 ERA) while striking out 18 batters. The Pirates have the following career numbers against Peralta:
- Joey Bart 1-2, HR, BB
- Oneil Cruz 1-13, HR, 3 BB, 4 K
- Henry Davis 0-7, BB, 4 K
- Nick Gonzalez 2-10, 2B, HR, 4 K
- Spencer Horwitz 2-7
- Brandon Loew 1-5, K
- Ryan O’Hearn 1-6, BB, 3 K
- Marcell Ozuna 4-20, 2 2B, 2 BB, 6 K
- Bryan Reynolds 15-39, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 5 BB, 13 K
- Jared Triolo 1-9, 2 K
- Nick Yorke 0-1, BB, K
The Mets bats have a tough assignment on the first day of the season. Paul Skenes, the unanimous 2025 Cy Young winner, is a favorite to repeat this season. Over 32 starts last season he totaled 187 2/3 innings with a league leading 1.97 ERA, 2.36 FIP, 0.948 WHIP and 217 ERA+. He also allowed a league leading 0.5 HR/9 and put up a 7.7 bWAR. This includes a start against the Mets where he allowed only one run over six innings in a game the Pirates eventually lost 4-3. The Mets have the following career stats against Skenes:
- Francisco Alvarez 0-4, BB, K
- Brett Baty 0-2, K
- Bo Bichette 1-3, K
- Francisco Lindor 2-6
- Jorge Polanco 1-4, BB, 2 K
- Juan Soto 0-3, BB, 2 K
- Mark Vientos 2-3, 2B, K
Three Things To Watch For:
- 2026 Milestones. Several Mets hitters should personal milestones this season. Here are the big ones: Juan Soto 1000 walks, Bo Bichette 1000 hits, Marcus Semien 1000 runs scored and Francisco Lindor 300 home runs. While no franchise Mets record are expected to fall this season, Francisco Lindor and David Peterson look to move up several prominent lists this year. Francisco Lindor has scored 503 runs as a Met and should pass Mike Piazza (532) and Ed Kranepool (536) to get to 11th on the list. He should also pass Carlos Beltran and Dave Kingman in home runs to get to 6th on the all-time list. David Peterson can end up as a top 20 Mets pitcher in a few categories.
- Battle of the fWAR Projections. The Pirates anchored by Paul Skenes and several other rising arms project 9th in pitching fWAR this season at 17.2, a few spots above the Mets (15.7). The Mets are projected to have the second best hitting fWAR (31.7) while the Pirates are near the bottom of the league (20.9). Similar to how the Mets beat Skenes last season, their path to victory runs through getting Skenes out of the game as fast as possible and then feasting on the bullpen, while suppressing the Pirates bats.
- An Opening Day Debut. The Mets top position prospect made the roster! Carson Benge has exploded on top prospect lists before this season (Baseball America #19, MLB.com #16, Baseball Prospectus #10). He tore up spring training going 15-for-41 with a double and a triple (.435 OBP) and comes off of a season where he hit .281/.385/.472. Welcome to the show!
Let’s Go Mets!
