PORT ST. LUCIE — The most significant news of Mets camp has involved the pitchers the world has yet to see: Frankie Montas (a lat strain that will cost months) and Sean Manaea (an oblique strain expected to cost weeks) will miss time at the start of the season.
The pitchers the Mets have seen — which is now every rotation candidate — have given the team some consolation.
“We still feel good with our options [after] watching them at least one time through the order,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday, after which all possible rotation members had competed at least once in the Grapefruit League.
Kodai Senga, David Peterson and Clay Holmes have looked strong early as the three certainties in the club’s rotation.
Tylor Megill, Griffin Canning and Paul Blackburn have shown health and some promise for a team that likely will keep two of the three in the early-season rotation.
While the Mets expect to often employ a six-man rotation, off days bake in an extra rest day for the first two and a half weeks of the season.
The Mets would not need a sixth starter (or need to ask a pitcher to throw on more traditional four days’ rest) until April 16.
More injuries in camp could open a door to strike-throwing righty Justin Hagenman or the recently signed José Ureña, who has built up to a live batting practice.
Brandon Sproat, Blade Tidwell and Dom Hamel impressed and provided hope they could help later this season, but the prospects were demoted to minor league camp Tuesday.
With an order still to be determined, here is how the Mets rotation is shaping up:
The certainties:
— Senga looks healthy and a bit different, with a tweaked slider and a sinker that is new to his arsenal.
— Holmes has been an early standout during his transition from Yankees reliever to Mets starter.
In six innings he has not allowed a run, showed off a developing four-seamer and new changeup that gives him an added weapon against lefty hitters.
The arsenal has expanded, but the best pitch is still the same. Catching prospect Hayden Senger singled out Holmes’ sinker as one of the most impressive pitches in camp.
“It just moves so much,” Senger said before using some hand gestures to demonstrate the extreme break on the pitch.
— Peterson is enjoying his first camp free of much pressure, neither recovering from injury (as he was last season) or competing for a spot.
His slider — which has long been his nastiest offering but one that has come and gone over the past few seasons — has looked sharp.
In Peterson’s spring debut Monday, Marlins batters swung at the pitch four times and missed four times.
“All of his pitches were really good, especially the slider,” Mendoza said. “That’s a pitch that last year, he had trouble with it.”
The competitors:
— Megill, who seems to always find his way into a rotation in late March and April, likely has the inside route.
He was not pinpoint in his exhibition debut, but his velocity (touching 98.2 mph) was encouraging. The Mets are trying to maximize the raw talent that Megill has — which the Angels failed to do with Canning.
— Canning was the ace of UCLA, the No. 47 overall pick of the Angels in the 2017 draft and a top-100 prospect. He has not risen as high as some thought.
With the Angels, Canning settled into a useful if back-of-the-rotation arm. Through five seasons, he posted a 4.78 ERA and ended up traded to the Braves, with whom he was non-tendered. The Mets signed him for $4.25 million.
Consider Canning among the many who believe there is some untapped potential.
“I’ve shown it before,” said Canning, who pitched to a 4.32 ERA in 2023 and 5.19 ERA in 2024. “Consistency is just the hardest part in this game. I think the [technological] stuff I’m doing … will help me be confident I’m going to go out there and be relatively the same guy each start.”
Canning, who is enjoying the pitching minds and tools around the Mets, has added a cutter that will help against lefties and is among the many who is tweaking his sinker.
— For Blackburn, the largest positive of camp has been health.
A righty who underwent a cerebrospinal fluid leak repair in October has been a full participant in spring training. He, too, is trying to figure out a two-seamer and working on a sweeper.
“It’s nice going out there, now it’s going away from the health aspect,” Blackburn said, “and more focus on just pitches and fine-tuning some things.”
