The New York Mets are going with a five-man rotation for the 2025 season, and with the injuries to Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas, there are three contenders for the last two spots in the rotation in Griffin Canning, Paul Blackburn and Tylor Megill. Mets manager, Carlos Mendoza, spoke on potentially sending the odd-man out to the bullpen at the start of the season.

“We are considering going that route,” Carlos Mendoza said, via Joe Pantorno of AMNY. “We can put one of those guys in the bullpen, have the other two make the rotation. All three of them, we haven’t decided which one we’ll send to the bullpen if we go that route. We have seven days or so still, a lot can happen.”

The Mets’ rotation was somewhat of a question mark coming into the season, and the injuries to Manaea and Montas illuminate that concern even more. Canning was brought in during the offseason, while Blackburn came over at last season’s trade deadline.

Mets president David Stearns has a track record of getting the most out of reclamation projects in the starting rotation. Manaea last season was an example, along with Luis Severino. Montas was another attempt at that, but the biggest example for 2025 is what the Mets are trying to do with Clay Holmes.

Holmes is a former closer from his time with the New York Yankees, but he is transitioning to the starting rotation after signing with the Mets. Holmes will start on Opening Day against the Houston Astros, which lines up Kodai Senga to pitch the team’s home opener.

The Mets made the biggest move of the offseason with the signing of Juan Soto, and the lineup should be strong once again, but the starting rotation has some questions heading into the 2025 season, and we will have to see who wins the final two spots in the rotation.