Carlos Mendoza spills the beans on Mets’ depth and six-man rotation plans for 2025

With Mets pitchers and catchers set to report to Port St. Lucie, Florida, for their first workout on Wednesday, Carlos Mendoza sat down for his initial spring training interview to relay the pulse of the team with the media in attendance.

In addition to providing individual player assessments, he spilled the beans on the Mets' starting pitching depth and the potential plan to implement a six-man rotation throughout the regular season.

Eleven minutes into the news conference, Mendoza was asked if he was still looking at going with a six-man rotation.

"It depends on (Kodai) Senga, obviously," Mendoza replied. "If he's healthy, there's a good chance we'll go with a six-man rotation throughout the year. Even with some off days included there. We've got options. We've got depth."

Fishing for more concrete answers, a reporter then asked how many locks Mendoza felt he had to crack the Mets starting rotation:

"I don't know," Mendoza said. "We got a lot of options. But it comes down to health. For me to sit here before Day 1 of pitchers and catchers and say, This guys a lock,' I mean ... I don't think that's fair because we still got a long ways to go."

New York won 89 games last season, finishing second in the NL East, six games behind the division-winning Philadelphia Phillies. After a slow start, the starting rotation came on strong following the All-Star break, ranking fifth in MLB and first in the National League, helping the team secure a surprising playoff berth.

Impressively, the success came despite the team's expected staff ace making just one regular season start.

Healthy Kodai Senga would strengthen Mets six-man rotation

The Mets' starting pitching staff wrapped 2024 with above average outputs. It ranked 12th overall in rotation ERA and eighth overall in the quality start department (66). Kodai Senga had littlte to do with the staff's success.

Knowing this, a reporter broached the subject in Tuesday's news conference, asking the manager what he thought Senga could do for the rotation as a whole if able to produce more than the five innings he tossed last season.

Mendoza got a laugh from the crowd:

"Man, yeah, those five innings were electric, you know," Mendoza joked.

"It means a lot if we can have a healthy Senga, because you guys saw it in 2023. I saw it briefly last year. He could be special.

"What he's able to do with the baseball, move it around, the velo, he competes. It'll be huge for the team and rotation, and for Senga considering how hard 2024 was for him."

A 2023 version of Senga would significantly enhance the Mets' projected 2025 rotation, which includes Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, David Peterson, Clay Holmes and a yet-to-be-determined sixth starter.