5 Mets who could impact the club in 2026

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – Opening Day will be here before you know it, and the Mets, with their many moving parts and somewhat unorthodox roster construction, are one of baseball's most intriguing teams.

The 2025 collapse, the subsequent overhaul, and the hefty payroll leave little room for failure. But while stars like Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto are pivotal to this team's success, last season proved that no one player can carry the Mets alone.

Here are five X-factors who could make a big impact:

1. Francisco Alvarez

Alvarez had a nightmare first half last year, hampered by a broken hamate bone in his hand and (mal)adjusted plate mechanics that saw him slash .236/.319/.333, with only three homers in 35 games, earning him a demotion to Triple-A Syracuse in late June. But he didn’t let the blow derail him, and when he was called back up in July, he brought better defense with him, along with a revived bat - hitting .276 with eight homers in 41 games.

He came into spring training about 10 pounds lighter, and his swing mechanics look to be where they should be. Want some evidence? How about the gargantuan 439-foot home run he hit against the Cardinals in Grapefruit League action Tuesday?

“He’s more mature,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He learned a lot. He got humbled a little bit last year…He [had to] go to the minor leagues and make some drastic changes – whether it was defensively, offensively and to his credit, he had to work and he earned it back. He was a different player when he came back up and that’s what we’re seeing."

2. Kodai Senga

It’s easy to forget exactly how dominant Senga was in 2023. He was an All Star, came in second for rookie of the year, and seventh in Cy Young voting. And then everything fell apart. Shoulder and calf injuries hampered his 2024, and the second half of 2025 was nothing short of a disaster. He was cruising to a 1.39 ERA before sustaining a Grade 1 hamstring strain in June and was never the same again – compiling a 5.90 ERA the rest of the way before accepting a demotion to Triple-A.

But there were two very intriguing things to come out of Senga’s spring training debut last week: 1. His fastball velocity was way up, and he topped out at 98.8 mph (in 2023, his four-seamer averaged 95.7). And, 2. He didn’t even feel all that comfortable in the first half of 2025, when he appeared to be mowing down batters with ease. That's gone now.

“I think it was clear the velo wasn’t there” early on last year, Senga said through an interpreter. “[Now] I feel really good, really content with where I’m at. Obviously, there’s some work still to do, but I’m very happy.”

If the Mets can get back the Senga of old, they have a shot at a truly dominant, deep rotation. Freddy Peralta, Senga, Nolan McLean, (a healthy) Sean Manaea, along with David Peterson and Clay Holmes? That’s formidable.

3. Brett Baty

Things finally seemed to click into place for Baty last season, and by the end of the year, Mendoza had no choice but to play him every day. Baty hit .308 in the last two months of the season and flashed his considerable athleticism with a fairly seamless transition to second base.

Even more is being asked of Baty in 2026, and he seems up to the task. With third base and second base locked up, Baty is stepping into a super-utility role, and will be expected to play two new positions, first base and rightfield.

“There’s a competition for at-bats but he knows he’s on the team,” Mendoza said. “He’s a different player [than who he was when he came up]. You can see it with the way he’s going about it on or off the field – the interactions, the questions he’s asking to pretty much every coach. It’s just the confidence, not only defensively but offensively. He knows he’s a really good big-league player and he’ll continue to get opportunities.”

A locked-in Baty who can now hit against lefties and play at least five different positions (first, second, third, right and left) is a not-so secret weapon that gives the Mets a ton of in-game options.

4. Tobias Myers (and the other middle relievers)

The back end of the Mets bullpen is going to be a big part of this team’s fate, but don’t discount the middle relievers.

The Mets last year suffered because, after the trade deadline, the bullpen was essentially full of closers, Mendoza said – referring to the preponderance of one-inning guys. Players like Myers and Huascar Brazoban, though, have the potential to be unsung heroes for a team that struggled to keep its relief corps ready and healthy. The role doesn’t come with a lot of fanfare, but it may prove pivotal.

5. Luis Robert Jr.

Robert has been putting on a show on the Clover Park backfields and is set to get his first Grapefruit League start Thursday. A defensively elite centerfielder, the former All Star saw his offense go flat as he battled various lower-body injuries the past two seasons. The Mets have an action plan to keep him healthy, and with good reason: They believe that if he can stay on the field, he can rake.

“If I was a minor leaguer and I saw Robert at one of my games and he looked like that and ran like that and hit like that, I would have said I had no chance to play,” said David Wright, who is visiting camp this week.

With Robert, and options like Tyrone Taylor and potentially Carson Benge, the Mets outfield defense "has the potential to be much improved from last year," president of baseball operations David Stearns said Monday. If Robert’s bat and speed come with it, it’s literally a game changer.

How the ball comes off his bat “is pretty incredible,” Mendoza said. “If you [hear] the sound of it, it’s pretty special. I keep telling myself and people here – if this guy stays healthy, we’ve got a pretty good player.”

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.