Predicting the 2026 Mets’ Opening Day Roster 2.0

With the halfway point of spring training approaching, the Mets find themselves 7-5 in Grapefruit League play. Of course, this means nothing, but what matters is the players who got them there. Opening Day is just over two weeks away, and the Mets named Freddy Peralta as their starter. He’ll likely face reigning NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes and the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field on March 26.

It’s time to predict who will join Peralta on the Mets’ 26-man roster. Check out MMO’s previous Opening Day roster here.

Lineup

1. Francisco Lindor, SS
2. Juan Soto, LF
3. Bo Bichette, 3B
4. Jorge Polanco, 1B
5. Brett Baty, DH
6. Marcus Semien, 2B
7. Francisco Alvarez, C
8. Luis Robert Jr., CF
9. Mike Tauchman, RF

Only one shakeup since the first projection, with Mike Tauchman cracking the Opening Day roster instead of Mets’ top prospect Carson Benge. While Benge has been superb this spring (seven hits in seven games with a homer in an exhibition game against Team Israel), the Mets might be conservative and let the 23-year-old get more at-bats in Syracuse (24 total games with Triple-A in 2025). Of course, that doesn’t stop the team from calling him up within a month of the 2026 campaign.

Tauchman gets the nod over MJ Melendez (who has a minor league option), Cristian Pache, and Jared Young. Through six games, Tauchman is hitting .364/.533/.909 (1.442 OPS) with three doubles and one home run.

We’re also going with the assumption that Francisco Lindor will be ready for Opening Day. The shortstop underwent surgery for a stress reaction in his left hamate bone on February 11, got his stitches out a couple of weeks later, and is already up to resuming baseball activities. However, if he were unable to make it in time for Opening Day, expect Vidal Bruján to receive the nod over Ronny Mauricio.

Bench

10. Tyrone Taylor, OF
11. Luis Torrens, C
12. Mark Vientos, INF/DH
13. Vidal Bruján, UTIL

Changes from round one include swapping out Bruján for Mauricio. Bruján, who can play every position except pitcher and catcher, gets the nod over the struggling Mauricio, who has never found a permanent home on the Mets’ big league team. After riding the bench for the better half of 2025, he’ll likely use up his final minor league option to start 2026 and reclaim his swing on breaking pitches (.186 BA on offspeed pitches in 2025).

Starting Rotation

14. Freddy Peralta, RHP
15. Nolan McLean, RHP
16. Clay Holmes, RHP
17. David Peterson, LHP
18. Kodai Senga, RHP
19. Sean Manaea, LHP

Senga will be the reason the Mets finally commit to a six-man rotation in 2026. His fastball was up to 98 mph in spring after averaging out at 94.7 mph in an injury-riddled 2025. With Manaea and Senga coming off shortened seasons, Holmes throwing a career-high in innings, and McLean getting his first taste of a full big league season, a six-man rotation will benefit all parties involved.

Bullpen

20. Devin Williams, RHP
21. Luke Weaver, RHP
22. Brooks Raley, LHP
23. Luis García, RHP
24. Tobias Myers, RHP
25. Huascar Brazobán, RHP
26. Bryan Hudson, LHP

Those final two spots were tricky. In the first roster projection, Craig Kimbrel nabbed a spot on the 26-man rotation. Now, the Mets go with a second southpaw to round out their bullpen in Hudson while waiting for A.J. Minter to return. Brazobán has another minor league option remaining and could theoretically be replaced with Kimbrel, but the Mets might want to go with reliability over a “what-if” scenario to see what Kimbrel has left in the tank.

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