The New York Mets are going to start the 2025 season with a five-man rotation instead of a six-man unit, meaning the competition for the No. 4 and No. 5 spots came to a head on Monday afternoon.
Just hours before two of the combatants, Griffin Canning and Paul Blackburn, took the mound in their respective split-squad starts against the Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins, manager Carlos Mendoza disclosed that he still might carry the two starters and Tylor Megill on the Opening Day roster. The odd-man out will be utilized out of the bullpen.
“We are considering going that route,” Mendoza said. “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.”
Both Canning and Blackburn were strong in one of their final auditions before Opening Day. Against Tampa, Canning dazzled with nine strikeouts in 4.2 innings, allowing just one run on three hits and one walk behind a formidable slider.
It lowered his spring ERA to a sterling 0.90, making him an obvious favorite for one of those available spots at the bottom of the rotation.
“It felt good [today],” Canning said (h/t SNY). “I feel like every single day that I’m here, I’m getting a little bit better. It’s fun to take some confidence into these games.”
Against Miami, Blackburn yielded two runs on three hits with six strikeouts and two walks in four innings. He has a 5.68 ERA during spring training.
Megill allowed four runs on six hits with six strikeouts in five innings of work on Sunday against the Houston Astros. He is 0-2 with a 3.86 ERA this spring.
