Montas' 2025 debut, and other Mets happenings

This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo's Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

NEW YORK -- When Frankie Montas takes the mound for his long-awaited Mets debut on Tuesday, he expects to resemble the pitcher who’s been a steady source of innings and strikeouts throughout his nine-year career -- not the one who produced a 12.05 ERA in six Minor League rehab starts recovering from a strained right lat.

“It wasn’t how I wanted it to [go],” Montas said. “But health-wise, it’s been pretty good, and to be honest, I feel like I’m ready to go out there and compete.”

So turbulent was Montas’ rehab that the Mets gave him an extra start at Triple-A, hoping he would move closer to prime form before debuting in New York. He didn’t. Instead, Montas allowed five runs in that outing, renewing concerns about his readiness for a big league assignment.

In the end, the Mets didn’t have much of a choice. With Montas healthy and their pitching staff absorbing blow after blow, the Mets scheduled the right-hander to debut against the Braves. They didn’t have the luxury of a softer landing.

Yet New York’s faith in Montas may not be entirely unfounded. His velocity was normal throughout his time in the Minors, his lat is completely healthy, and he’s been working with pitching coach Jeremy Hefner on fixing the mechanical flaws at the root of his struggles. While it’s probably unrealistic to expect a vintage performance from Montas in Tuesday’s debut, manager Carlos Mendoza expressed confidence that the right-hander will be competitive.

Fresh in Mendoza’s mind is the way Montas performed in NL Wild Card Series Game 2 last year with the Brewers in Milwaukee, limiting the Mets to a single earned run.

“He was pretty nasty the way the ball was coming out, the way he was using all of his pitches -- and I’ve seen him pitch for a lot of years at this level and have success,” Mendoza said. “So the expectation is to go out there, compete and give us a chance to win a baseball game every time he takes the ball, starting [Tuesday].”

Other notes from the past few days in Mets-land:

How about 2,000 more?
Last week in this newsletter, we devoted space to Juan Soto’s 1,000th career hit and what that might portend for his future.

Notably, Soto is thinking about it too.

“I want to accomplish a lot of things,” Soto said. “It’s kind of like the first step to get to 3,000, so it’s really cool to see it. When I see myself, how much time I have to keep moving, keep increasing, I think we have a good chance to get to 3,000.”

Of the 83 big leaguers to log 1,000 hits before their 27th birthdays, 17 went on to reach 3,000. Five more are still active, including Soto’s ex-teammate in San Diego, Manny Machado. Soto said he’s paid close attention to how older stars like Machado and Freddie Freeman have taken care of their bodies as they’ve aged.

“It’s a long-term goal that I want to get to 3,000,” Soto said. “I feel like every player wants to get to that mark. But I’m really happy, really excited to get to that first step and just keep moving forward.”

Talk it out
After Kodai Senga strained his hamstring earlier this month, Mendoza noted that he and other staffers have developed a better sense of how to communicate with the right-hander regarding health issues. Last year, Mets officials grew frustrated with the pace of Senga’s rehab from a strained shoulder capsule, which moved slowly as he took time to perfect his mechanics.

This year, both parties say they’re more aligned. While Senga won’t put a timeline on his recovery, he’s already playing catch off the slope of the mound, which means bullpen sessions shouldn’t be too far behind.

“Daily conversations, they’re very important,” Senga said through an interpreter. “I know everybody wants to know, ‘Hey, when are you going to get off the mound? When are you going to throw a bullpen? When are you going to throw in a game?’ But that’s kind of in the future. I want to take it day by day.”

Going streaking
The Mets’ run of winning games when Francisco Lindor homers was snapped at 28 on Sunday, one shy of Carl Furillo’s Major League record. It was a quirky thing while it lasted, but a mark Lindor never seemed to take much interest in. When asked about it, Lindor typically responded with a quip that he should homer more often.

Consider this an oddity and nothing more. It’s inherently logical that the Mets would have a better chance to win when Lindor homers, just as it’s inherently illogical that the team might win every one of those games. At the end of the day, this was merely a good bit of bar trivia.

Eyes on Atlanta
Speaking of Lindor, he’s drawn more than 1.6 million votes so far in All-Star Game voting, putting him 429,592 ahead of Mookie Betts in balloting to become the National League All-Star starter at shortstop.

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“It’s crazy that after everything that he’s done as a player in this league, that he hasn’t made the All-Star [Game] as a Met,” Mendoza said. “Watching how the voting is going, that he’s leading, I’m proud of him.”

Click here to vote up to five times a day between now and Thursday at noon ET.