NY Mets Rotation: What could the starting five look like in 2021?

Noah Syndergaard

The big question is will Noah Syndergaard be healthy and ready for Opening Day after recovering from Tommy John surgery?

If he is healthy he is undoubtedly the second-best pitcher in the Mets rotation. However, Syndergaard did have Tommy John back in March so Opening Day would be just about twelve months which is a little aggressive these days for a pitcher.

However, this is the God of Thunder and he is vying for a contract post-2021 either from the Mets or from another team so he will be as motivated as ever to not only be ready for Opening Day but put together a very good final season before he enters free agency.

If he does indeed make Opening Day then he should slide into the second spot in the rotation right behind Jacob deGrom.

Marcus Stroman

Now comes the question about Stroman and his contract. He will be a free agent after the 2020 season and re-signing him should be priority number one for this Mets front office. He is an above-average pitcher and brings an energy that is very reminiscent of Jose Reyes.

Even with his 2020 injury and decision to opt-out, the team should still look to re-sign him to a new contract to give them a formidable four in the rotation for 2021 and possibly even beyond that.

The Mets invested a lot into Stroman when they acquired him from the Tronto Blue Jays for Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods-Richardson, two top pitching prospects at the time.

Signing Stroman long term would make the package they gave up more palatable and it would also give them a dependable arm to follow deGrom and Syndergaard

David Peterson

If he is not re-signed and goes elsewhere in free agency, then the rotation outlook gets a little bleaker and the questions around David Peterson loom even larger.

So far in this 2020 season, Peterson has looked great. He has made two starts totaling 11.2 innings and he has pitched to an ERA of 3.86. His fastball has been in the mid-90s and he looks like a solid middle of the rotation pitcher for this team going forward.

If the rest of 2020 for him goes like his first two starts he should slide into a rotation spot in 2021, which one, however, depends on Syndergaard and Stroman. If Stroman is re-signed, then Peterson would be the fifth starter and the Mets would have a really good top five.

If Stroman is not re-signed, then Peterson would fill the fourth spot and the Mets would need to go out and find a fifth starter.

After trading away nearly every upper-level starting pitcher over the last year plus Brodie Van Wagenen has not left himself many organizational options to fill spots in the rotation. This means that the Mets would have to look outside the organization for pitchers.