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It’s been a spooky season for the New York Mets, and not just because of the calendar. What began with promise turned into a haunted house of surprises—some chilling, some strangely delightful. The front office built a roster meant to scare the rest of the NL East, and while a few players left fans shrieking for all the wrong reasons, others emerged from the shadows to deliver a few unexpected frights of delight.
One player fooled David Stearns with a cruel illusion, promising power and poise before fading into a shadow of his former self. Another arrived as a supposed Frankenstein experiment and turned out to be the rarest kind of treat: a pleasant surprise that lasted. Let’s open the bag and see who brought the trick and who delivered the treat.
The Mets got tricked by Mark Vientos and enjoyed a treat from Clay Holmes in 2025
Mark Vientos entered 2025 carrying the momentum of a 2024 breakout with a .266/.322/.516 line, 27 homers, 71 RBIs, and a 137 OPS+. Expectations were high, and the Mets trusted his bat and glove enough that first base was even on the table if Pete Alonso hadn’t returned.
Through the first half of the 2025 season, Vientos hit just .223 with six home runs and 24 RBIs. His OPS+ dropped to 79, a cruel trick that left fans and the front office staring at what had seemed like a sure thing. His batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage were all down sharply from 2024—his batting average and OBP fell by roughly 30 points each, and his slugging percentage decreased by more than 100 points. With the way things went, Vientos’ 2024 performance might now appear like it was all just a bunch of hocus pocus.
Meanwhile, Clay Holmes carried plenty of questions about durability and effectiveness after his signing. For a reliever turned starter, who hadn’t started a game since his rookie season in 2018, he provided steady, competitive innings, throwing to a 3.53 ERA, 129 strikeouts, 150 hits allowed, and a ground-ball rate in the top six percent of MLB in 165.2 innings. His contributions were measured but meaningful, a treat amid a rotation that often failed to deliver.
The contrast between Vientos and Holmes defined 2025. Vientos promised a breakthrough and delivered a trick, leaving a hole in the lineup the Mets had to fill. Holmes offered a treat, delivering consistent, effective innings that gave the rotation stability and kept the team competitive. The season was full of surprises, small victories, and unexpected scares, leaving fans wondering which ghosts will appear next year.