2 NY Mets players whose strong starts we should believe in, 2 we shouldn’t

We're only 13 games into the regular season, but a handful of New York Mets players have had excellent enough starts to make us wonder whether or not each of these guys can sustain it. Luke Weaver was among these high performers before he struggled mightily on Thursday night, spoiling a magnificent start from Nolan McLean.

Weaver aside, here are four other Mets who have been awesome to begin 2026. We can confidently believe that two of them will continue the magic, whereas the other two will ultimately fall significantly off from their current rate of performance.

2 Mets whose strong starts we should believe in

Devin Williams

Most of Williams' red flags -- such as his reported preference for playing in the midwest -- would have reared their head early in the season, much like they did last year when Williams struggled out of the gate for the New York Yankees.

But Williams has been practically spotless in his first five appearances as a Met, which have included two saves. Through five innings, he's allowed just five hits and zero runs, and he's struck out seven batters against just two walks. He's looking like the All-Star version of D-Will from his Milwaukee Brewers days.

Given that Williams got his groove back during the second half of 2025 with the Yanks, are we starting to find out that he had one awful outlier of a half-season but is otherwise still elite? It sure seems like it.

Francisco Alvarez

This is not to say that Alvarez won't cool off slightly, but more so that he's totally about to have the best year of his career thus far. The reason this is real is that all of the signs have been there offensively for Alvarez over the prior three seasons.

He's always had underrated power and a knack for timely hitting, qualities that make him a potential X-factor for New York. But he's still just 24 years old. Guys need time to get their MLB sea legs under them before true consistency arrives, and Alvarez in his fourth season is about to take a leap toward more reliable production.

2 Mets whose strong starts we shouldn't believe in

Luis Robert Jr.

Robert has never batted above .264 in an MLB season in which he's appeared in 100 games (of which there have been just three). His .333/ .480/ .487/ .967 so far in 2026 has to be considered laughably unsustainable given his injury history, although a fan can dream: New York is planning to conserve Robert's body with strategic off days.

One thing that jumps off the page about Robert in 2026 thus far? The walks. He's already tallied 11 of them, and his career high in a season is 40. This is the one sign that maybe Robert is a completely new man now that he's wearing blue and orange. But seriously, don't get your hopes up about the 38-homer season that Robert pulled off in 2023, when he played in 145 games.

Mark Vientos

Speaking of walks, Vientos doesn't tally enough, which is one of the reasons why he's not protected against cold spells offensively. Vientos is and always has been brimming with offensive talent, but he's still a peaks-and-valleys type of bat that looks All-Star worthy when hot and Triple-A worthy when cold.

The start of 2026? It's been one of those hot streaks for the 26-year-old, who is raking to the tune of .323/ .353/ .484/ .837 with his swing-first approach (two walks thus far in 31 at-bats). Before the regular season, Vientos couldn't hit a beach ball in spring training or the World Baseball Classic. Don't get me wrong -- Vientos, like Alvarez, has the chance to have a career year. But he's a much more volatile bat, and this current production is nowhere near sustainable.