Freddy Peralta's NY Mets rotation take puts last year's Frankie Montas quote to shame

Freddy Peralta is either the ace or co-ace of the New York Mets staff depending on how you look at Nolan McLean. The only thing holding McLean back from being the ace is time. He just hasn’t had enough in the majors. Regardless of how you want to label it, the Mets are going into 2026 with two pretty good starters at the top of the rotation.

It’s still not rainbows, lollipops, and puppy dogs. There are questions. How do Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga rebound from disappointing years? Can Clay Holmes repeat his success and actually improve upon what he did last year? David Peterson collapsed in the second half. What’s to stop him from doing it again?

It was Peralta’s turn to talk on Wednesday down in St. Lucie. He had a levelheaded take on the rotation, suggesting there is potential to be really good.

Fortunately, Freddy Peralta didn’t get hyperbolic like Frankie Montas did last year

Peralta’s answer was about as basic as it gets. It was the right answer. It’s nowhere near as outlandish as the take Frankie Montas had last year in late January. He said the team had potential to have five number one starters.

Five number one starters? The Mets spent a good part of the 2025 season without any. There’s uplifting yourself and your teammates and then there’s whatever Montas tried to do by suggesting the Mets starting staff had the power of invincibility.

Early spring training quotes aren’t the time to make waves or say anything more unique than what Peralta did. A shrug and a “hey, I think we can be good” is what every pitcher should be saying. Peralta is new to this market and sounds sensible enough to understand anything and everything he says could be misinterpreted. The more boring you are, the better.

There has been a sense of sobriety with the Mets comments in the first days of February down in St. Lucie. Jonah Tong made no bold declaration about making the Mets roster. He knows his role just as Peralta understands there’s a lot of talent here. Who knows what kind of results it will yield?

Getting too far ahead of yourself is never a good idea. In March 2021, the Mets celebrated what it might be like to win the World Series during a defensive drill. It’s cheesy and a good way to start thinking in unrealistic terms. Staying levelheaded is something the 2026 Mets could use.