What the NY Mets starting lineup could look like with Pete Alonso back

Back with vengeance, Pete Alonso’s return to the New York Mets signals a sense of familiarity and stability at first base and in the middle of the lineup. There was no better match for the Mets at first base even with some flirting elsewhere.

A two-year deal worth $54 million was the compromise. Alonso gets a higher AAV and fewer years. It’s quite perfect even if this is merely a temporary situation.

Alonso’s back, baby! What will the Mets starting lineup look like when the season begins?

The Mets starting lineup for 2025 doesn’t have much wiggle room

A perfect balance of righties and lefties with Francisco Lindor at the top digging into both batter’s boxes, here’s the most practical Opening Day lineup the Mets could put together:

1) Francisco Lindor, SS
2) Juan Soto, RF
3) Pete Alonso, 1B
4) Brandon Nimmo, LF
5) Mark Vientos, 3B
6) Jesse Winker, DH
7) Francisco Alvarez, C
8) Jeff McNeil, 2B
9) Jose Siri/Tyrone Taylor, CF

A perfect split of all righties and lefties with the exception of switch-hitting Lindor, there are only a few minor adjustments we’d expect them to possibly make.

Could Vientos and Alonso swap spots? Possibly. Nimmo struggled last year but was money by driving in runs. Dropping him to sixth with Winker in the cleanup spot isn’t so outrageous. More so, if they’re facing a righty, it might not be bad to have them hit back-to-back. Winker would be pinch hit for late in the game anyway if a lefty is summoned from the bullpen.

The lineup isn’t perfect. Francisco Alvarez has yet to become the stud we know he is capable of. Jeff McNeil is a spin-of-the-wheel. Jose Siri can be our new fan-favorite or the bane of our existence.

Alonso brings legitimacy to the middle of the order. That’s a known. Other questions, however, now loom because of this signing. We’ll get to those plenty in the coming weeks with David Stearns plotting to answer them himself.