New York Mets set starting rotation to begin second half

The New York Mets have set their starting rotation to begin the second half, which will feature Sean Manaea making his first start of the season on Friday night.

Jul 13, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Sean Manaea (59) pitches during the sixth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

The second half of the season is set to begin tomorrow and the New York Mets finally have the rotation they envisioned in spring training ready to go. Injuries delayed the start of the season for both Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas, but both are now ready to go to help the Mets try and chase down the Philadelphia Phillies for the National League East crown.

Mets rotation out of the break:

LHP Sean Manaea
RHP Clay Holmes
LHP David Peterson

— Will Sammon (@WillSammon) July 17, 2025

Manaea, who made his season debut on Sunday in relief of Clay Holmes against the Kansas City Royals, will make his first start of 2025 on Friday night against the Cincinnati Reds. Holmes draws the start on Saturday afternoon, which will see the Mets retire David Wright's number prior to the game, while David Peterson is set to close out the series on Sunday afternoon.

Welcome back, Sean Manaea!

He's struck out 5 consecutive batters in his season debut. pic.twitter.com/vbN7MPiSIz

— MLB (@MLB) July 13, 2025

The strategy here for the Mets involves keeping Manaea and Holmes, the two starters who worked the most recently, on relatively regular rest. Peterson pitched one inning in the All-Star Game on Tuesday, enabling him to work on normal rest from that appearance on Sunday.

Peterson with his first All-Star Game strikeout! 👏#LGM | #AllStarGame pic.twitter.com/HqnleiBOe0

— New York Mets (@Mets) July 16, 2025

With those three set for this weekend, the Mets will use Montas and Kodai Senga in some order to begin their next series with the Los Angeles Angels on Monday. New York will probably plan ahead to maximize their chances of using an extra day between Senga's starts, which may be a good strategy to get him through the season healthy.

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The optimal move would appear to be pitching Senga on Tuesday, which would mean the Mets wouldn't need to add an extra starter into their rotation until late August to ensure he gets at least five days between each of his starts. The good news for the Mets is now that they have their preferred rotation set up, they may be able to take some of the burden off of their heavily-taxed bullpen going forward.