Inside The Mets

New York Mets lineup disrespected by MLB The Show 25 developers

Despite being one of the best offenses from last season and adding Juan Soto, the overall roster ratings are not very good.
Lindsay Crosby|
New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor (12) signals during his at bat against the Washington Nationals during the third inning at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches.
New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor (12) signals during his at bat against the Washington Nationals during the third inning at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

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New York Mets

Last year's version of the New York Mets had one of baseball's best offenses and, after losing to the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series, brought back almost the entire offense and added a generational hitter in free agent Juan Soto. But San Diego Studio, who develops the hit game MLB: The Show, does not think the lineup is that good.

In a video posted to the New York Mets YouTube channel, San Diego Studio enlisted the help of MLB Network to reveal the ratings for this year's edition of the roster and for a team that went so far in the playoffs, the Mets sure do not have a lot of stars.

Only two Mets players received ratings over 90, denoting them as "diamond" caliber players that are considered to be among the best at their positions. Juan Soto made a leap in the ratings, jumping from last season's 91 with the New York Yankees to a 99 with the Mets. Shortstop Francisco Lindor improved as well, moving from last season's 92 (which led the 2024 roster) to a 95 for 2025.

Read more: MLB.com ranks New York Mets as second-best lineup

After that, every other Mets player is in the 80s (or lower), and the mid-to-low 80s at that. First baseman Pete Alonso, a four-time All-Star and one of baseball's most prolific power hitters over the last few seasons, is rated at an 85 overall. He is followed by third baseman Mark Vientos at 83, who shares that rating with starting pitcher Kodai Senga.

Both Senga and Alonso have seen their ratings drop from last season, where Alonso was at 90 and the second-best player on the roster and Senga was a 86. While the Senga drop is easily attributable to injury for the starter, who pitched just 5.1 regular season innings and five more in the postseason, Alonso's drop was due to a combination of several issues.

"The only places that could really be knocking him," explained Rory McCann, the senior live designer for San Diego Studio, "is fielding. (He's) not one of the fleetest of foot, so the speed's not too high, and then the strikeout issue brings his vision down quite a bit."

The 'strikeout issue' McCann mentioned is a strikeout rate of just 22.8% for Alonso's career, exactly in line with the MLB average (per Baseball Reference) and one that's been improving for Alonso after some early career seasons of a mid-20s rate. Even McCann acknowledged that the strikeouts have not been a dealbreaker, although he gives a curious explanation that cites a seemingly incorrect stat. "You know, he doesn't strike out at an insane rate, but definitely above league average."

Closer Edwin Diaz, who was at a 89 in last year's version of the game, has dropped out of the team's top five altogether.

For a roster that achieved so much last season, it is disappointing to see so few Mets getting recognized as some of the best at their positions. Only Soto, Lindor, and Alonso were rated as among the top players at their respective positions, with oft-injured or average players such as Royce Lewis (Minnesota Twins) and Yanier Diaz (Houston Astros) getting recognition instead of Mets youngsters Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez.

But that is why you play the games. While the Mets' roster may not have the highest ratings in all of baseball, they sure made it farther in the playoffs than most of the rest of baseball did last season. The Mets took the eventual World Series champion Dodgers to the brink last season, extending the NLCS to six games before Los Angeles finally triumphed and advanced to a five-game destruction of the crosstown New York Yankees.

Maybe this disrespect is the final bit of motivation the 2025 roster needs to go out and dominate the National League East. What else could we really expect from a company that had the absolute wildest ideas about what the Citi Field scoreboard should look like?

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Lindsay Crosby
LINDSAY CROSBY

Lindsay is a contributor for Mets On SI. He is an IBWAA award-winning baseball writer and podcaster living in the Southeast, covering Auburn University baseball since 2021 and the Atlanta Braves since 2022. He can most commonly be found in a baseball press box and you can follow him on Twitter/X at @CrosbyBaseball."

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