The good news is that the New York Mets snapped their eight-game losing streak with a thrilling walk-off victory against the Texas Rangers on September 14. This puts them back in position to earn an NL Wild Card spot if the 2025 MLB regular season ended today.

The bad news is that the 2025 MLB regular season does not end today. There are still several more weeks of action, and one walk-off victory doesn’t take away from the fact that New York has been one of baseball’s worst teams over the past several months.

Read more: Mets called ‘perfect fit’ for NL ace in free agency by insider

While missing the playoffs will be a massive disappointment for this fan base, there are still reasons for optimism heading into 2026, regardless of how 2025 concludes. The biggest reason is the success of rookie starting pitchers Nolan McLean (who pitched six scoreless innings on Sunday, thus lowering his ERA to 1.19), Brandon Sproat, and Jonah Tong, all of whom appear to be key pillars in New York’s success in the years to come.

New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean (26) delivers a pitch on September 14, 2025

Sep 14, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean (26) delivers a pitch against the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

One reason why Mets fans adore this trio of rookie pitchers is that they’re homegrown talents. While any player succeeding in a New York uniform is a good thing, those who came up within the organization (such as Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo) become even more beloved.

Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro Martinez (who pitched for the Mets from 2005-2008 and amassed a 32-23 record with a 3.88 ERA and 464 strikeouts with them) alluded to this when speaking with Pete Botte of the New York Post for a September 14 article.

“I think the Mets look bright for the future,” Martinez said in the article. “I hope they continue to draft well and that they continue to go international and get some guys. 

“But I think it’s great to see. That’s gonna feel great for these kids. It’s sooner than we expected, but it’s gonna build some grit. The good thing is, if they happen to have success right now as rookies, by the second year, they feel like they can be successful at a very early age. That’s what we want. We want to see the young players develop quickly and also build the grit to have failure and also enjoy success,” he continued.

Martinez later added, “You need to have a creative vision. The Mets right now have a great display of players from all over, and I hope they continue to do that. I hope they continue to bring in more homegrown talent like they did with deGrom and David Wright and all those guys. I would love to see them do a lot more of that.”

Martinez clearly wants to see more homegrown talents make their impact on the Mets. And he certainly isn’t alone in that regard.