Freddy Peralta improves the Mets rotation — and costs them a pitching dream

Back in September, when the Mets rotation featured Generation K 2.0 with 24-year-old Nolan McLean, 22-year-old Jonah Tong and now-25-year-old Brandon Sproat, the reliance on a jolt of youth to simultaneously fix their pitching and save their season blended what-if with what’s next?

When McLean, Tong and Sproat each flashed glimpses of why they were three of the Mets’ top prospects, it became easy to wonder what would have happened if the trio had been called up sooner. Maybe the Mets wouldn’t have missed the playoffs if they made 51 combined starts instead of 17.

But the question of lingering regret also morphed into excitement, into visions of what the top of their rotation could look like in 2026 — and beyond — with those three talents all competing for innings. Sure, president of baseball operations David Stearns still would need veterans to fill out the rotation and to provide contingency plans, but near the end of a dreary, miserable, playoff-less campaign, the uncanny swagger of McLean, the deceptive release point of Tong and the firepower of Sproat emerged as bright spots across the final weeks.

But so much can change in baseball in just a matter of months.