The Mets had 11 players with 197 or more PA in 2019, compared to 13 in both 2018 and 2017. And the player with the 12th-most PA in the just-completed season checked in with 151. In the two previous seasons, the 15th-most was 187. More PA went to the guys we hoped would get them in the beginning of the year. At least compared to the previous two seasons.
That’s an interesting nugget by itself but what really stands out is if we take the top 11 guys in PA and order them by OPS+, it’s not in anything close to the order we might have predicted on Opening Day. Don’t believe me? Let’s line them up now:
148 – Pete Alonso
144 – Jeff McNeil
138 – J.D. Davis
134 – Dominic Smith
128 – Michael Conforto
112 – Brandon Nimmo
107 – Wilson Ramos
106 – Todd Frazier
102 – Amed Rosario
96 — Robinson Cano
63 — Juan Lagares
Maybe the top two guys and the bottom one aren’t a huge surprise with where they ended up – although if I offered you a wager at the beginning of the year that Conforto would get 648 PA but wouldn’t finish in the top two in OPS+, my guess is that most of you would have been happy to take me up and bet – but no one would have seen Davis and Smith that high and Cano that low or Frazier neck-and-neck with Ramos.
It’s easy to see Conforto and Nimmo being more productive if they can stay healthy in 2020. And maybe Rosario hits for an entire season like he did in the second half. Shoot, let’s predict a bounceback season for Cano, too, while we’re at it. At the very least, hopefully the 2020 team won’t give 285 PA to a guy who posts a .605 OPS.
The 2019 Mets finished seventh in the league in runs scored. If the top three guys are for real and the fifth and sixth guys stay healthy, it’s not hard seeing the team posting a top-five – or even top-three – total in runs in 2020.
Lets also see what transactions Van Wags will make this off season. He has to prove himself and I feel him making some moves. Will he bolster weak spots or will he be all in on some big moves ? From what we saw from last season and picking up Stroman, it feels like he will try to make a splash, again.
Lets see how it works out.
It’s been so frustrating to watch the Nationals succeed in the playoffs when the Mets were a team with a similarly constructed roster that beat those Nats 12 times. With the great starters and young fierce middle of the order the Mets have the formula for success in October. It will just be about doing the little extra things to get there. Hopefully this lineup next year improves as you say and we start proving people wrong.
The odds are, that Alonso, McNeill and Ramos regress. Its the offensive and defensive performance of the rest of the team that will determine a great deal of their success.
I had predicted a scorching April for Cano, tapering off in May and toast by June.
The injuries spared him workload; similar to the suspension in 2018.
I thought Conforto would have had a higher overall BA and OBP.
Nimmo? I thought he was going to take a strong step forward from 2018.
2020 wont be boring.
Let’s hope for no more “splashes” by BVW; including manager.
I do not see BVW throwing a chair at Joe Girardi.