Back in December, in an article about starting J.D. Davis at 3B, the idea was broached that this Mets’ lineup could score 1,000 runs in a season, a feat that’s only been done once in MLB history. Now, two assumptions went into that piece, the first being that there would be a DH in the National League this year and the second being that the club signed George Springer. Both of those were reasonable assumptions at the time; however, neither of them came to pass.
Without the DH in the NL, there’s no shot at 1,000 runs. That doesn’t mean this can’t be a great offensive year for the Mets. Throughout history, the Mets have been known more for their pitching than their hitting. But with nearly 60 years of team history, there’s been some good offensive years in there. Let’s take a look at the all-time wRC+ team for the Mets and see if there’s any chance the player at the position for the 2021 team could crack that team.
Catcher: 1998 Mike Piazza – 168
James McCann has undergone a remarkable transformation the past two seasons, becoming both an improved offensive and defensive player. The trouble is, the baseline he was starting from was so low, that there’s no shot of him dethroning Piazza on the all-time team. Of course, we’re also talking about perhaps the greatest hitting catcher of all-time here.
First Base: 1998 John Olerud – 167
Pete Alonso has a 53-HR season under his belt and put up a 138 wRC+ season in 2019. If Olerud didn’t have that monster year in ’98, Alonso could challenge for the all-time lead, Dave Magadan’s 147 in 1990. As it is, Alonso has a better shot of becoming the team’s single-season RBI leader – currently a tie between Piazza and David Wright with 124 – than he does becoming the most productive offensive 1B.
Second Base: 2000 Edgardo Alfonzo – 150
After two positions where there was virtually no chance of it happening, we finally get one with at least an outside shot of a current player joining the all-time squad. It’s likely only a low-single digits chance but Jeff McNeil, assuming he hits for six months like he did the final six weeks of 2019 while enjoying better BABIP numbers, could turn the trick. Hopefully a return to 2B will improve his defensive production, too.
Third Base: 1989 Howard Johnson – 166
If Johnson was active today, it would be curious to see how many people would advocate for him to be a bench piece because he was a lousy defensive player. We don’t have the advanced defensive metrics of DRS and UZR for when Johnson played. The best we have is Total Zone, which ranks Johnson’s ’89 season as being (-10) – which is a poor defensive output. Maybe he wasn’t quite as bad as J.D. Davis with the glove. And Johnson was better than Davis with the bat, too. But you could easily say that Davis is a poor man’s Johnson. You know, if they don’t make Davis a platoon/bench guy.
Shortstop: 2011 Jose Reyes – 142
If you didn’t see it happen, it’s hard to describe how much fun Reyes was in the batter’s box and on the bases in the first half of 2011 before nagging injuries hit. In his first 79 games, Reyes had a .924 OPS, including 15 triples, and 30 SB. He wasn’t able to continue that pace but still produced the best offensive season ever for a Mets shortstop. Everyone thinks Lindor is an outstanding player. But his best wRC+ in a season is 132. Lindor’s value comes from doing everything well. But he’s got a better shot of becoming a member of the fWAR team, rather than the wRC+ team.
Left Field: 1969 Cleon Jones – 154
Obviously, a lot of things have to go right for a player to join this team. And if 2020 had been a normal year, then perhaps Dominic Smith could have had a shot to displace Jones. Smith had a 164 wRC+ in 2020 but it’s unlikely he would have kept up that BABIP the entire season. And what are the chances that Smith puts up another .368 BABIP and .299 ISO in 2021? It’s good that it looks like the Mets are going to bend over backwards to get Smith’s bat in the lineup this season. Still, it feels like last year was his best chance to join the all-time team.
Center Field: 2006 Carlos Beltran – 148
Brandon Nimmo had a 148 wRC+ in 2018 but he only played 44 games in center field that season. Nimmo also had a 148 mark last year – and played 44 games in CF – but of course that wasn’t a full season. Hands down, Nimmo has the best shot of anyone of joining this list. Last year’s 148 was achieved despite a BABIP 13 points below his career average. If he flips the script and the hits fall in for him at 13 points above his career average, he could top Jones’ mark for best LF, too.
Right Field: 1985 Darryl Strawberry – 162
Michael Conforto needed a .412 BABIP to put up a 157 wRC+ last year. Hopefully by now you don’t expect Conforto to come within 75 points of that BABIP in a 162-game season. He’s going to have to improve in his power and patience to have a chance to challenge Strawberry. Conforto had a 147 wRC+ in 2017 before the shoulder injury, so it’s not a completely outlandish thought.
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While Nimmo may have a 50-50 shot of supplanting Beltran on the best-hitting team, he’ll never come close to being the all-around player that Beltran was. In addition to being a strong hitter, Beltran was a plus baserunner and a Gold Glove-caliber defensive player. It’s a shame that the first two things that are going to jump to mind when people think of Beltran will be the called-third strike and the scandal in Houston that cost him the Mets’ managerial job.
One item to note about HoJo’s defensive 1989. it was not entirely ar third base. He played 31games with 22 starts at SS, that was the era when Davey Johnson went for more offense by playing him at short, especially when Sid Fernandez pitched with his high flyball count. I’m sure Johnson was not great defensively, but playing out of position at ss hurts his defensive stats.
The (-10) number quoted in the piece was specifically what Johnson did at 3B, in 1,140 innings.
As a SS in 1989, Johnson played 180.1 innings and put up a 0 Total Zone mark.
I would have never guessed that Hojo had a higher one-season wRC+ than David Wright or that Keith Hernandez didn’t have the highest for 1st base. You could have won a lot of money with those bits of information!
Olerud was so underrated. McNeil is the best hitter on the team and I hope he breaks Alfonzo’s record. Nimmo has a chance and mentioning him and Beltran shows how much underrated Nimmo is. You shown much love for JD where I’m more skeptical and I would reduce his playing time with McNeil 3B and Villar at 2B. JD has earned his starting position, and to be fair, he should lose it instead of taking it away from him like I suggested.
It’s weird. I wouldn’t describe myself as a JD Davis fan – and I certainly want Guillorme to get some playing time. But it just seems that everyone is treating Davis like he’s day old bread. I don’t think he’s an All-Star but he’s got a good shot to be a league average starter at 3B.
People wanted to sign Jackie Bradley Jr. and trade for Kris Bryant. And that combo would have been nearly $25 million more expensive + whatever they would have had to trade to get Bryant. And likely not have been any better than Davis + Nimmo.
In 1989, Hojo hit .287 with 36 HR, 101 RBIs and 41 SB. How much would he earn in today’s free agent market with those numbers.
Brian, you have (rightfully) called out Conforto’s 2020 BABIP as unsustainable and the fuel for his elite performance on multiple occasions. It was obviously ridiculous and unsustainable over 162 games, but I absolutely expect a mature and healthy Conforto to be an elite right-fielder (in terms of hitting). Of course I would never bet on him topping Straw’s 162 wRC+ season, but I’m all in on a (reasonable) extension.