Mets 2021 midseason report card

If before the season started, someone told you the Mets were in first place by 3.5 games at the All-Star break, you probably would have been happy. If that same person told you the Mets had that lead despite consistent double digit players on the IL, including 17 at one point, including five of the eight Opening Day hitters, you probably would have been ecstatic. Yet it still feels like a bit of a letdown, as the club had a chance to open a bigger lead. Some people are just never happy…

So, let’s line up everyone in alphabetical order and hand out midseason grades. Obviously, this is a very subjective process. My goal was to include role, preseason expectations and overall results in the final outcome. Only hitters with at least 50 PA and hurlers with at least 20 IP will receive a grade.

Pete Alonso – The great majority of hitters did not match up to preseason expectations. Alonso was not one of the exceptions. But overall, he’s been one of the team’s better hitters. If the expectations for most of the hitters were too high, is it the player’s fault?
Grade B-

Miguel Castro – Did anyone have any expectations from Castro coming into the year? He started off 2021 with a bang but then he’s fallen off considerably. The end result is he’s been pretty much a league-average reliever.
Grade C

Michael Conforto – My expectations for Conforto coming into the year were probably lower than yours. Regardless, he failed to meet those expectations and also spent over a month on the IL. You could argue for a “minus” grade here but that seems a little punitive to me.
Grade D

Jacob deGrom – The opposite of Conforto, my expectations were pretty high and deGrom exceeded them. A little trouble in his last few starts and two early exits from games keep the “plus” grade from happening. Hey, it’s tough when the expectations are so high.
Grade A

Edwin Diaz – His first year in Queens was a major disappointment and then he was pretty much as advertised in 2020. It feels like this year has not lived up to expectations. And his last two appearances have not been good.
Grade C+

Jeurys Familia – Like Castro, there were virtually no expectations of Familia from me. Shoot, if he had been cut before the season started, that would have been a-ok wth me. And he’s been good. Still don’t want to see him in high-leverage spots but there’s value to providing solid work in the sixth and seventh innings. It’s tough to type this grade. Just remember that preseason expectations carry weight.
Grade B+

Robert Gsellman – For what it’s worth, when his name popped up on the list, my first thought was a hope that he didn’t have 20 innings. No such luck. Again, a guy with no expectations, one that really should have started the year in the minors. Was strong the first five games of the year but the last 10 have been closer – but still not there – to the guy who was expected. Familia’s been better and his expectations were probably lower than Gsellman’s.
Grade C+

Luis Guillorme – Missed a chance for more playing time, as he himself was on the IL for an extended stretch. Started off the year hot but has cooled off some. Seems to do something positive when he gets the chance.
Grade B-

Francisco Lindor – Was genuinely lousy for seven weeks. Since then, he’s performed to career averages, without the benefit of any kind of extended hot streak. The joy with which he plays the game and the intensity that he brings – the way that most of us like to pretend we’d be if we had the talent to make the majors – gives him the higher grade of the two considered.
Grade C-

Aaron Loup – Disappointment isn’t the right word yet the team’s decision to opt for Loup over last year’s lefty relievers was a bit puzzling to me. But Loup has been an upgrade, seemingly able to handle whatever ridiculous usage pattern his manager throws at him. He’s allowed just 1 R (one given up by another reliever) in his last 16.2 IP. Another guy who gets the higher of two considered grades for me.
Grade A

Joey Lucchesi – Had just settled into his role before landing on the IL and being done for the year. He was not good at the start of the year. But was that due to either a lack of confidence from his manager or an overwhelming amount of road appearances early on? It seems at least a possibility to me that his bad performance early was due to factors outside his control.
Grade C+

Trevor May – The expectation was that we were getting a reliever who was going to be a legitimate eighth inning option. A few times he’s approached that level, even if it takes him 25 pitches to get thru an inning. But the results more often than not have not reached the expectation.
Grade D+

James McCann – Like Lindor, got off to a lousy start. But he’s been much better lately, thanks to an extended hot streak. His defense has been so much better than what we’ve been accustomed to here lately for a catcher. My feeling is he’s been an asset for the team.
Grade B

Billy McKinney – He hit like an MVP candidate in his first 47 PA with the Mets, giving the team a jolt when it needed one the most. But he had a .493 OPS in his last 54 PA going into Sunday, when he went 0-1. He’s not good but we can’t pretend that the two-week period from May 27 to June 11 didn’t happen.
Grade B+

Jeff McNeil – Maybe the expectations were too high but it’s not like as if this had happened after his 2018 debut. But the results simply haven’t been there and he also had extended time on the IL.
Grade D-

Tomas Nido – The expectation is that he would be a reliable backup catcher. He’s been better than that.
Grade B-

Brandon Nimmo – He’s exceeded most people’s expectations. But he’s done that with an extremely elevated BABIP.
Grade B

Jose Peraza – Only got a shot in the majors this year due to all of the injuries. Seems to have a knack for the big hit but his play has been the type that puts him in the conversation to stay on the team, not the conversation to be a starter.
Grade B

David Peterson – Made a splash in his MLB debut last year but he greatly outperformed his peripherals. My expectations were lower than many people for Peterson. And he didn’t reach them while being wildly inconsistent with his performances.
Grade D

Kevin Pillar – People have been angling for the Mets to acquire Pillar for several years now. There was talk about him being in a full-blown platoon before the year started. He’s received more playing time than that with all of the injuries. The story of how he persevered thru getting hit in the face is a great one. But he’s got a 79 OPS+ coming into Sunday, when he went 0-1, so let’s not get too carried away with what he’s actually done.
Grade D+

Sean Reid-Foley – No one really expected him before the year started to have enough innings to qualify for this list. He had some good results early but there was an ugly HrdHit% even when things were going good for him. Reality has set in. He’s not good but he’s exceeded expectations.
Grade C+

Dominic Smith – Has started to heat up after a very tough start to the year. Hopefully he can lay off the high pitch going forward. Smith’s defense in LF has been better than many anticipated.
Grade D+

Drew Smith – With the scoring system in place, two guys can have the same grade with wildly different results. Smith has been much better than Reid-Foley but we’ve always kind of expected Smith to be a competent reliever.
Grade C+

Marcus Stroman – There was at least some trepidation on my part to see how Stroman would react after opting out of last season. He was terrific early on but the results lately have tailed off. It seems like he’s trying to pitch through an injury. Hopefully he gets an extra couple of days off with the break.

Grade B

Jonathan Villar – Brought in to be a reserve, Villar has been pressed into full-time duty and has performed. The issue is that he’s performed pretty much like expected coming into the season. People act like he’s been great. And maybe performing to expectations when everyone else around you fails to do so is a type of greatness. OK, talked myself into giving him the higher of the two considered grades.
Grade B-

Taijuan Walker – He clearly wasn’t the team’s first choice when it came to adding a free agent pitcher from outside the organization. And now he’s an All-Star. It’s not like there were no expectations for Walker coming into the season. And he’s not going out there throwing seven innings or more each time out. Still, it would seem Grinch-like to give him a grade that matched my first initial.
Grade A

Luis Rojas – Last year he seemed overmatched in the dugout, to the point where it made sense to cut him loose and bring in a more-experienced guy. But in this era when it’s far from clear which decisions belong to the manager and which ones are foisted upon him by the front office – maybe Rojas’ gaffes in his first season should be attributed to the previous GM and his staff. My opinion is that he still doesn’t have a great “feel” for managing in the heat of the moment. But there’s been a huge improvement in decisions that happen before the game. Again, this may be beyond Rojas – none of us really know. So, consider this grade more for the “position” than the individual.
Grade B

Zack Scott/Sandy Alderson – It’s really a fascinating combination of great and awful decisions made by the front office. The depth added in the offseason has paid huge dividends. And it’s a mistake to limit this to the offseason. There’s been a bunch of guys added for little to no cost during the year who have come in and made a contribution, specifically McKinney. But the Jared Porter hiring is a giant black mark. And while I was not outright opposed to the pursuit of Trevor Bauer, there certainly were enough people here who were that it’s not complete revisionist history to suggest that it was a mistake for the Mets to have been so eager to add him to the roster.

Depending upon how you feel about the decision to go for McCann over J.T. Realmuto – and not to sign George Springer at any cost – the mistakes have been mostly off-field issues. We all want the Mets to be a first-class operation in every way. But hopefully the lack of due diligence that led to off-field issues is corrected going forward. It should be easier to implement those and change that culture. No one should be blamed for taking a wait-and-see attitude towards the club in this regard. But my preference is for the club to have whiffed in their GM hire and quickly moved on than to have completely botched their player acquisition decisions.
Grade B-