How does the Canha, Nimmo, Marte OF trio rank in team history?

With his recent hot streak, Mark Canha has given the Mets three outfielders with 100 games played and an OPS+ of 120 or greater. That seems like really good production. But how does it rate in team history? The Mets have always been known more for their pitching than their hitting. Does the 2022 outfield blaze a trail for future trios to be compared to in team history? Or is it following a trail created by another threesome?

Back in 2014, we did a 10-year study of Mets outfielders to see what we should expect, in terms of games played. And the results were not pretty. That study showed that on average, the Mets received 135 starts from their top OF, 98 from their second outfielder and 80 from their third. Now, this is just the average. But when the average only has one outfielder per year clearing 100 starts in a season, it doesn’t bode well for there to be three in a year, with all performing above-average in the same season.

Turns out there are only four seasons before this year where the Mets had three outfielders with 100 starts and an OPS+ of 100 or more. As expected, none of these came in the first two decades of team history. But, staring in 1967, the Mets had nine seasons where they had two outfielders reach our thresholds before finally breaking thru with our first trio in 1984.

In the season where they reached 90 wins for only the second time in franchise history, their starting OF was George Foster (111), Mookie Wilson (101) and Darryl Strawberry (127). Foster put up a 150 OPS+ in the year before he was traded to the Mets. But his first two seasons resulted in OPS+ marks of 90 and 95, so this was a bit of a bounceback season for him. This was Wilson’s first time reaching a triple-digit OPS+ season in four years as a starter for the Mets. This was Strawberry’s second year with the Mets and he proved that his Rookie of the Year season was no fluke, as he followed up with a strong sophomore campaign.

It was not a long wait until the Mets had another strong OF trio, as they met our thresholds again in 1987. Kevin McReynolds (117), Lenny Dykstra (117) and Strawberry (162) put up better combined numbers than their ’84 counterparts. But, ’87 was a good year for hitters. McReynolds had almost identical numbers as he did in ‘’86 for the Padres but his OPS+ was 21 points lower in ’87. Dykstra, after drawing down-ballot MVP support in ’86, had a solid season in ’87, but with an OPS+ 12 points lower than the previous year. Strawberry established a career-high with 39 HR and finished sixth in the MVP voting in ‘87.

It should come as little surprise that the Mets turned the trick with their outfield again in 1988, with the same trio. McReynolds (142), Dykstra (108) and Strawberry (165) were as a whole better than they were in ’87. McReynolds’ numbers were very similar to his previous two seasons but this time he added 21 SB and finished third in MVP voting. Dykstra had his worst year as a Met but still met our thresholds. And Strawberry finished with an OPS+ in the 160s for the third time in four seasons and finished second in the MVP race.

The final time before this year the Mets had three healthy, productive outfielders came in 1990. McReynolds (121), Darryl Boston (110) and Strawberry (140) were the outfielders. This was Strawberry’s last season as a Met and the next-to-last one for McReynolds. The Mets acquired Boston early in the season from the White Sox. He was a strong platoon player for three years as a Met but never established himself versus LHP.

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On August 16, Canha had been having a solid season, even if it was fairly unremarkable. He stood with a .734 OPS thru 98 games. But then he made an adjustment in the batter’s box and transformed completely. While it seemed early in the year that Canha led the team in soft hits, now he was ripping the ball. In his last 13 games, Canha has a .342/.426/.805 line in 47 PA. He has 11 XBH in this span, including 4 HR, which means his BABIP (.303) is actually lower than his AVG in this span. He’s raised his OPS to .790, an increase of 56 points. Canha would have qualified at out thresholds before but now he’s not the weak link of the trio. His turnaround has been completely unexpected. Canha was the starter most likely to be given a day off and that was before the club acquired Tyler Naquin, who got off to a great start. But just when it looked like he was going to lose even more playing time, Canha got hot and now has an even tighter grip on the starting job.

Brandon Nimmo has been healthy this year but his numbers are far short of what they’ve been in his previous years without injury woes. Pitchers have changed their approach to Nimmo, with the conventional wisdom that they’ve been throwing him more strikes. The reality is that his Zone% of 44.7 is down from last year and is exactly at his career rate. What’s really changed is Nimmo’s O-Swing%, as he’s chased nearly 6% more pitches than a year ago outside the strike zone. Like Canha, Nimmo has been performing better recently, with a .919 OPS in his last 54 PA. Nimmo has a history of strong finishes, as in his injured seasons of 2019 and 2021 he’s been fully healthy in September. Combine that with a run of sub-.500 teams they’ll face the rest of the way and it’s likely that Nimmo will continue to improve on his current .772 OPS.

Starling Marte has dealt with injury issues, along with the death of his grandmother. Yet, he’s been the most-productive outfielder on the squad all season. From 5/27-8/6, Marte had an .886 OPS in 222 PA. After a brief August slump, Marte has joined his fellow outfielders with a nice streak, as he has a 1.089 OPS in his last 64 PA. He’s still suffering from leg/groin issues but he’s been able to turn it on when needed, including beating out an infield hit and scoring from first on a double in yesterday’s big win against the Dodgers. Marte has also increased his power output in the second half, with a .514 SLG and a .218 ISO since the All-Star break.

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If you add up the OPS+ numbers for Canha (127), Nimmo (121) and Marte (134) you get a combined 382. How does that rate with the other four trios?

415 – 1988
396 – 1987
382 – 2022
371 – 1990
348 – 1984

In the 61-year history of the Mets, it looks like this will be the third-best outfield trio for the club. That’s pretty darn good. What’s even better is that the 2022 club is on pace to top the 1988 club’s mark in wins. After 132 games, this year’s team is on a pace for 103 victories, compared to the 100 wins of the ’88 squad. If they reach triple digits, it will be only the fourth time in franchise history that a team reached 100 wins.