Citi Field Advantage- The Mets improved their home winning percentage from .588 to .667 this past season, opening up a true home field advantage for them during the regular season. This was due to their run differential at home being at a mark of +110. Compare that to a 2019 season where the Mets had a run differential of just +19. This can be improved even more for the 2023 season when you consider that two center pieces for the offense, Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor, actually fared better at the plate on the road in 2022. Should they both improve at the plate at home in 2023, this home field advantage could become even more potent.
Batting With Runners In Scoring Position- The infamous tagline for the 2021 Mets was that they could not hit with runners in scoring position. To slash .238/.334/.370 with only 391 RBIs is plain brutal. Eric Chavez stepped in, added a new approach, and the results showed across the board. They swapped those ugly numbers for a slash line of .269/.347/.441 with 554 RBIs, and even striking out 40 times less in that scenario. This is a situation where the aforementioned Alonso and Lindor cleaned up. Alonso slashed .300./424/.675, while Lindor was not far behind at .286/.328/.488.
Fielding- This is an improvement that will make Keith Hernandez glow from the booth. The Mets were rough in the field in 2021. Their combined defensive metrics helped them to the third-worst ranking in the National League last season according to Baseball Reference. With the addition of a manager who focuses on fundamentals in Buck Showalter, and the improvement on defense by guys like Brandon Nimmo (who has built himself into a formidable center fielder) led to the Mets skyrocketing to the second-best defensive team in the NL according to Baseball Reference.
Successful Manager Challenges- This is more about Harrison Friedland, the Mets Replay Analyst, than Showalter, although Showalter receives the credit for issuing the challenge. While this might be a smaller aspect of the game, the Mets took a quantum leap in the success of challenges this past season. In 2021, Luis Rojas won 5 of his 14 challenges for a success rate of 35.7%. It was essentially a non-factor in 2021. Compare that to 2022, where Buck Showalter won 26 of his 35 challenges for a success rate of 78.8%, the highest mark in the NL 2015. This non-factor turned into a true advantage for the team in 2022.
2022 will always be remembered in Mets lore as one of the classic “What if” years. You can certainly point to the negatives about the season, like how the team stumbled in series against the lowly Chicago Cubs or Pittsburgh Pirates, and of course that fateful last series in Atlanta. But, those outside of the team and those who do not root for the team do enough dragging down of the club. It’s important to remember to put things into perspective. While they did stumble down the stretch for a disappointing end, the Mets were at least in it for the entire season. Fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have an owner who appears to be dead set on running the thinnest margain possible on his team, would love the opportunity to be competitive for the entirety of the season, with a roster full of big-name talent. This was the first year in some time that the Mets were expected to compete for a championship, and it won’t be the last now that Steve Cohen is the owner. While the end to this season was disappointing, remember how far the team has come from last season, and how far they will improve next season. After all, the 1985 Mets won 98 games and fell short of World Series aspirations, and something special happened the next season.
The Mets improved their Citi Field run differential by 91.
The Mets drove in 163 more runs with runners in scoring position in 2022 than in 2021.
Showalter had a challenge success rate of 78.8% to lead the MLB.
The RISP numbers are always going to have a big impact on any team’s runs scored and, ultimately, how many games they win.
But how a player, or a team, hits with RISP is something that just isn’t stable year-to-year. In the last three full seasons, 10 different teams finished in the top 5 in the NL in OPS with RISP. Only the Dodgers finished among the leaders all three seasons. Six different teams made the top-
5 only one time, while four teams had multiple appearances.
In his career, Alonso has a .276-point differential between his best and worst seasons in OPS. Lindor has a .316 point differential. He has one season in the .900s, four in the .800s, two in the .600s and one in the .500s.
In 2022, all MLB players combined for a .706 OPS in all situations, a total of 182,052 PA. With RISP, all MLB players last year combined for a .741 OPS in 44,760 PA. In 2021, those numbers were .725 overall and .755 with RISP.
The fewer chances you have, the greater chance there is for variability. There’s only been one batter to hit .400 over an entire season since 1941. But there were three different Mets to hit .400 the last seven days of the season.
It’s an indisputable fact that the Mets were better with RISP in 2022 than they were in 2021. Will they be better or worse in 2023 than they were this year? No one has a clue.
They were all good points about the improvements of the2022 Mets. The Citi Field advantage, winning 2 out of 3 games played, was is very impressive. The outfield defensive was more athletic to cover the big field than In the past. Canha replace Smith in left field. Escobar and Guillorme replaced Davis at third base. Hence, improved fielding. Team speed Improved. They weren’t a station to station offense thus scoring more runs. Cohen spent the money to hire Friedland and gave the Mets a hidden advantage. Friedland used to work In the replay booth for MLB. It was a very smart hire.
One thing that strikes me about this are the stats on challenges. The Mets clearly had more success this year than last, but if there were 5 calls overturned last year and 26 this year that means that there were more than 5 times as many blown calls this year as last. Some of that may be more aggressive and better challenges by the Mets, but I can’t imagine that is the sole reason. Has umpiring gotten that much worse? I’m not really sure what to make of this.
Lots of good stuff Dalton.