Entering Spring Training, the door was wide open for Mark Vientos to be in the Mets' starting lineup long term, particularly at Designated Hitter. The Mets were willing to try some of their young prospects, to be a fixture in the lineup for the 2024 season, and Vientos was one of their hopefuls. However, he [...]
Spring Training 2023 was an entirely different world for the New York Mets. We had two veteran Aces who had proven track records of success, we were the most expensive team in baseball and the Mets were supposed to be World Series contenders and the Mets had four top prospects at the cusp of the [...]
After an All-Star season in 2022, Starling Marte was nowhere close to that status in 2023, thanks in large part to double groin surgery he had in November of ’22. Marte tried to play thru the pain and discomfort but was just a shadow of himself, both at the plate and in the field. Oddly, [...]
Spring Training 2024 ends tomorrow, as the New York Mets face off against the New York Yankees at 1 pm, the Mets lineup seems to have sorted itself out. But not without some last-minute help. Batting order, at least any sensible batting order, does not have significant effects on a team’s ability to score runs [...]
My opinion last year with Francisco Alvarez was that he should have made the club out of Spring Training, getting most of his ABs early on as a DH and then receiving more time behind the plate as the year progressed. And people laughed. His defense was nowhere close to MLB-ready, they claimed, and the [...]
Every MLB team faces adversity. And those challenges can come from injures or under-performance or questionable lineup/roster decisions. Spotrac tracks injuries and last year, MLB clubs had between 13-35 IL moves each, with dollars lost to the IL ranging from $9.5-$82.1 million. The Mets were tied for 11th with 25 IL moves and ranked fourth [...]
The Mets closed 2023 by going 23-22, thanks in no small part to the finishes by Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo. While McNeil was a major disappointment the first four months of the season, Nimmo was having a solid year, with a .784 OPS thru the end of July. But the final two months of [...]
Yesterday the Athletic’s Jim Bowden published one of his trademark articles (subscription required) wherein he ranks a thing, and in this case that thing is the quality of all 30 MLB teams' opening day lineups. Somewhat surprisingly, the Mets are slotted in at 14th behind the likes of the Cubs, Reds, and Padres even with [...]
In 2021, Adrian Houser was very good, with a 3.22 ERA in a career-high in 142.1 IP. But he really out-pitched his peripherals, as he had a 4.33 FIP that season. In the past two years, Houser has combined for 214 IP and a 4.42 ERA. That’s a 95 ERA+ and if somehow Houser could [...]
With the MLB regular season starting in a week, the Mets finalized their starting rotation. Along with Jose Quintana, Luis Severino, Sean Manaea and Adrian Houser, the Mets named Tylor Megill as the final piece in their current rotation. Megill is certainly no stranger to Mets fans. He has been in the majors since 2021 [...]
Depending on your point of view, the Mets either reversed course or kept on the path, as they signed J.D. Martinez to a 1/$12 deal to be the team’s designated hitter. We heard rumors of the Mets signing Martinez and it’s not hard to imagine that Martinez backed off some on his initial demands. The [...]
With a week before the start of the regular season, the Mets apparently have three spots on their Opening Day roster up for grabs. There are two reliever openings and one bench spot available. The good news is that there are several good options for the back of the bullpen. The not-so-hot news is that [...]