As we continue our National League East positional rankings, it’s time to go over left field. Last season, the Mets had two different players start over 40 games in left: Mark Canha and Tommy Pham. Both players are now elsewhere. Four more started at least 10 games, but only Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo remain in the organization.
Who is going to be the new Mets left fielder? And where do they rank in the division? Read more to find out.
No. 5 – Bryan De La Cruz, MIA
Going into the 2023 season, there was a legitimate opportunity for Bryan De La Cruz to turn himself into a centerpiece of the Marlins’ future. Now, while it’s not over for him, the chances are significantly lower. He displayed average power with 19 homers but put up a mediocre .257/.304/.411 slashline.
Offensively, he was technically below average. Defensively, he was horrible. De La Cruz finished in the 6th percentile in MLB in outs above average. But the Marlins don’t have many other options. Avisaíl García will probably be the DH, and behind him, it’s just a bunch of young outfielders who have struggled in their first MLB showings.
Peyton Burdick has a career .200 average and .649 OPS in 46 games over the past two seasons. Vidal Bruján, once a top prospect, has played in 99 games over the past three seasons and put up just a .157 average and .439 OPS. There’s also Jon Berti, who had 11 starts in left field in 2023, but as of right now, he’s slated to be the Marlins starting shortstop. It’ll likely be De La Cruz again in left field for the fish in 2024.
No. 4 – Joey Gallo, WSH
What else new can be said about Joey Gallo at this point? Every baseball fan knows who he is. Gallo is the ultimate three-true outcomes player. He hits the ball extremely hard, harder than most in the league, and has solid home run numbers as a result. He walks a ton, more than most players, but also strikes out at one of the highest clips in MLB history.
His 2023 season was exactly what anyone could have predicted. Over 111 games for the Minnesota Twins, Gallo hit .177/.301/.440 with 21 home runs and 142 strikeouts. His strikeout rate jumped to 42.8%, the highest of his career in any season he played more than 50 games. Technically, his 101 OPS+ means he was an ever so slightly above-average hitter last season, but his extreme offensive profile doesn’t make many fans.
Defensively he’s versatile, playing all three outfield spots for the Twins last season with left being where he spent the most time of the three. He also spent a lot of time at first base beating out left field by seven innings. With Joey Meneses at first base, Gallo probably ends up playing a lot of left. The Nationals could run the alignment of Meneses at DH, Gallo at first, and Stone Garrett in left, but Fangraphs predicts Meneses at first, Gallo in left, and Garrett at DH.
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No. 3 – Jarred Kelenic, ATL
Did you know that Jarred Kelenic was an above-average hitter last season? He wasn’t great — hitting .253/.327/.419 with 11 home runs — but his OPS+ of 109 technically means he was an above-average offensive player. However, he only played 105 games thanks to a lengthy stint on the injured list after he broke his foot kicking a water cooler.
The Mariners dumped him this offseason to Atlanta along with the contracts of Marco Gonzales and Evan White, not getting much back in return besides salary relief. Now, Kelenic is slated to be the starting left fielder for the Braves in 2024. After a horrible first two seasons in the bigs, he showed signs of life in 2023 when he wasn’t sidelined from self-inflicted wounds. He still strikes out a ton but he hits the ball hard, and most of his advanced metrics are decently above average.
Back in the NL East and set to play the Mets 13 times a year, Kelenic turning into a truly productive hitter for the Braves would be the least surprising thing ever. The former Mets No. 6 overall pick was famously traded to Seattle in the deal that brought Edwin Díaz and Robinson Canó to New York ahead of the 2019 season.
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No. 2 – Brandon Marsh, PHI
Kyle Schwarber led the Phillies with 103 starts in left field in 2023. Jake Cave was next with 31. Then came Brandon Marsh, who started just 13 games in left. However, Bryce Harper has turned into the new everyday first baseman and should DH much less, moving Schwarber back into that role. Cave is a bench player and not a very good one at that. So, that leaves Marsh.
Marsh had a breakout 2023 campaign, hitting .277/.372/.458 over 133 games. The vast majority of Marsh’s playing time came in center field, but that started to change during the final few months. It wasn’t cause he’s a bad fielder — he finished the year in the 92nd percentile in outs above average — but because the Phillies had someone positively elite to run out there instead in Johan Rojas. So, that slides Marsh over to left.
Marsh has been almost a brand-new player ever since the Angels sent him to the Phillies at the 2022 trade deadline for catcher Logan O’Hoppe. In 163 games with Los Angeles, Marsh had an OPS of .653. In 174 games so far for Philadelphia, he’s averaged an OPS of .817. He’s not a star, but he’s a very good player and will be an important piece for the Phils in 2024.
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No. 1 – Brandon Nimmo, NYM
Last offseason, the Mets signed Brandon Nimmo to an 8-year, $162 million deal presumably to be their starting center fielder for years to come. Now, one year later, Nimmo looks like he’s moving to left field. It’s not cause he’s bad in centerfield, he’s actually well above average. It’s because the Mets brought in someone elite instead. Harrison Bader is essentially a defensive specialist, so when he’s in the lineup, he’ll be in center.
That said, there’s a good chance Bader isn’t in the lineup for a good portion of the games this season. He played just 98 games last season, largely due to injuries, after playing 86 games in 2022 and 103 games in 2021. When Bader is out of the lineup Nimmo should slide back to center field, but he probably finishes the year with more games in left.
At the dish, Nimmo is probably coming off the best season of his MLB career. He played a career-high 152 games, making it the second year in a row he stayed healthy enough to play over 150. He hit .274/.363/.466, good for an .829 OPS, with a career-high 24 home runs — seven more than his previous best from 2018. He is by far the best player of all the projected starting left-fielders in the NL East, and no one even comes close.
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