3 Up, 3 Down: Mets End 2023 With Series Win

This is it. After a long, testing, disappointing and sometimes ugly year for the New York Mets, the final 3 Up, 3 Down of the 2023 season is here.

On the final weekend of the regular season, the Mets took two out of three from the postseason-bound Phillies and will now officially close the door on one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history.

Entering the year as legit World Series contenders with the biggest payroll in baseball, a two-headed monster at the top of the rotation and a mostly intact lineup that won 101 games the season before, big things were expected of the Mets.

However, as has so often happened with this team over the years, only crushing and bitter disappointment followed. The team was never even really competitive out of the chute, spending all of two days in first place in the National League East. The last of which came on April 2.

That led to a dramatic pivot at the trade deadline as ownership and the front office opted to head in a new direction. Veterans were dealt away for a slew of high-end prospects who helped to rebuild the farm system. And the result was a 35th losing record in 62 seasons.

After taking the first two games against the Phillies in a doubleheader on Saturday, the Mets were pummeled 9-1 in their final game of the year on Sunday. As a result, they finish fourth in the NL East with a 74-87 record.

Now, without further ado, let’s dive into the final 3 Up, 3 Down of the year…

3 Up

Turning The Page

It’s over, Mets fans. With the conclusion of this series, we can now officially close the book on 2023, move forward and look ahead to better times. This season was an absolute hot, stinking dumpster fire, and the franchise will wear the stain of that for quite some time. There is no escaping from that given the high expectations last offseason and then what transpired. However, what is gone is gone, and Monday marks the start of a new era for this organization. New president of baseball operations David Stearns will officially be announced and introduced, marking a fresh start and the opportunity to forget 2023 and instead look ahead to a more promising 2024.

Finishing Strong

One of the major decisions facing Stearns from Day One is this hot mess of a starting rotation. Kodai Senga and José Quintana are locks for 2024 but, outside of those two, there are a plethora of question marks. With a lack of elite and major league ready arms in the farm system, Stearns will have to explore both the trade market and free agency to fill out the rotation and make it at least serviceable in 2024. However, he may already have an internal option for the No. 4 or No. 5 spot based on what we saw Saturday. Tylor Megill, who has been largely solid down the stretch, produced arguably the best start of his career in Game 1 of the doubleheader. The righty got over seven innings of work – his longest outing this year – while allowing just one run on four hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. It was a stellar start from Megill, who looked locked in, and he finishes 2023 with a 9-8 record, a 4.70 ERA, 105 strikeouts and a 1.575 WHIP. With an outing like that, Megill will enter spring training with a fantastic opportunity to nail down a full-time spot in the rotation for 2024.

Monster Night

Francisco Álvarez saved one of his best offensive performances for last. The phenom catcher absolutely went off in Game 2 on Saturday as the Mets routed the Phillies 11-4. Álvarez entered the weekend riding a tough 0-for-19 stretch, but he snapped that in style with a two-run blast in the second inning that put the Mets on the board first at Citi Field. The rookie then went one better in the third, destroying the baseball for the first grand slam of his career. You won’t see many better-hit baseballs than the one Álvarez absolutely demolished. It was just a monster night for the 21-year-old who went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and a career-high six RBIs. With his fourth career multi-homer game, Álvarez finishes 2023 with 25 home runs – just one shy of tying Hall of Famer Johnny Bench‘s record for the most homers by a catcher in their age 21 season or younger – 12 doubles, 34 walks, 63 RBIs and a .721 OPS in 123 games. The good news is that Álvarez is only going to get better, and the Mets will enter 2024 knowing they have their franchise catcher in place behind the plate.

3 Down

So Long, Farewell

Who here watched Ted Lasso? Remember that scene in the final episode of the series where the AFC Richmond players perform a rendition – a very good one, I’ll add – of So Long, Farewell to say goodbye to Ted? Well, that scene was playing out in my head throughout Sunday after we got the news that the Mets and manager Buck Showalter were parting ways. Showalter delivered the news himself before the game, and the organization made it official shortly after. In the words of owner Steve Cohen, the Mets are “heading in a new direction” under new president of baseball operations David Stearns, and it makes sense to allow the new sheriff in town to hit the reset button, wipe the slate clean and move forward with his own guy in the dugout. Who that is remains to be seen.

But, as it pertains to Showalter, Sunday should be seen as a bittersweet day. Yes, the franchise probably made the right choice in allowing Stearns to start afresh with the manager he wants, and, yes, Showalter deserves some of the blame for a complete bust of a season in 2023. However, he certainly wasn’t the leader in the clubhouse in that respect. He wasn’t helped by poor roster construction, injuries and key players not playing to the back of their baseball cards. Overall, Showalter proved he can still impact winning at the highest level and the Mets are a better organization for having Buck Showalter at the helm. He helped bring a whole lot of professionalism, credibility, humility and respect back to this franchise. Hopefully he gets a chance to manage again in 2024.

Tough Luck

As good as Francisco Álvarez was in this series, he also endured a tough ending. The catcher sustained a heel injury in the season finale on Sunday. He left the game and outgoing manager Buck Showalter admitted he was “concerned,” saying that the impact area was between the Achilles tendon and the heel. With the Aaron Rodgers injury still fresh in every single New York sports fan’s mind, you start to repel at the very mention of the word ‘Achilles.’ Let’s hope it isn’t anything remotely serious and that Álvarez will be fully healthy to begin spring training. But it was a crappy end to what was a stellar season for the rookie.

Reverting To Type

Ah, the Mets bullpen. They should probably win an award for most appearances in the ‘3 Down’ section of this feature, given the absurd amount of Godzilla-sized eggs they’ve laid in 2023. To be fair, they got the job done in the first two games of this series, but they made sure to revert to type for the season finale on Sunday. Fitting, really. After a solid outing from José Butto, the combination of Denyi Reyes and Anthony Kay came in and allowed six runs in the ninth, including Kay giving up a three-run blast to Brandon Marsh. It was one last ugly showing from the bullpen in a long line of them this year. While star closer Edwin Díaz will be back in 2024, David Stearns will have his work cut out when it comes to rebuilding this bullpen. There’s a lot of work ahead.