The Mets entered the 2023 season with high expectations. The year prior, the team won 101 games, the second most in franchise history, and made the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Unfortunately, the team struggled down the stretch, and was eliminated by the Padres in the wild-card round, ending their season with only one win in the playoffs.

After having a disappointing end to their season, the Mets’ front office went to work. They signed Justin Verlander to a monster two-year, $86.6 million contract, and resigned multiple core players from the 2022 team.

John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

However, halfway through the season, the Mets have severely underperformed. As of July 15, the Mets have a 42-49 record, are in fourth place in the NL East, and are eight games back from the third wild-card. In a year where the Mets were World Series favorites, they will likely be sellers at the August 1 trade deadline.

In a year filled with failed expectations, many names could be thrown under the bus. Fans could point at the front office who built the team before the season, or at Buck Showalter and his coaches for the failures of the players. Regardless of who bears most of the blame, both parties are responsible for the 2023 season. In this article, Metsmerized has graded both the front office and coaches through the first half of the season.

Billy Eppler: C+

It’s hard to deny that Billy Eppler had an excellent off-season. The Mets’ GM bolstered the rotation by signing Verlander, who led MLB with a 1.75 ERA in 2022, Kodai Senga (leads Mets’ starters with a 125 ERA+), and José Quintana (2.01 ERA with St. Louis in the second half of 2022). He also made the bold decisions to let Jacob deGrom and Chris Bassitt (4.81 FIP in 2023) walk in free agency, which in hindsight were great moves.

Package those moves with re-signing Brandon Nimmo and Edwin Díaz, and adding bullpen depth with David Robertson, Adam Ottavino, and Brooks Raley, and it’s hard to picture how the Mets’ season has turned upside down.

The two biggest components of the Mets’ down year have been injury and inconsistency. Díaz, who had a historic 2022 season, tore a ligament in his knee, leaving a massive hole in the Mets’ bullpen, and Quintana, who had started at least 25 games since his debut in 2012, hasn’t thrown a single pitch.

Meanwhile, certified stars from the year prior have struggled in 2023. The 2022 batting champ Jeff McNeil has slashed a measly .251/.328/.325, while 2022 all-star Starling Marte has recorded a .642 OPS and 80 OPS+.

While winning the off-season is fun and exciting, it doesn’t count for anything. Eppler built the roster, and it has dealt with injury and underperformance, which older rosters tend to run into. The next two weeks will make or break Eppler’s overall grade due to the upcoming trade deadline.

Buck Showalter: D

Will the real Buck Showalter please stand up?

Showalter hasn’t been a good manager this season, there’s no other way of saying it. The Mets have looked dull for a good portion of the season, have regressed defensively, and are not a fundamentally sound baseball team, all of which Showalter was praised for in 2022.

To make matters worse, the two things Showalter is directly responsible for, bullpen management and lineup construction, have been awful in 2023. The Mets’ manager continuously ran out Stephen Nogosek (5.61 ERA) and Jeff Brigham (5.16 ERA) to pitch before the two of them were removed from the MLB roster, and have lost games by managing reactionary — go back and look at the box score from June 25 against the Phillies. The lineup hasn’t been better either. Showalter refused to give prospects Brett Baty, Francisco Álvarez, and Mark Vientos regular at-bats, which resulted in Vientos being sent back down to Syracuse in favor of Daniel Vogelbach — who has recorded a .355 slugging percentage and 93 OPS+.

Bench Coaches: D

The Mets’ overall play has nosedived this season, and blame has to be pointed towards the bench coaches. The offense, which took massive strides under Eric Chavez, has regressed in Jeremy Barnes’s first year, leading to questions about the change. The Mets cited in 2021 that they had too much information at hand, and it’s fair to ask if Barnes’s hitting philosophy may affected the lineup.

Meanwhile, the grace period for Jeremy Hefner is running out. The Mets’ pitching coach has been at the helm since 2020, but hasn’t developed prospects David Peterson and Tylor Megill into consistent MLB starters. The two of them have been sent down to Syracuse the last couple of seasons, and have ERAs over 5.00 in 2023.

Underperformance and numbers ultimately fall on the players, but when season-long slumps occur, and no adjustments are made, the coaching staff and front office fall into the spotlight. While the season hasn’t been pretty so far, the Mets still have another half of 2023 to make a miraculous run. If they fail to do so, Steve Cohen may have to re-evaluate leadership roles for the 2024 season.