David Melendi

Francisco Lindor, SS
Juan Soto, LF
Bo Bichette, 3B
Jorge Polanco, 1B
Brett Baty, DH
Francisco Alvarez, C
Marcus Semien, 2B
Luis Robert Jr., CF
Carson Benge, RF

Christian De Block

Francisco Lindor, SS
Juan Soto, LF
Bo Bichette, 3B
Jorge Polanco, DH
Brett Baty, 1B
Marcus Semien, 2B
Luis Robert Jr., CF
Francisco Alvarez, C
Carson Benge, RF

Kai Chang

Francisco Lindor, SS
Juan Soto, LF
Bo Bichette, DH
Jorge Polanco, 1B
Luis Robert Jr., CF
Brett Baty, 3B
Francisco Alvarez, C
Marcus Semien, 2B
Tyrone Taylor, RF

Mathias Altman-Kurosaki

Francisco Lindor, SS
Juan Soto, LF
Bo Bichette, 3B
Jorge Polanco, DH
Francisco Alvarez, C
Brett Baty, 1B
Luis Robert, CF
Marcus Semien, 2B
Carson Benge, RF

Johnluke Chaparro

Francisco Lindor, SS
Juan Soto, LF
Bo Bichette, 3B
Jorge Polanco, 1B
Brett Baty, DH
Francisco Alvarez, C
Luis Robert Jr., CF
Marcus Semien, 2B
Mike Tauchman, RF

Allison Waxman

Francisco Lindor, SS
Juan Soto, LF
Bo Bichette, 3B
Jorge Polanco, DH
Brett Baty, 1B
Marcus Semien, 2B
Francisco Alvarez, C
Carson Benge, RF
Luis Robert Jr., CF

Mojo Hill

Francisco Lindor, SS
Juan Soto, LF
Bo Bichette, 3B
Jorge Polanco, 1B
Luis Robert Jr., CF
Brett Baty, DH
Marcus Semien, 2B
Francisco Alvarez, C
Mike Tauchman, RF

Andrew Boenzi

Francisco Lindor, SS
Juan Soto, LF
Bo Bichette, 3B
Jorge Polanco, DH
Marcus Semien, 2B
Brett Baty, 1B
Luis Robert Jr., CF
Francisco Alvarez, C
Carson Benge, RF

Rafael González

Francisco Lindor, SS
Juan Soto, LF
Bo Bichette, 3B
Jorge Polanco, 1B
Marcus Semien, 2B
Brett Baty, DH
Luis Robert Jr., CF
Francisco Alvarez, C
Carson Benge, RF

Matthew Tutrone

Francisco Lindor, SS
Bo Bichette, 3B
Juan Soto, LF
Jorge Polanco, 1B
Brett Baty, DH
Marcus Semien, 2B
Francisco Alvarez, C
Mike Tauchman, RF
Luis Robert Jr., CF

The post MMO Roundtable: 2026 Opening Day Lineup Predictions appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Christian De Block

Lindor, SS
Soto, RF
Alonso, 1B
Nimmo, LF
Vientos, 3B
Marte, DH
Torrens, C
Baty, 2B
Siri, CF

Johnluke Chaparro

Lindor, SS
Vientos, 3B
Soto, RF
Alonso, 1B
Nimmo, LF
Marte, DH
Baty, 2B
Torrens, C
Siri, CF

Mathias Altman-Kurosaki

Lindor, SS
Soto, RF
Alonso, 1B
Vientos, 3B
Nimmo, LF
Marte, DH
Siri, CF
Baty, 2B
Torrens, C

Patrick Glynn

Lindor, SS
Soto, RF
Alonso, 1B
Nimmo, LF
Vientos, 3B
Marte, DH
Baty, 2B
Taylor, CF
Torrens, C

Allison Waxman

Lindor, SS
Soto, RF
Alonso, 1B
Nimmo, LF
Vientos, 3B
Marte, DH
Baty, 2B
Taylor, CF
Torrens, C

Andrew Steele-Davis

Lindor, SS
Soto, RF
Alonso, 1B
Vientos, 3B
Nimmo, LF
Marte, DH
Baty, 2B
Siri, CF
Torrens, C

Jack Ramsey

Lindor, SS
Soto, RF
Alonso, 1B
Vientos, 3B
Nimmo, LF
Marte, DH
Torrens, C
Acuña (against a lefty), 2B
Siri, CF

Chris Bello 

Lindor, SS
Soto, RF
Alonso, 1B
Nimmo, LF
Vientos, 3B
Winker, DH
Baty, 2B
Siri, CF
Torrens, C

Alexis Farinacci

Lindor, SS
Soto, RF
Alonso, 1B
Nimmo, LF
Vientos, 3B
Winker, DH
Baty, 2B
Siri, CF
Torrens, C

The post MMO Roundtable: Opening Day Lineup Predictions appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

While the Mets fell to the Phillies 7-2, and lost for the first time in six days, one thing was constant — Jeff McNeil was on the bench.

Instead of penciling in the 2022 National League batting champ at second, Carlos Mendoza wrote in Jose Iglesias. The major league veteran was signed to a minor league deal before the start of the season, and played in his fifth straight game on Saturday after being recalled on May 31.

Jeff McNeil. Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

The decision to play Iglesias has been bittersweet, but also a no-brainer for Mets management. McNeil entered June slashing .227/.296/.320 at the plate, while also registering negative three outs above average in the field. It’s been bad on both sides of the ball, and it’s led to a -0.1 bWAR through 57 games.

Meanwhile, since being recalled, Iglesias has been stellar. He went 1-for-3 with a walk and run batted in on Saturday, and finished the day slashing .389/.421/.444 through five games. The former Tiger has also looked youthful in the field, including a diving catch on a line drive Wednesday to complete the sweep over the Nationals.

Despite the drastic difference in results, and the Mets going 3-1 since Iglesias’s promotion, Mendoza has stayed true to his sentiment: McNeil has sat due to the Mets facing lefties.

“There’s nothing more to it other than four lefties here, Iglesias playing well,” Mendoza told Anthony DiComo. “…  I’ll give him another start. Jeff will be fine. I know it’s been six days or so since he’s been in the lineup, but he’ll continue to work, and he’ll get going.”

To credit Mendoza, the Mets have faced three tough lefties this past week. MacKenzie Gore, rookie DJ Herz, and Ranger Suárez took the mound against the Amazins’, prompting the Mets manager to sit the struggling McNeil.

The only issue is there are two major cracks in Mendoza’s sentiment. Firstly, McNeil has fared better against southpaws this season. The lefty is slashing .246/.290/.323 against lefties, which is still unappealing, but better than his .213 batting average against righties. Secondly, the Mets also faced Patrick Corbin on June 5, who McNeil is 10-for-37 against in his career.

Despite his better success against lefties, McNeil reiterated what his manager told the media. There were lefties, and Iglesias was going to get a look as a right-hand batter.

“I’m not looking too into it,” McNeil told DiComo. “We have a right-handed second baseman.”

Regardless of what is said, and what the numbers say, the public will have to take Mendoza’s comments to heart. McNeil sat against four lefties, and Iglesias got his shot after impressing Mets’ brass in Triple-A.

Still, there’s much to prove for McNeil. He’s been a massive hole for the offense this season, not only due to his stats, but because he was driving force for the 2022 team that went to the playoffs.

McNeil will get the chance to turn his season around on Sunday when the Mets face old friend Taijuan Walker. McNeil is 1-for-7 with one RBI against the former Met.

The post McNeil Benched For Fourth Consecutive Game on Saturday appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Mark Vientos. Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Mark Vientos has done more than enough to earn a spot back on the big-league club, and, on Wednesday, the Mets finally agreed. Vientos reportedly will be called up today and will presumably slot in as the Mets’ everyday DH moving forward. A corresponding move for Vientos’ impending addition has not been announced.

Daniel Vogelbach has had an alright season at the plate thus far, hitting at .250 and producing a .745 OPS, but his skillset is just not what this Mets’ team currently needs as an everyday DH. The Mets rank in the bottom third of the league in home runs, and recently went over 50 innings between longballs. Vientos, meanwhile, has hit 13 already for Triple-A Syracuse. Even if he struggles in terms of his OBP as he gets re-adjusted to big-league pitching, his ability to mash gives the team some much-needed power in the middle of their lineup.

With Vientos addition, the Mets will now trot out an everyday lineup that includes three of their top hitting prospects. This is how it could look moving forward, although it may vary depending on the pitching matchup.

1. CF Brandon Nimmo
2. SS Francisco Lindor
3. 2B Jeff McNeil
4. 1B Pete Alonso
5. 3B Brett Baty
6. RF Starling Marte
7. DH Mark Vientos
8. LF Mark Canha
9. C Francisco Álvarez

Regardless of if the Mets can truly turn a corner this season and get back into contention, they will undoubtedly benefit from getting their young hitters significant reps in an everyday role. Unfortunately, many of the veterans the Mets have brought on in the past few years just haven’t worked out, especially  when looking at their 2023 performance. It’s time to let the kids play.

The post Projecting the Mets’ Lineup After Call-Up of Mark Vientos appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The first two games of the Mets’ series in Milwaukee have gone about as poorly as possible. While it’s important not to overreact to the fifth and sixth games of the season, being outscored 19-0 in two games American Family Field is almost unthinkable for a team with championship aspirations.

The #Mets have not scored a run and allowed 9+ runs in back-to-back games for the first time in franchise history.@Metsmerized

— Mathew Brownstein (@MBrownstein89) April 5, 2023

While the pitching has had its own challenges, the Mets’ offense has been completely non-existent in this series. In fact, the Mets have scored only one run, a ninth-inning Pete Alonso home run off of A.J. Puk, in their three losses this season.

As a team, the Mets have an OPS of just .608 through six games, 27th in MLB. They have hit only three home runs (one each by Alonso, Mark Canha, and Tommy Pham), which is as much as the Brewers hit in consecutive at-bats off of Max Scherzer in Tuesday’s drubbing.

The Mets enter today with the lowest slugging percentage in Major League Baseball at .295.

Only the Blue Jays and Nationals have fewer home runs than the Mets 3.

— Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) April 5, 2023

Individually, while regulars like Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil, and Omar Narváez have gotten off to decent starts, the rest of the lineup has been ice cold. Combined, Alonso, Canha, Francisco Lindor, Eduardo Escobar, and Daniel Vogelbach are just 13-90 at the plate thus far.

Things will only get more challenging today, as the Mets will face Corbin Burnes this afternoon trying to not only avoid a sweep, but avoid being completely blanked in the series.

As bad as the offense has been, it’s unlikely the team will make any drastic moves after only six games. Still, if the struggles continue through the Mets’ first home series of the season against the Marlins, you have to wonder when Billy Eppler will begin to feel the heat.  The Mets have three highly-regarded hitting prospects with MLB experience waiting in Triple-A in Francisco Álvarez, Mark Vientos, and Brett Baty (although Baty may not be healthy enough at the moment for a call-up), and it’s tough to imagine their production being any worse than what we have seen thus far from the Mets’ veterans.

All it takes is one or two solid offensive outputs to get the momentum going in the right direction, and the lineup is talented enough to break out of its collective slump. However, many were concerned that the Mets didn’t do enough in the offseason to bolster the lineup, and the results on the field thus far have seemed to back that up.

The post Mets’ Offense Off to Frustrating Start appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

The Mets have largely already made the big roster decisions ahead of 2023 Opening Day. Brett Baty will start the year in Triple-A, as will Mark Vientos, and Darin Ruf was designated for assignment. The last couple weeks, I did roster projections for the first day of the season, but doing another one of those feels pretty cheap.

The Mets will head into the season with Luis Guillorme, Tommy Pham, Tim Locastro, and Tomás Nido (unless he gets the start as Max Scherzer’s personal catcher) on the bench. So let’s take a look at what the Opening Day lineup with be versus the Marlins and reigning National League Cy Young Sandy Alcantara.

Opening Day Lineup

1. Brandon Nimmo – CF
2. Starling Marte – RF
3. Francisco Lindor – SS
4. Pete Alonso – 1B

This goes without question. This was the top four when all were healthy in 2022, and it will be the same this year, especially as Marte has shown this spring he is feeling good following core surgery this offseason. Nimmo also returned to game play after spraining both his ankle and knee a week and a half ago, and he didn’t show any signs of holding back.

5. Daniel Vogelbach – DH
6. Jeff McNeil – 2B

McNeil SHOULD hit fifth. I think Buck Showalter maintains his trends from last year, when he had Vogelbach bat between Alonso and McNeil.

7. Mark Canha – LF
8. Eduardo Escobar – 3B
9. Omar Narváez – C

This would be a lot more entertaining if Baty had made the Opening Day lineup, though I still think Baty would bat in the eight hole if was up and starting on Opening Day.

Narvaez should be a better anchor the lineup than James McCann, though that remains to be seen.

Analysis

If this is the Opening Day lineup–especially with this bench–it looks a bit weaker than dreams of early January. Escobar, who hasn’t shown really much of anything productive this spring, will shorten the lineup, and Narváez has to prove his 2022 season was a dip rather than a general continued trend downward.

The first six should be strong day in and day out. And would it be a surprise if the 7-8-9 in August was Baty, Francisco Álvarez, and Canha? Nope. But to start the year, the last third of the lineup feels underwhelming as the Mets start the year with championship aspirations.

The post What Will the Mets’ 2023 Opening Day Lineup Be? appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Last week we shared with you whether we thought Justin Verlander or Max Scherzer would be the Opening Day starting pitcher. Of course, now we have to share what we think the Opening Day lineup is going to look like!

Here’s our predictions:

John Sheridan

Brandon Nimmo
Starling Marte
Francisco Lindor
Pete Alonso
Jeff McNeil
Mark Canha
Daniel Vogelbach
Eduardo Escobar
Omar Narváez

Mojo Hill

Brandon Nimmo
Jeff McNeil
Francisco Lindor
Pete Alonso
Starling Marte
Daniel Vogelbach
Mark Canha
Brett Baty
Tomás Nido

Matt Mancuso

Brandon Nimmo
Jeff McNeil
Francisco Lindor
Pete Alonso
Starling Marte
Daniel Vogelbach
Mark Canha
Brett Baty
Tomás Nido

Chris Bello

Brandon Nimmo
Starling Marte
Francisco Lindor
Pete Alonso
Mark Canha
Jeff McNeil
Daniel Vogelbach
Eduardo Escobar
Tomás Nido

Christian De Block

Brandon Nimmo
Starling Marte
Francisco Lindor
Pete Alonso
Jeff McNeil
Mark Canha
Daniel Vogelbach
Brett Baty
Tomás Nido

Dan Quiñones

Brandon Nimmo
Starling Marte
Francisco Lindor
Pete Alonso
Jeff McNeil
Mark Canha
Daniel Vogelbach
Brett Baty
Omar Narváez

Andrew Steele-Davis

Brandon Nimmo
Starling Marte
Francisco Lindor
Pete Alonso
Jeff McNeil
Mark Canha
Daniel Vogelbach
Brett Baty
Tomás Nido

The post MMO Roundtable: Opening Day Lineup Predictions appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

In the analytics era, lineup construction comes down to two central concepts that are often conflicting: batter strengths and handedness matchups.

In 2022, Buck Showalter seemed to stick with the dual philosophies that handedness > strengths and lineup consistency > matchups. Those ideals are also contradictory at times, which led to some strange lineup decisions.

The Mets will roll back a similar lineup in 2023, but a few lineup tweaks can pay some dividends. Let’s explore the strengths and weaknesses of the Mets’ hitters and the ideal lineup spot for each one.

Lineup Analytics

A 2020 article from Sports Betting Dime best encapsulates the sabermetric approach to lineup construction, at least from a strengths perspective. Therefore, I’m going to borrow their breakdown.

The main differences in an analytically-driven lineup are in the numbers two, three, and five spots. Whereas an old second hitter was often a light-hitting player whose function was to move the runner over, today’s No. 2 is often the best pure hitter on the team. The No. 3 is not as important in a sabermetric lineup, rather than the best hitter as it used to be. The No. 5 hitter is usually a better hitter than in the past and often takes the place of the old No. 3 hitter, at least power-wise.

Mets’ Sabermetric Lineup

Based on the breakdown above and disregarding handedness, here is the Mets’ ideal lineup construction (assuming that Eduardo Escobar will be the starting third baseman and Daniel Vogelbach will start the majority of the time due to a higher volume of righties faced):

1. Brandon Nimmo (.385 career OBP)
2. Jeff McNeil (131 career wRC+, .370 career OBP)
3. Starling Marte (119 career wRC+; 136 in 2022)
4. Pete Alonso (.535 career SLG, .274 career ISO)
5. Francisco Lindor (118 career wRC+, 127 in 2022; .474 career SLG)
6. Mark Canha (.349 career OBP, .367 in 2022, .377 OBP over last 4 seasons)
7. Daniel Vogelbach (.793 OPS in 2022)
8. Eduardo Escobar (.741 OPS in 2022)
9. Omar Narvaez (.258/.343/.386 career slash line, but just .206/.292/.305 in 2022)

Against lefties, substitute either Darin Ruf or Tommy Pham for Vogelbach and perhaps flip them with Escobar.

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

By Handedness

The thing is that Buck Showalter seemed to follow his analytics guys pretty closely when it came to the lineup, and he focused more on handedness than anything else. Alternating between lefties and righties appeared to be the most important factor in setting up the Mets’ lineups in 2022.

Therefore, there was no chance that Jeff McNeil would bat second in the order, even though he is the Mets’ best and most consistent hitter. Following up the lefty Nimmo with a second lefty wasn’t going to cut it. The same went for allowing someone other than Daniel Vogelbach to protect Pete Alonso; even though Vogelbach’s plate approach appears to be walk-first, Vogelbach’s left-handed bat was prioritized as the No. 5 hitter.

This often resulted in a less-than-ideal lineup setup for the Mets to score runs. Starling Marte grounded into 19 double plays last season, the 12th-highest total in the Majors, despite missing 44 games. The Mets as a team were the ninth-worst in baseball with 0.75 double plays per game, including Pete Alonso‘s 17, Luis Guillorme‘s 15, and Tomas Nido‘s 15. McNeil, meanwhile, lowered his GIDP rate (in terms of DPs vs. opportunities) from 11.9% in 2021 to 5.3% in 2022, and his career BABIP is .332.

Furthermore, bringing in a lefty to face McNeil is not a surefire advantage, as he has a career .296 average, 115 wRC+, .756 OPS, and .336 BABIP against southpaws. Although those numbers are a decline from his splits against righties, they are still more than adequate. Why the fear of batting McNeil in the No. 2 hole?

You can argue that Marte has better stats against lefties and prioritizing the platoon advantage should matter more. Indeed, Marte hit .302/.366/.511/.877 against southpaws last season. However, at the very least, McNeil should take Marte’s place in the lineup against right-handed starters (the majority of the time). Marte may prefer not to switch up his spot in the batting order, but that should not preclude the team from putting out their best lineup.

If the Mets want to balance the priorities between handedness and an ideal lineup, they would consider putting Francisco Lindor in the No. 2 hole and batting McNeil fifth. This way, they are relatively balanced with lefties and righties due to Lindor’s switch-hitting capabilities, while McNeil still brings a lot of run-scoring to the table, albeit without the same power element.

Additionally, batting Canha sixth and Vogelbach seventh rather than the reverse maximizes both players’ abilities. Although both players get on base, Vogelbach has more pure power than Canha, as evidenced by the difference in their ISO, .194 vs. .136, and SLG, .433 vs. .403. Canha becomes another leadoff-style hitter with his on-base percentage, and then Vogelbach lengthens the lineup with his power.

David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

Ideal Lineup vs. Left-Handed Pitchers

To balance the priorities between handedness and analytics, here would be the Mets’ best lineup against lefties (with batting hand and 2022 slash line vs. lefties):

1. Brandon Nimmo (L, .264/.358/.428/.786)
2. Francisco Lindor (R, .271/.327/.457/.784)
3. Starling Marte (R, .302/.366/.511/.877)
4. Pete Alonso (R, .247/.364/.473/.836)
5. Jeff McNeil (L, .312/.376/.382/.758)
6. Tommy Pham (R, .273/.338/.446/.784)
7. Eduardo Escobar (R, .259/.299/.519/.817)
8. Mark Canha (R, .241/.335/.398/.733)
9. Tomas Nido (R, .259/.303/.366/.669)

Yes, there are many consecutive right-handed hitters in this lineup, but that is partially in response to Marte’s strong performance against lefties last season. Furthermore, Pham should be higher in the lineup than Canha since he is better than Canha vs. lefties, even though Canha’s overall profile fits better with the analytical description of a typical No. 6 hitter.

Furthermore, if a team were to bring in a right-handed reliever against Marte and Alonso, both players hit righties quite well in 2022. Alonso has been stronger against righties than lefties for several years now. There is very little risk there. At the bottom of the lineup, Escobar is a switch-hitter and can also be pinch-hit for by Brett Baty if necessary.

I understand that the Mets are likely to switch up Marte and Lindor from my projection to preserve the lefty/righty alternation in the event of a right-handed reliever entering the game. However, Lindor in the No. 2 role makes more sense if only because of his reduced double-play rate. Lindor grounded into 11 double plays in 2022, a reduced 8.6% rate compared to Marte’s outlandish 18% number. This is not to say that Lindor is an ideal No. 2 hitter—that would be McNeil—but it wouldn’t be ideal to cluster two lefties at the top of the lineup against a left-handed pitcher, anyway.

I have been an outspoken critic of Darin Ruf‘s continued presence on the Mets’ roster and believe that the signing of Pham should foretell Ruf’s departure. Although Ruf’s career body of work against lefties is more impressive than Pham’s overall, Ruf’s performance post-trade deadline made him finish last season with a .222/.322/.430/.753 slash line against southpaws in 2022. Pham beats him there without having had such a slump as to cause a team to place him on the IL to be able to utilize his roster spot for a raw prospect in Mark Vientos.

Ideal Lineup vs. Right-Handed Pitchers

The Mets were a very strong hitting team against righties in 2022, putting up a .265/.337/.420/.756 statline while fielding the platoon of James McCann and Tomas Nido as part of the lineup. Considering that the Mets are unlikely to place two lefties back-to-back at the top of the batting order, here is their ideal lineup against righties for 2023:

1. Brandon Nimmo (L, .280/.372/.405/.808)
2. Francisco Lindor (L, .269/.343/.446/.789)
3. Starling Marte (R, .288/.338/.450/.788)
4. Pete Alonso (R, .279/.348/.532/.880)
5. Jeff McNeil (L, .332/.385/.484/.869)
6. Mark Canha (.280/.385/.405/.790)
7. Daniel Vogelbach (.261/.382/.497/.879)
8. Brett Baty (.207/.281/.414/.695, 33 PA)
9. Omar Narvaez (.205/.285/.314/.600)

Ultimately, I still believe that Brett Baty will land in Triple-A to start the season and will only come up if he has a chance to start every day, either at third base or in left field (or a combination thereof). However, Baty would be an upgrade over Escobar as a left-handed hitter. Escobar’s career .246/.303/.424/.727 line vs. righties is uninspiring, but his .231/.293/.387/.681 line in 2022 was positively putrid. Although Escobar had been stronger against righties many times in the past, the likelihood that a 34-year-old will revert back to positive numbers vs. a hard-hitting left-handed batter continuing his strong Minor League numbers against righties favors the youngster.

The Mets will almost certainly flip Marte and Lindor in this lineup, just like in the one against lefties. As a result, they can expect many more Nimmo singles and walks to be wiped out due to double plays unless Nimmo suddenly learns how to steal bases (and this would be an ideal year to do so due to the limits placed on throwing over to first and the larger bases).

In this lineup, Canha is a better No. 6 hitter due to his strong year against righties in 2022. The one reservation is that Canha had a negative baserunning value overall in 2022 according to FanGraphs Baseball’s BsR metric, as his -1.0 mark is unlikely to reverse at age 34.

This iteration of a batting order is pretty heavy on lefties at the bottom. The Mets could choose to flip Vogelbach and Baty to preserve more of a lefty-righty alternation in the event of a left-handed reliever entering the game since they always pinch-hit for Vogelbach against lefties.

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Mets’ Most Likely Path

Alas, I am not the manager, and all I know is what the manager’s tendencies were in 2022. Here are the lineups I anticipate the Mets utilizing in 2023, at least to begin the season. There are many moving parts that can change depending on how various players perform.

Vs. Lefties

1. Brandon Nimmo
2. Starling Marte
3. Francisco Lindor
4. Pete Alonso
5. Mark Canha
6. Jeff McNeil
7. Eduardo Escobar
8. Darin Ruf
9. Tomas Nido

This is the lineup the Mets used in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series against Padres lefty Blake Snell. Unfortunately, I believe the Mets still think that Ruf is worth the risk due to his positional versatility and his career ability to hit lefties. However, they will likely keep him down in the lineup to minimize the risk of disaster if Ruf continues where he left off in 2022. With the signing of Tommy Pham, they do have options elsewhere beyond bringing up Mark Vientos or Francisco Alvarez from Triple-A.

Vs. Righties

1. Brandon Nimmo
2. Starling Marte
3. Francisco Lindor
4. Pete Alonso
5. Jeff McNeil
6. Mark Canha
7. Daniel Vogelbach
8. Eduardo Escobar
9. Omar Narvaez

This is the same lineup that the Mets trotted out against the Padres in Game 3 of the playoffs against righty Joe Musgrove, just with Narvaez replacing Nido. It’s perfectly balanced for the first seven spots, with three lefties at the bottom. Coming around to the top with a fourth lefty in Nimmo makes the Mets somewhat vulnerable to left-handed relievers; however, because the Mets always pinch-hit for Vogelbach against lefties and Escobar is characteristically stronger against them from the right side, they are willing to make that handedness sacrifice at the bottom of the order.

What Could Change?

I believe Baty will start the season in Triple-A but will see significant time in the Majors this year. How much depends on how he both hits and fields in the minors, as the Mets want to see his defense improved at third and/or in left. Baty was shaky as a defender in his brief big-league stint last season, putting up -0.2 UZR, 0 OAA, and -3 DRS in just 93 innings at third.

Additionally, Baty will most likely be the first one up if Escobar gets hurt. The Mets could always call up Danny Mendick, as they did with Yolmer Sanchez in 2022. That may depend on Baty’s progress at Syracuse.

If Baty does come to the Majors, it would be interesting to see what they would do with him. Luis Guillorme is also a left-handed batter and platooned with Escobar at times last year. Baty has far more upside with the bat than Guillorme, but the Mets love Guillorme’s glove. I doubt they would put Baty at DH in place of Vogelbach, which would leave him with very little playing time if the Mets chose to start Guillorme. Since they want Baty to get seasoning in the field, they would be left with a significant dilemma.

As for Francisco Alvarez, I may be in the minority who believes that he will not see time in the majors unless there is an injury. The Mets really want their top prospect to get more seasoning behind the plate, not just with his defense but also in calling a game.

If Ruf struggles, as mentioned early, the Mets could designate him for assignment and either use Pham in his spot or bring up Mark Vientos. Vientos didn’t exactly knock the doors off in his first stint in the Majors last year, but he has mashed lefties at all levels of the minors and tends to take some time to adjust each time he advances a level. The problem with Pham as a DH is that it leaves the Mets with no backup outfielder, and Vientos doesn’t give them any real positional value.

I could also see Narváez moving up in the lineup if he starts hitting more as he did in 2021, when he slashed .289/.365/.440/.805 in 325 at-bats against right-handed pitchers. Anything close to that would elevate him more toward the middle of the order. Since Narváez’s career line against righties is .268/.345/.406/.751 and he’s had an OPS above .800 in three of the five seasons in which he had at least 200 at-bats against them, it’s not an unreasonable assumption that he could improve upon last year’s career-low numbers. Even if he doesn’t, though, the Mets got very little offensive production from the catcher position last year and they’re more concerned about defense from that spot.

The Mets were fifth in runs scored last season, and they expect to reprise that performance in 2023. Whether or not they can do that will have to do with individual performance but also maximizing their ability to string hits together. The batting order has a sneakily important role in that equation.

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Sep 17, 2022; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets third baseman Eduardo Escobar (10) celebrates with teammates after hitting a three run home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the second inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-USA TODAY Sports

Carlos Correa will ultimately not be coming to New York in 2023 or beyond, after he spurned the Mets for the Minnesota Twins Tuesday following a weeks-long standoff with New York over contract language relating to his physical condition. While it’s a bitter pill to swallow for Mets fans knowing they were teased with the idea of a dominant left side of the infield for the next decade, all is not lost for next season.

Without Correa, the Mets will be trotting out a lineup that looks awfully familiar to the 2022 edition if they don’t make any additional moves before Opening Day. While the Mets offense sputtered to a disappointing finish last season, ultimately failing to win the division or get out of the Wild Card Series, it’s important to remember that the Mets were still one of the best offenses in baseball a season ago.

The 2022 Mets were fifth in the majors in runs scored, sixth in team OPS, and second in on-base percentage. While there are serious questions about whether they have enough offensive juice to compete with baseball’s elite teams, the Mets still project to be an above-average run-producing unit in 2023.

As a refresher, here’s what the Mets lineup is likely to look like next season, at least to start the year.

1. CF Brandon Nimmo
2. RF Starling Marte
3. SS Francisco Lindor
4. 1B Pete Alonso
5. 2B Jeff McNeil
6. DH Daniel Vogelbach
7. 3B Eduardo Escobar
8. LF Mark Canha
9. C Omar Narváez

From 1-5, the Mets can compete with anyone in the majors. The top of the Mets lineup features one of the game’s best center fielders, a two-time All-Star who can hit for average and power, two top-10 NL MVP vote getters last season, and the reigning major league batting champion.

It’s the bottom half of the lineup that will have the most question marks. Vogelbach is a masher against righties, but will see limited if any starts against left-handed pitchers. Unless the Mets want to start the season with three catchers and carry top prospect Francisco Álvarez, as a platoon DH, their only other reasonable right-handed DH options are Darin Ruf, who had a miserable second half after being traded to Queens, or Mark Vientos who had a 58 OPS+ in 16 games in his first taste of big-league action in 2022.

Escobar was hot-and-cold last year, and the Mets will need more consistency out of him or he may lose his job at some point to top prospect Brett Baty. Canha is a reliable if unspectacular presence who will get on base and has some pop. Newly-acquired Narváez and Tomás Nido will try to give the Mets more production than they got last season out of their backstops. when they ranked 28th in the majors in catcher OPS.

If the Mets are to replicate or improve on their production this season, they will need their elite hitters to continue to produce at a high level and get more production out positions like catcher, third base, and DH. Whether that production comes from improvement from last season’s regulars, breakouts from top prospects like Álvarez and Baty, or from other players yet to be acquired, remains to be seen.

While it’s certainly possible the Mets will once again be one of MLB’s top offenses, the task has gotten a lot harder without an All-Star third baseman.

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Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports

With Carlos Correa now signing with the Twins, the Mets have to try again to add some thump to their lineup.

“We needed one more thing, and this (Correa) is it,” Cohen said when the team first agreed to their deal with Correa. “This was important… This puts us over the top.”

While the team scored the third-most runs in the National League, they ranked just eighth in the league in home runs and lacked a right-handed complement to Daniel Vogelbach. There are still a few ways for Billy Eppler and company to address this need.

Sign Jurickson Profar

The free agent market has thinned over the past month, but Profar is the top bat still available. While he isn’t a power hitter necessarily, Profar is a switch-hitter and had a solid 11.1% walk rate and a 15.7% strikeout rate while spending most of the 2022 season as the Padres’ lead-off hitter. He also racked up a 111 OPS+, which is the highest he’s recorded over the course of a full season, and posted a career-high 3.1 rWAR. Furthermore, Profar has played every position on the diamond except for catcher in his career, though he’s shown his most defensive prowess in left field. He could be used as a bit of a super-utility man and can bat either at the top or bottom of the lineup.

Sign Andrew McCutchen or Adam Duvall

As explained in our free agent profiles on both players, Duvall and McCutchen have better power numbers than Profar and boast strong track records against left-handed pitching. In addition to playing all three outfield positions, Duvall has experience at both corner-infield positions, and grades as an above-average defender everywhere he’s played in his career. McCutchen would likely be limited to the corner outfield positions, but he could provide rest to Starling Marte, who nursed multiple injuries last year. Both McCutchen and Duvall may have to be platoon players, but they provide the right-handed pop that the team needed last season.

Make a Trade

The Mets have enough prospect capital and major-league-ready talent to make some deals if they choose this route. The trade market for bats has been picking up a little bit lately, and there are still some players that could be moved before opening day. Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds is the most notable candidate, as he’s requested a trade out of Pittsburgh due to the team’s lackluster extension offers. The 27-year-old was an All-Star and received MVP votes in 2021 and while his numbers took a bit of a dip in 2022, he still posted a solid 126 OPS+ for the year. However, the Pirates have a sky-high asking price for the switch-hitting outfielder, as he’s under team control through the end of the 2025 season.

Another player to keep an eye on is Brewers infielder Willy Adames. Milwaukee has already traded Adames’ double-play partner, Kolten Wong, and he likely wouldn’t cost as much as Reynolds. Adames doesn’t draw a ton of walks (7.9% in 2022), but he smacked a career-high 31 homers and drove in 98 runs, and registered a career-best 4.4 rWAR. Adames would have to move away from the shortstop position, but he has the power and defensive prowess that could fortify the lineup.

Stand Pat Until the Summer

The Mets are slated to enter the season with Eduardo Escobar as the starting third baseman, with Luis Guillorme as the backup and Brett Baty waiting in the wings. Even with a rocky first few months of the season, Escobar finished the season with 20 homers and a 106 OPS+. In September, Escobar looked like the player the Mets hoped they were getting, hitting a blistering .321/.385/.596 with eight homers, winning NL Player of the Month honors. Guillorme displayed an ability to play all over the diamond at a high level and chipped in a 101 OPS+. Baty tore up the minor leagues in 2022 and showed flashes of greatness at the major league level before a thumb injury ended his season.

Even if the Mets don’t make another move for a bat, they have enough options where they can afford to stand pat for the time being. There will likely be more bats on the market this summer and it might be best to see what the in-house options can do before making a move.

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