Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The 2023 season is almost here. Can you believe it?!

You know what time it is — prediction time! What record will the Mets end with? Will they make it to the postseason? Take the division? Here’s what we think.

John Sheridan

Mets Record: 89-73

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Padres
NL WC: Mets, Phillies, Giants

AL East: Blue Jays
AL Central: Twins
AL West: Astros
AL WC: Yankees, Angels, Rays

James Villani

Mets Record: 95-67

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Padres
NL WC: Dodgers, Mets, Brewers

AL East: Blue Jays
AL Central: White Sox
AL West: Astros
AL WC: Yankees, Mariners, Guardians

Christian De Block

Mets Record: 92-70

NL East: Phillies
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Padres
NL WC: Mets, Braves, Dodgers

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Guardians
AL West: Astros
AL WC: Mariners, Blue Jays, Twins

Chris Bello

Mets Record: 94-68

NL East: Mets
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Padres
NL WC: Braves, Dodgers, Brewers

AL East: Blue Jays
AL Central: Guardians
AL West: Astros
AL Wildcard: Yankees, Mariners, Angels

Johnluke Chaparro

Mets Record: 96-66

NL East: Mets
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Dodgers
NL WC: Phillies, Padres, Braves

AL East: Blue Jays
AL Central: Guardians
AL West: Astros
AL WC: Mariners, Rays, Twins

Dan Quiñones

Mets Record: 97-65

NL East: Mets
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Padres
NL WC: Braves, Dodgers, Phillies

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Guardians
AL West: Astros
AL WC: Mariners, Blue Jays, Rays

Patrick Glynn

Mets Record: 96-66

NL East: Mets
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Dodgers
NL WC: Padres, Phillies, Braves

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Guardians
AL West: Astros
AL WC: Blue Jays, Angels, Rays

Mojo Hill

Mets Record: 94-68

NL East: Mets
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Dodgers
NL WC: Braves, Phillies, Padres

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Guardians
AL West: Angels
AL WC: Rangers, Blue Jays, Astros

Andrew Steele-Davis

Mets Record: 98-64

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Padres
NL WC: Mets, Phillies, Dodgers

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Guardians
AL West: Astros
AL WC: Blue Jays, Mariners, Angels

Rich Sparago

Mets Record: 94-68

NL East: Mets
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Padres
NL WC: Braves, Phillies, Dodgers

AL East: Blue Jays
AL Central: Guardians
AL West: Astros
AL WC: Yankees, Mariners, Rangers

Michelle Ioannou

Mets Record: 94-68

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Dodgers
NL WC: Mets, Phillies, Padres

AL East: Blue Jays
AL Central: Guardians
AL West: Astros
AL WC: Yankees, Angels, Rays

The post MMO Roundtable: Mets Record, Division and Playoff Predictions appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

Will the New York Mets win the World Series in 2023?

Nah, I’m not going that bold, sorry.

But it’s time for some bold Mets predictions.

It’s kind of hard to be bold without making some outrageously overconfident or hyperbolic statements, but I’m going to try.

Here are my five bold predictions for the Mets’ 2023 season.

5. Mets will go further in the playoffs than the Phillies

This might not have seemed like such a bold prediction heading into last year’s playoffs. It may also not seem so bold because the Mets lead the Phillies in most preseason power rankings.

Still, Philadelphia is the reigning National League champion. New York is the reigning NL East choker who was bounced from the playoffs after one three-game set. The Phillies signed Trea Turner. The Mets replaced Jacob deGrom with Justin Verlander.

Both teams have lost vital pieces in Rhys Hoskins and Edwin Díaz. Both have questions about their bullpen.

The Mets went 14-5 against the Phillies last season, which begs the question of what might have happened in a head-to-head playoff matchup.

Ultimately, I’m not ready to say that the Mets will be better than the Braves or will go deeper in the playoffs. But I do think the Phillies will take a step back after a very unexpected postseason run despite their big-ticket free-agent addition.

4. Francisco Lindor will have a 30-30 season

Francisco Lindor has hit over 30 homers in a season three times in his career, each season 2017-19. He has never stolen 30 bases in a year; his highest total was 25 in 2018. He stole 16 bags last season.

That’s an awful lot of stretching for a 29-year-old player. So why do I think this is a strong enough possibility to make it a bold prediction?

Two reasons: One, I believe that the Mets will add more of a home-run emphasis to their approach this offseason. Mark Canha bulked up with the express intent of hitting more homers. Pete Alonso, Brett Baty, Jeff McNeil, and others displayed clear upper-arm strengthening work under their jerseys this spring training. It wouldn’t shock me if Lindor sacrifices a bit of contact for some more power.

Regarding the stolen bases, the rule changes answer it all. The Mets kept Tim Locastro on their roster over Darin Ruf largely due to Locastro’s speed, which is important considering the rule changes. I suspect that the Mets will try to make use of whatever speed they do have on the basepaths. Although Lindor is not a burner at this point (55th percentile among MLB players in sprint speed, per Baseball Savant), he still has base-stealing savvy.

Give me the 30-30 season for Lindor.

3. Drew Smith will determine the fate of the Mets’ 2023 bullpen

Come now? After the Mets lost their best reliever for the season, it’s not going to be his replacement who is the most important reliever?

Of course, this may be too vague in and of itself to qualify as a true prediction. Does any reliever make or break the quality of his team’s bullpen? As great as Díaz was in 2022, the Mets still had an often-shaky bullpen because they often struggled to get the ball to him.

Where was that shakiness, though? It was primarily in middle relief. Adam Ottavino had a very strong year that did not get its due attention because of Díaz’s dominance. While there is no guarantee that either Ottavino or David Robertson will continue to perform well in their late 30s, they both still have enough of a track record of success to at least moderately trust them.

Perhaps Brooks Raley deserves this title as the Mets’ lone bullpen lefty. However, it would be difficult to be as inconsistent and often terrible as Joely Rodríguez was in that role last season. Rodríguez was a perfect example of the limitations of analytics, as he was unreliable despite high strikeout numbers and low hard-hit rates. Raley, meanwhile, also put up a strong season along with well above-average strikeout and hard-hit rates.

However, given that Raley is the lone lefty, he will likely be used as more of a specialist With the three-batter rule, the “lefty specialist” role has been modified, but pitchers like that are still usually reserved to face key lefty batters in big spots or multiple lefties in an inning.

That leaves Drew Smith as the primary non-specialist in the middle of the bullpen. Behind the three aforementioned pitchers, he was the only other lock for the Mets’ bullpen. The team likes John Curtiss, but he is coming off Tommy John surgery and is still an unknown commodity.

Tommy Hunter has been shuffled back and forth from the IL and the minors in recent seasons. Stephen Nogosek will make the major league team because he’s out of options and the Mets don’t want to let him go; furthermore, his underlying metrics suggested that he got a bit lucky in his short 2022 stints with the team.

Dennis Santana is the 2023 version of Rodríguez, the player who often has good underlying metrics but somehow can’t get the results, in part because of a very high walk rate (11th percentile in 2022, 4th in 2021).

Who else will take those big middle innings? It will likely be Smith, the guy they’ll turn to for more than one inning at a time. If Smith pitches well, the Mets could still have a solid Core Four in their bullpen. But if he doesn’t, then it comes down to a ragtag bunch facing many questions.

2. Omar Narváez will post a league-average OPS+

The MLB average for OPS was .706 in 2022, down from .728 in 2021, .740 in 2020, and .758 in 2019. .706 was the lowest value since 2014, and the second-lowest since 1993.

MLB may have tinkered with the baseball last season, although commissioner Rob Manfred denied it. There’s a possibility the league can do that again in the opposite direction, livening the ball in keeping with attempts to draw more eyes to the game via more baserunners, runs scored, and home runs.

Omar Narváez‘s career has taken some interesting twists and turns. From 2016-22, his OPS has ranged from .562 (2020) to .813 (2019), and his OPS+ has ranged from 53 to two consecutive years of 119 in 2018-19. Last year’s metrics of.597 and 71, respectively, were well below average.

However, Narváez posted a 101 OPS+ in 2021, and has a career average of exaclty 100. That was part of the reason the Mets signed him and traded James McCann; McCann had a 55 OPS+ last season and never seemed to figure it out in New York. Obviously, Narváez’s defense and left-handed bat were also factors.

Narváez’s has a .751 career OPS in 1,751 plate appearances vs. righties. However, his OPS was just .600 against righties last season in 239 PAs. Ultimately, the question comes down to whether Narváez can bounce back.

I’m going to bet that he will. A 100 OPS+ would be tremendous for the Mets. Just having that ninth spot not be an automatic out strengthens the lineup significantly. Tomás Nido will likely play more than just sparingly vs. righties due to his defensive prowess, but considering that Narváez can more than capably man the backstop, a bounce-back season from him would likely lead to increased playing time.

1. David Peterson will push José Quintana (or someone else) out of the rotation

Okay, this one is quite bold considering the way the Mets seem unwilling to give David Peterson a full-time rotation role. The signing of José Quintana demonstrated this pretty clearly.

Still, Peterson pitched very well for most of 2022 despite repeatedly shuffling from the minors to the majors, and even shuffling between the starting rotation to the bullpen. Despite that, numbers were more than adequate for a fifth starter.

Interestingly, Peterson’s 3.64 FIP was stronger than his 3.83 ERA in 2022, which implies that he performed well in baseball’s three true outcomes (strikeouts, walks, and home runs). Furthermore, his 3.31 xFIP was better than his actual FIP, and xFIP is considered more predictive of future performance than FIP itself. Interestingly, while Quintana’s 2022 FIP was quite a bit better than Peterson’s at 2.99, his xFIP was significantly worse at 3.72.

It would take a better performance than Peterson posted in 2022 for him to maintain his fifth-starter spot for good. However, given that Quintana is out until at least July, there is enough time for Peterson to give the Mets a good, hard look at why he deserves to stay in that position.

There’s also the possibility that Peterson could replace Carlos Carrasco at some point instead of Quintana. While Quintana is under contract for the 2024 season, Carrasco is a free agent after this season. If Peterson performs well and Carrasco struggles or suffers an injury, the Mets will have an interesting decision to make if and when Quintana is healthy enough to return.

Even for the Mets, who are seemingly obstinate about the levels at which replacement players must perform to push starters, it would be difficult to send Peterson down to Triple-A after three-plus months of above-average performance.

Of course, it’s possible, even likely, that another injury keeps Peterson in the rotation throughout the season and that this is more of a discussion about Tylor Megill. There’s a reason Peterson started 19 games in 2022, and the Mets’ starting rotation may be more brittle now than it was last season.

However, I think this is the year that Peterson finally proves to the Mets that he belongs. The team has not gotten enough pitching output from their pitching prospects in recent seasons (not that they’ve even had too many of those prospects to begin with). It would be a huge boon for them to have a true starting pitcher with two more arbitration-eligible years, particularly with the age of the rest of their rotation.

Peterson may not be an elite starter, but he’s more than capable of manning the back end of the Mets’ rotation in 2023.

The post Five Bold Predictions for Mets’ 2023 Season 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.

Chiefs vs. Eagles in Super Bowl LVII. Photo Credits: KIRBY LEE/USA TODAY SPORTS

We’re talking football here on MMO today (don’t worry, baseball is still our #1, but it’s the Super Bowl!).

Super Bowl LVII is happening this weekend, Sunday February 12. The Kansas City Chiefs will be taking on the Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The Chiefs have won twice in 1970 and most recently in 2020. The Eagles have one championship under their belt from 2018.

You know I have to mention it – Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is the son of former Mets player Pat Mahomes, making lots of Mets fans wanting the Chiefs to win (and well, because of our hatred for Philly, too).

There’s another Mets connection in this year’s Super Bowl, too. One of our favorite former on-field reporters and TV broadcasters, Kevin Burkhardt, is calling the game. It’ll be his first Super Bowl. Good luck, Kevin! Mets fans will be rooting for you.

The game is set to start at 6:30 PM on Fox. Oh, and if you’ve been living under a rock, the Mets will be running a Super Bowl ad. We’re sure you’ve already seen it, but be sure to be on the lookout for that!

So, who do you have?

MMO Staff Predictions:

Patrick Glynn: Chiefs 34, Eagles 31

Matt Mancuso: Chiefs 21, Eagles 17

Christian De Block: Chiefs 28, Eagles 27

Rich Sparago: Chiefs 27, Eagles 14

Andrew Steele-Davis: Chiefs 28, Eagles 21

Michelle Ioannou: Chiefs 31, Eagles 27

Marshall Field: Eagles 28, Chiefs 17

John Sheridan: Eagles 22, Chiefs 18

Joe D.: Eagles 38, Chiefs 13

Ricky Keller: Eagles 30, Chiefs 27

Did You Know…

Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce are the first brothers to play against each other in the Super Bowl.

Andy Reid is older than Nick Sirianni by 23 years. This is the second-largest coaching age gap in Super Bowl history. The first? Bill Belichick and Sean McVay in Super Bowl LIII – there were 33 years between them.

The National Anthem will be sung by Chris Stapleton. Babyface will sing “America the Beautiful” and Sheryl Lee Ralph will sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

There will be a Navy flyover during the National Anthem with female aviators. This is to celebrate 50 years of women flying in the Navy.

Rihanna will headline the Super Bowl Halftime show. She’s teased that she may bring special guests to perform with her, but hasn’t confirmed who.

It should be a great game!

The post MMO Super Bowl LVII Staff Predictions appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

We’re officially in the thick of free agency and MLB Trade Rumors has released their list of top 50 free agents, with projections for each player’s new team and contract.

The Mets are involved with several of the top available players. Here’s a quick breakdown of the guys MLBTR expects the Mets to sign, and where they expect current Mets free agents to sign. Their panel of four experts each made a prediction for each player, so the teams listed below represent a majority of those picks if there was one.

Carlos Rodon – Prediction: Mets, 5 years/$140M

Rodón’s roller-coaster career has reached a high point at an optimal time for the former first-round draft pick.

After dazzling on just a 1-year, $3M deal with the White Sox in 2021, Rodón signed a 2-year, $44M contract with the Giants last off-season. He opted out of the second year, making him one of the top arms available during this free agency cycle.

Two of MLBTR’s four experts project Rodón will sign with the Mets. If he does, Met fans will hope he continues his current trajectory. At just 30-years-old, Rodón could be a big part of the rotation for years to come. It’s already been reported that the Mets have interest in Rodón.

Jacob deGrom – Prediction: Rangers, 3 years/$135M

DeGrom’s opt-out was a surprise to no one, as he stated ever since spring training he would be testing free agency after the season. Injuries and inconsistency marred what could have been a magical 2022 for deGrom, who looked as good as he ever had when he was healthy.

Whether deGrom returns to New York or not, one has to wonder how much the 34-year-old has left in the tank. DeGrom and the Rangers have already reached out to each other to talk. The team that signs deGrom has to ask itself: is making a nine-figure commitment worth it to find out?

Brandon Nimmo – Prediction: Mets, 5 years/$110M

Nimmo has become one of the faces of the franchise for the Mets, but now there is a real possibility he could suit up in a different jersey for the first time in his major league career.

His consistency at the plate and in the field over the past few years now sets him up for a big payday as one of the top free agents this off-season. The Mets have stated Nimmo is a top priority and while MLBTR also lists the Astros and Giants as potential landing spots, the most popular belief is that the longtime Met stays in Queens.

Chris Bassitt – Prediction: Twins, 3 years/$60M

Chris Bassitt pitched a career-high 181 2/3 innings for the 2022 Mets and provided big outings on a consistent basis. When the ’23 season starts Bassitt will be 34-years-old, so the question becomes: which team will take a chance that he can continue pitching at a high level for multiple seasons?

While MLBTR’s projections had Bassitt signing with the Twins, it seems there could be a large market for his services.

It’s worth noting that this list features three of the Mets’ main five starters from last season and they are all projected to sign elsewhere.

Taijuan Walker – Prediction: Padres, 4 years/$62M

The third member of the aforementioned rotation free agents is Taijuan Walker. At just 30-years-old, Walker could have his best baseball ahead of him despite having been in the league for at least part of ten seasons.

Walker showed flashes of brilliance early in 2021 and then hit a wall as his inning count ballooned that season. 2022 saw more consistency from Taijuan and he proved he can be a solid part of someone’s rotation.

Andrew Heaney – Prediction: Mets, 3 years/$42M

Heaney has shown flashes of brilliance in his 9-year career, but he’s also been unable to stay on the field. For Met fans who don’t know Heaney, he’s a “poor man’s” deGrom, having posted k/9 rates over 10 on a consistent basis, even putting up 13.6 in 2022, but he has also only pitched over 130 innings one time, and over 100 innings in just three seasons.

If Heaney can stay healthy, whichever team signs him will get a steal, but that’s a big “if” and his projected contract reflects the risk. The Mets have already reportedly shown interest in the left-hander.

David Robertson – Prediction: Mets, 2 years/$16M

The Mets experienced significant bullpen woes in 2022 and Robertson was a popular name around the trade deadline, but the veteran reliever ended up pitching for the Phillies instead.

Now in free agency Robertson is linked to the Mets again and despite the fact that during the second week of the season he will turn 38, David’s presence would be welcomed in Queens as a reliable reliever with a long track record of success.

Adam Ottavino – Prediction: No Consensus, 2 years/$14M

When he’s on, Ottavino has one of the nastiest sliders in the game and we saw a few outings last season where he seemed unhittable. MLBTR is all over the board when projecting where Ottavino might land, but at two-years, $14 million it would make a lot of sense for the Mets to keep him in their ‘pen, even if he’s not the high-leverage guy he was in 2022.

As is the case with any free agent, you can’t count the Mets out with Steve Cohen at the helm. Even though guys like Trea Turner, Aaron Judge and Justin Verlander weren’t included with the Mets in the running, many never would have put Max Scherzer on the Mets’ radar at this time last year so anything can happen.

Stay tuned to MMO for up-to-the-minute and in-depth coverage of free agency!

The post MLBTR: Mets Free Agent Predictions appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

The 2022 season is almost here. We’ve already shared with you what we’re most excited about. Now we’re sharing our predictions with you. What record will the Mets end with? Will they make it to the postseason? Take the division? Here’s what we think.

Alex Horowitz 
Mets record: 94-68

NL East: Mets
NL Central: Brewers
NL West: Dodgers
NL WC: Braves, Phillies, Cardinals

AL East: Rays
AL Central: White Sox
AL West: Mariners
AL WC: Blue Jays, Red Sox, Astros

Michael Garaffa 
Mets record: 92-70

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Brewers
NL West: Dodgers
NL WC: Mets, Padres, Cardinals

AL East: Blue Jays
AL Central: White Sox
AL West: Mariners
AL WC: Red Sox, Astros, Rays

Patrick Glynn 
Mets record: 89-73

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Brewers
NL West: Dodgers
NL WC: Giants, Mets, Padres

AL East: Blue Jays
AL Central: White Sox
AL West: Astros
AL WC: Rays, Yankees, Mariners

Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Brian Wright 
Mets record: 89-73

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Dodgers
NL WC: Mets, Brewers, Giants

AL East: Blue Jays
AL Central: White Sox
AL West: Astros
AL WC: Red Sox, Mariners, Angels

Rich Sparago 
Mets record: 90-72

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Brewers
NL West: Dodgers
NL WC: Mets, Cardinals, Padres

AL East: Blue Jays
AL Central: White Sox
AL West: Astros
AL WC: Yankees, Angels, Red Sox

John Flanigan 
Mets record: 90-72

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Brewers
NL West: Dodgers
NL WC: Mets, Cardinals, Padres

AL East: Blue Jays
AL Central: White Sox
AL West: Mariners
AL WC: Red Sox, Yankees, Astros

Marshall Field 
Mets record: 90-72

NL East: Mets
NL Central: Brewers
NL West: Dodgers
NL WC: Cardinals, Giants, Padres

AL East: Blue Jays
AL Central: Chicago
AL West: Houston
AL WC: Red Sox, Angels, Rays

Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-USA TODAY Sports

Michael Mayer
Mets record: 89-73

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Brewers
NL West: Dodgers
NL WC: Mets, Giants, Padres

AL East: Blue Jays
AL Central: White Sox
AL West: Mariners
AL WC: Rays, Angels, Astros

Michelle Ioannou 
Mets record: 90-72

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Brewers
NL West: Dodgers
NL WC: Mets, Cardinals, Phillies

AL East: Blue Jays
AL Central: White Sox
AL West: Astros
AL WC: Yankees, Red Sox, Angels

Joe D.
Mets record: 88-74

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Dodgers
NL WC: Mets, Phillies, Giants

AL East: Rays
AL Central: White Sox
AL West: Astros
AL WC: Blue Jays, Yankees, Mariners

The post MMO Roundtable: Mets Record, Division and Playoff Predictions appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

It’s that time of year again! As we all get ready for what hopefully is an exciting Mets season we are back with an all new MMO Predictions Challenge.

Below are the questions for the MMO 2022 NYM Predictions Challenge. There are 18 questions divided into Pitching, Hitting, Defense, and Other.

Play Ball

To participate simply leave a comment with your answer for each of the corresponding questions. We encourage you to answer all 18 questions.

Tracking

I will add all your answers to a Google sheet that will be made public for all to follow along and track who’s in the lead as the season progresses.

Tie-Breaker

In the case of questions with numerical answers if no one answers it correctly the next closest answer to the question will be chosen as the winning answer.

Deadline

Answers submitted after the first pitch during the Mets vs Nationals season opener will not be accepted.

Remember this is intended to be for fun. “Friendly” bragging rights if you like. When bragging/commenting please remember to follow MMO commenting guidelines.

Here we go…

Pitching:

1. Most Strikeouts in a 9-Inning Game as a team?

2. Combined Innings Pitched between Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer?

3. Total Saves by Mets bullpen?

4. Mets Leader in Holds?

5. Starting Pitcher that posts the Lowest ERA?

Hitting:

6. First player to hit a Grand Slam?

7. Team Leader in Doubles?

8. Most Runs Mets will Score in a 9-Innning Game?

9. How many Mets will hit 20+ Home Runs?

10 Team leader in Batting Average?

11. Player with 1st Golden Sombrero (4 K’s in a game)?

Defense:

12. Player with most Outfield Assists?

Other:

13. First Mets rookie to make their MLB debut?

14. Player on the Opening Day roster who spends most time on the I.L.?

15. Longest Mets losing streak?

16. Longest Mets winning streak?

17. Mets W-L Record?

18. NYM Total BWar?

Note: All stats verified by Baseball Reference 

Special Thanks: Mr. North Jersey for putting this together. 

* * * * * *

Good Luck to all of you in the MMO community!

The post MMO 2022 Mets Predictions Challenge appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The 2021 World Series is set after the Atlanta Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games with a final 4-2 win on Saturday. On the other side of the bracket, the Houston Astros beat the Boston Red Sox in six games, too, but finished their series on Friday.

Each team will have a couple days off now before the World Series starts Tuesday in Houston. I’ll save you a “how did these teams get here?” diatribe, as Houston/Atlanta wasn’t exactly at the top of everyone’s predictions at the beginning of the season (let alone in July or August), but let’s look at a couple questions whose answers may sway how this series swings.

Will Eddie Rosario Keep Hitting?

Atlanta scored 28 runs in the six games of the NLCS. Eddie Rosario knocked in nine of them. That’s the primary reason why Rosario was named the NLCS MVP Saturday after Atlanta locked down the series.

The Braves acquired him in July at the trading deadline (for Pablo Sandoval‘s 1-for-37 slump and a couple bucks, no less) as he was recovering from an oblique injury, and since calling him up in late August, Rosario has an OPS bordering on 1.000. That’s nearly 50 games’ worth of at-bats.

Over the whole postseason, Rosario has gone 18-for-38 (.474) with a couple timely home runs and extra base hits, none more than his three-run home run in Game 6 of the NLCS to put the Braves up 4-1, a lead they secured.

EDDIE ROSARIO 3-RUN HOMER 💥

Braves back on top in the 4th!

(via @Braves) pic.twitter.com/xsagl4Pn3Q

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 24, 2021

It’s the best Rosario has ever played in his career, so the main question is: can he keep it up for another series?

They’re smaller sample sizes, but Rosario is lifting the ball in the air a lot more since coming to Atlanta (47 percent, a career high). Houston pitching, on the other hand, produced a higher percentage of ground balls than any other American League team this season (44.5 percent). This is just one player-versus-pitching-staff matchup, but it’s indicative of what will play out in the series as a whole. Atlanta as a team hit ground balls at less of a rate than any other team in baseball outside of the Giants. One battle of attrition will come when Houston pitchers fight to keep the ball on the ground against a team that hasn’t shown any propensity to do that.

One of Houston’s primary ground-ball getters, though, is Lance McCullers Jr., who will likely be out for the entire World Series with a forearm issue. So that leads to…

Do The Astros Have Enough Pitching?

Without Lance McCullers Jr., Houston starters struggled through the first four games of the American League Championship Series.

No starter made it through the fourth, and it wasn’t by design.

Game 1: Framber Valdez, 2 2/3 innings, 64 pitches, three runs (two earned)
Game 2: Luis Garcia, one inning, 33 pitches, five runs (all earned)
Game 3: Jose Urquidy, 1 2/3 innings, 57 pitches, six runs (five earned)
Game 4: Zack Greinke, two innings, 37 pitches, two runs (all earned)

That’s not good. That totals to 7 1/3 innings and 16 runs allowed by Houston starters through the first four games. They somehow went 2-2 in those games. (Boston’s poor performance with runners in scoring position is really to blame for that, as well as solid performances by the Houston bullpen, especially in the Greinke game.)

In Games 5 and 6, Valdez and Garcia tightened up, allowing just one run over 13 2/3 innings. They won both those games pretty handily. Valdez’s eight-inning, one-run gem Wednesday can’t go unmentioned, either, and that’s the kind of pitching performance Houston is going to need in the World Series. The bullpen held up as reinforcements in the ALCS. The same might not be true for the World Series. Valdez and Garcia will absolutely have to pitch well, then they’ll also need someone like Urquidy or Greinke to deliver length and effectiveness in the Game 3/4 range, too.

Can Braves Pitchers Calm Astros Bats?

Both by wRC+ (116) and runs per game (5.41), the Astros were the best offense in baseball this year. That’s carried over to the playoffs as they’ve scored 67 runs in 10 games. (Atlanta’s scored 40 in as many games.)

The ‘Stros were led by Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker and Yuli Gurriel in the ALCS, which is crazy because Carlos Correa, José Altuve, Michael Brantley and Alex Bregman were secondary offensive players.

Atlanta’s pitching staff has been striking out a ton recently, none more notable than when Tyler Matzek struck out three Dodgers–including Mookie Betts–in a second-and-third with no outs situation during Game 6. Houston, however, strikes out less and makes more contact than anyone in the league. I’m not positive Atlanta has the firepower to keep up with Houston’s offense, so it’ll be on Max Fried, Ian Anderson, Charlie Morton and the bullpen to keep Houston’s bats at bay as much as possible.

Tyler Matzek with THREE strikeouts 😳

(via @MLB)pic.twitter.com/ZXGc9EBiUZ

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 24, 2021

Prediction

I don’t see this series going more than five or six games in the Astros direction.

The Astros are the best offense that made the playoffs, and the Braves are running on peak performances from a handful of players (Rosario, AJ Minter, Will Smith). This honestly reminds me a bit of the Royals and Mets World Series in 2015, where the Mets made a miracle run to the World Series on the strength of some extremely hot and timely hitting and a handful of trade-deadline acquisitions.

Houston, like Kansas City in 2015, has been the consistent and rock solid team all season. Alvarez is playing extremely hot, similar to Rosario, but Houston’s lineup runs legitimately seven or eight guys deep, so much so that Alex Bregman–Alex Bregman!!–was their sixth or seventh best hitter this year.

The Game 1 matchup (8:09 p.m. Tuesday on FOX) will likely be the most intriguing with two of the game’s best lefties–Framber Valdez and Max Fried–facing off. (They’ll likely face off again in Game 4 or 5, too.) After that, though, I think the series comes down to who will hit the mash the other team’s starters (both bullpens have been extremely solid), and I have more confidence in Houston doing that.

Let’s say Houston in six.

(Edit: Valdez faced off in Game 1 versus Charlie Morton.)

The post 2021 World Series Preview: Braves vs Astros appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Good morning Mets fans! We’re a tad bit late this week with the new episode of Pleasant Good Evening due to some technical issues over here at MetsMerized. Remember, this episode, as usual, was recorded Sunday night. It has been available publicly for 24 hours on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more sites, but we’ve finally got it going for you here.

Jack (@jackhendon_) and myself (@samlebo14) sadly believe it is time to eulogize the Mets’ 2020 season. After a weekend series loss to the Braves, playoff hopes are looking bleak. We talk about what exactly went wrong, both against the Braves and during this 60-game sprint.

We also discuss the Travis d’Arnaud Revenge Tour. He has torched the Mets in 2020, and he is certainly not the only former Met to crush his ex-team. We try to get to the bottom of why so many ex-Mets do well against them.

We also talk about the two players to be named later that were announced as part of the Mets earlier trades. Jack and I try to figure out what trading a submariner and a lottery ticket means for the organization as a whole.

And, Jack and I take a look around the extremely tight National League playoff picture and give our predictions for who sneaks into the postseason.

We also break down the Sandy Alderson news! We tell you why it’s great news.

And, as usual we remember some guys at the end of the episode.

This week, we are running our second mailbag question: Which loss from 2020 do you wish you could take back? Respond to our mailbag tweet @PGEPod_MMO and your answer might get featured in next week’s episode.

Only six games left of the regular season! Enjoy the episode and the last week of the season, Mets fans!

The post Pleasant Good Evening Podcast Episode 5: We Didn’t Start The Fire appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The MMO has shared our predictions for the 2020 MLB Awards. Now it’s time to talk division and playoffs — who is going to take it? Will it be the Mets? Let’s see what the MMO team thinks.

Sal 

NL East: Nationals
NL Central: Brewers
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wild Card: Mets and Reds

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Twins
AL West: Astros
AL Wild Cards: Indians and Blue Jays

Jack 

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Cubs
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wild Cards: Phillies and Brewers

AL East: Rays
AL Central: White Sox
AL West: Astros
AL Wild Cards: A’s and Red Sox

Marissa 

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Brewers
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wild Cards: Mets and Cubs

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Indians
AL West: Astros
AL Wild Cards: A’s and White Sox

Joe 

NL East: Mets
NL Central: Brewers
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wild Cards: Braves and Cubs

AL EAST: Yankees
AL Central: Indians
AL West: Astros
AL Wild Cards: A’s and White Sox

Marshall 

NL East: Mets
NL Central: Brewers
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wild Cards: Nationals and Reds .

AL East: Rays
AL Central: Indians
AL West: Astros
AL Wild Cards: Yankees and A’s

Violeta 

NL East: Mets
NL Central: Brewers
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wild Cards: Braves and Cubs

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Indians
AL West: Astros
AL Wild Cards: Blue Jays and White Sox

Michelle 

NL East: Nationals
NL Central: Brewers
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wild Cards: Mets and Cubs

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Indians
AL West: Astros
AL Wild Cards: Red Sox and White Sox

Emmanuel 

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Reds
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wild Cards: Nationals and Cardinals

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Twins
AL West: Athletics
AL Wild Cards: Rays and Astros

Matt 

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wild Cards: Dbacks & Nationals

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Twins
AL West: Astros
AL Wild Cards: Athletics and Rays

Dilip

NL East: Braves
NL Central: Cubs
NL West: Dodgers
NL Wild Cards: Diamondbacks and Reds

AL East: Yankees
AL Central: Twins
AL West: Astros
AL Wild Cards: Rays and A’s
World Series Matchup: Yankees and Dodgers, Dodgers win in 6

The post MMO Roundtable: Division and Playoff Predictions appeared first on Metsmerized Online.