Mets360 - Top 10 worries for the 2020 Mets

Top 10 worries for the 2020 Mets

by Brian Joura

We’re on the cusp of a 60-game season with 30-man rosters, no fans in the stadiums, the DH in the National League and a rookie manager. What could possibly go wrong? Hanging over everything is the knowledge that this truncated baseball campaign might not even be completed as now scheduled. Some people don’t even think we should have a season. Me? This seems like the perfect time to apply the old chestnut – “The only real failure is the failure to try.”

Besides, as Mets fans our real worry isn’t that the season will have to shut down due to Covid-19 concerns. Instead, our fear is that this team that expected to challenge for a playoff berth in a normal year will find itself buried early and unable to overcome an 8-game deficit created in the first one-third of the season. In a year where you need to get out of the starting blocks like Ben Johnson on steroids and close like Carl Lewis – there can be no prolonged slumps.

But let’s look beyond a team-wide concern and focus on individual players. What are the main worries for the Mets? And let’s eliminate the garden-variety “keep everyone healthy.” We all know that an injury to Jacob deGrom is crippling. So, let’s look at things that aren’t quite so obvious. 

Here’s one take on the 10 things that could torpedo the season.

10. Wilson Ramos suffers another drop in SLG
When the Mets signed Ramos as a free agent, the two main worries were how healthy he would be and how poor the non-throwing part of his defense would be. Ramos was remarkably healthy in 2019. The defense, especially in the first half of the season, was even worse than advertised. Perhaps because his throwing was so bad or maybe because he displayed a knack for driving in runs, what got lost is that Ramos went from a .483 SLG over 1,163 PA from 2016-2018 to a .416 mark in the happy ball environment of 2019. What if the ball resembles the one used in the playoffs, rather than the regular season? Can the Mets play a defensively-challenged catcher who struggles to post a .700 OPS? No one wants to see 2011 Josh Thole again.

Continue reading by clicking here.