Many Mets fans and Mack’s Mets readers and contributors repeat quite often the need to upgrade the defense.
Heck, I love great defense, too. May not seem that way most of the time, but honestly, I do.
But one of our readers recently brought up the need for better defense again, and I want great defense, too, but I treasure great offense more. I'm weird that way.
It made me think to look at Baseball Reference to see exactly how well the Mets’ outfielders hit.
You didn’t like their OF defense, go ahead, you make your case.
Not me. I'm really busy, and besides, I've got better things to do.
Today, I am just looking at offense...particularly OUTFIELD OFFENSE, while acknowledging that the 2020 outfield defense was sometimes lacking. I ain't blind, even if it seemed they were at times on some misplays.
But back to the beloved offense....How did all the outfielders hit while playing out on the grassy knolls?
It’s not complex...the answer is GREAT!
664 at bats, 41 doubles, 3 triples, 31 HRs, 96 RBIs, 114 runs scored, .303 average, .392 OBP.
That rate of production seems surprising, but I extracted it right from the splits from their site.
It would be great to get that level of lumber output from one outfield position.
But the above is an extraordinary rate for all 3 positions.
MORALE OF THE STORY:
Before you scream for changes in your outfield, consider what your 2020 outfield produced offensively.
Because I doubt that any other outfield in Mets history was as offensively potent. Yeah, 1996 with Lance Johnson and Bernard Gilkey was close. But 2020's pace was smoking.
Any changes to be made (if any) should therefore occur with great care.
Me? I'd leave it as is, because I think 2020's outfielders can hit EVEN BETTER in 2021.
GM Tom interesting but would you consider a free agent by the name of Ozuna for our 2021 OF? Also how valuable is it if we signed both Ozuna and Realmuto thus taking them away from our rivals? I can't tell how much fun I'm having coming up with trade and free agent proposals knowing the "reign" of the "Clown prince" Jeffy is ending.
ReplyDeleteGary, sure, but it all depends on the limits of the checkbook. Hopefully, there are few spending limits.
ReplyDeleteGary, not to fly past your suggestion, but getting Ozuna in the OF would allow them to trade a lefty OF for balance. If you were to trade a Nimmo, Conforto, or McNeil, each should be worth a whole lot in a trade. All 3 are reaching their prime. Springer might be a better target, but I will leave that to others to decide.
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