Reese Kaplan -- Good, Great and Meh Contributions From the Mets

From the last few Luis Rojas seasons (and Mickey Callaway before that) Mets fans have grown accustomed to some things happening on the ballclub, including expectations from the well known former team members.  Going into 2022 pretty much everyone had a good idea of what Pete Alonso would do, what Edwin Diaz would do and what other reliable folks would offer up to help the Mets win ballgames.  However, the perceptions about people who struggled, people with injuries and people who are brand new to the club were entirely different.

Now some folks think when you acquire a perennial All Star like Francisco Lindor or Robinson Cano that you can pencil right into the stat sheet what they will deliver.  As the Queens faithful well know, perception and reality are often far afield from one another.  Neither of these superstar additions helped the club on their first go-around with the Mets, though in between mediocrity and a 2nd PED suspension Cano shoehorned in a very productive shortened 2020 season.  Lindor was still perceived as a $341 failure by a great many fans.

How quickly people lower their pitchforks!  Tuesday evening there were fans actually shouting MVP at Francisco Lindor after his fast start to the 2022 season.  As of the close of the doubleheader the man with the I guess teal-colored hair was sporting some pretty impressive numbers.  In 42 ABs he's hitting .310 with 3 HRs, 9 RBIs and 3 SBs.  His OBP is a whopping .442, his slugging an even more dazzling .619, and his OPS is an eye popping 1.061.  His fielding has been a bit shakier than expected, but when he's producing offensively like that fans are quick to forgive and forget.  

Max Scherzer is another one who everyone simply assumed would be battling the now-injured Jacob deGrom for the Cy Young Award.  When the three-time Cy Young trophy winner gave up runs in his first start everyone started thinking, "Here we go again!"  The Mets always seem to bring out a player's worst when he hits the Citifield grounds.  However, Scherzer quickly turned it around and now sports a 3-0 record with a 2.50 ERA over his first three starts.  I think everyone is quite happy with what he's done.

Starling Marte was regarded as a universally good signing when the deal was announced early in the off season.  He fields well, led the league in stolen bases and can hit for a high average.  Thus far we've seen a lot of those elements, though overall he's still warming up to the new season.  Like Lindor, he has 3 SBs and is showing the baseball intelligence to justify his fairly high paycheck.  No one is suggesting he's off to an All Star start, but similarly no one is calling for his head either.  

Eduardo Escobar was a somewhat head scratching signing when it was made.  The price was fair given he was coming off a 2021 season with 28 HRs, 90 RBIs and the ability to play multiple positions.  What fans are seeing is that he is more than what he does with his bat or his glove.  He brings a level of maturity and team spirit that was sometimes lacking in the past.  Right now he's hitting .289 which is better than expected.  However, his working of the pitchers is fun to watch and he seems always to know the right thing to do.  It was a great story to hear how he picked up the tab for dinner at the end of preseason for his teammates.  You surely wouldn't have seen Lenny Dykstra do something like that!

In a previous column I gave Chris Bassitt his due for his early season success.  Others have joined the Mets this year like Adam Ottavino who are key to whether or not the team will support Bassitt and other starters.  Ottavino has in his career featured both good and bad games, but thus far for his new employer it's all coming up roses.  In 5 games he's yet to give up a run, though he does tap dance with too many baserunners allowed.  However, if he can keep up the 11.6 strikeouts per 9 IP average then he should succeed.

The other newcomer worth exploring is lefty reliever Joely Rodriguez.  Right away people were bashing this deal as they remember some very good efforts by Miguel Castro, but the team knew they were light on southpaws, so it was a deal made out of necessity.  It may take awhile for fans to warm up to him as he's a LOOGY in an era where now he must face three hitters.  Against lefties he's pretty clearly solid but righties tee off on him at will.  We've seen bad and we've seen flashes of very good, so it's too soon to tell.  With Miguel Castro off to a perfect 0.00 ERA in 6 games, it's going to be quite awhile before the naysayers will open their arms to Rodriguez.

Finally, there's COVID victim Mark Canha.  He came to New York with a reputation for OBP and working pitchers.  We have seen that in spades.  During his pre-illness week plus in a Mets uniform he was hitting .381 with a .500 OBP.  Welcome to New York, Mark...keep playing like that and people will be proclaiming, "Mike Who?" about the former resident in right field.  

For the most part, the numbers have been good from reborn players and new players.  Those metrics have helped the Mets to a first place 9-3 standing a dozen games into the season.  Some will stay hot, some will cool off and some who are struggling will surely improve.  Thus far Billy Eppler is getting a passing grade for his transactions.