Reese Kaplan -- Mets Top Ten List Rankings Positions 7-5

The last time around we introduced the concept of a Top Ten Mets list for the 2022 season.  I was a little hesitant for some of the players included but the feedback received suggested I was pretty spot-on with the names selected for slots 10-8 (Tylor Megill, David Peterson and Luis Guillorme in that sequence).

So as we consider who belongs next, the names become a bit more obvious but the sequence not necessarily what comes to mind when doing the rankings.  After all, good to great players should be at the top of the list, right?

Wrong!

Number 7

As much as Mets fans grew up loving the somewhat older infielder Jeff McNeil when he first came up to the team in 2018 hitting .329, their affection continued over the years 2019 and 2020.  Then came 2021 and the wheels came off the perennial .300 hitting machine.  

Last season McNeil struggled and hit just .251 with the home runs down from a high of 23 to just 7 and the RBIs down from 75 to just 35.  This was not the same player people had come to love and some were even willing to write him off after a single bad season.  

Well, 2022 didn't bring back the home run power with just 4 for the season, but at the conventionally accepted halfway point he has the same 35 RBIs already which suggests he can approach that 70 plateau once again.  

Perhaps more importantly he's hitting exactly .300.  It's not .329 but it's a huge leap forward from the forgettable 2021 season thus restoring faith among the Mets fan base.

Number 6

With the arrival of superstar Francisco Lindor from Cleveland the Mets media and fans were ecstatic to see Steve Cohen willing to bring in top tier talent to help transform a mediocre team into a contending one.  

Unfortunately Lindor did not respond with a typical season while donning the Mets uniform in 2021, finishing with just a .230 batting average, 20 HRs and 63 RBIs.  Those numbers were not reflective of a $341 million man.  2022 is a big step forward for the smiling shortstop, though the batting average is still a work in progress at just .248.  However, he's already at 16 HRs and 66 RBIs at the midpoint while matching last year's 10 SBs already.  

He's on the road to earning his paycheck and in time the batting average will continue its slow climb.  He and McNeil were both named All Stars for good reason but there are some flaws in each one's game that put them in the middle of the Mets pack thus far this season (despite Lindor's huge run production numbers).  

Fans are beginning to welcome Lindor but still the players given up for him are hitting for higher average and not everyone is 100% on board with their shortstop for the next nine seasons.

Number 5

When the Mets made a relatively short term free agent deal to land Taijuan Walker for an average value of $20 million, not everyone was doing cartwheels.  

No one disputed his ability to pitch effectively but rightfully folks doubted his capability of staying on the mound for a significant number of innings given his extensive injury history.  Walker certainly shut up a lot of his critics in 2021 when as a Met he was named to the All Star team.  

In 2022 he was snubbed for recognition by his peers, but his work speaks for itself.  Thus far he's got a 7-2 record with a 2.55 ERA.  For folks tracking Mets stats, that's Jacob deGrom territory.  Yes, there's always a concern that he's tweak or twinge or otherwise strain his arm, his elbow, his shoulder or somewhere else on his torso, but you have to take your hat off to the front office for signing him and lend a bow to the tattooed righthander for all he has accomplished in a Mets uniform.  

Given the pitching injuries that the starting rotation has faced, the value of Walker's contribution cannot be understated.  

We will continue with members of the upper tier next go around as we examine players ranking 4, 3 and 2.  There are no surprises here, of course, and the players in this almost-at-the-top positioning deserve what they got.