Reese Kaplan - Who Will Be Surprise Contributors to Push Mets Forward and Over the Top?

During Wednesday's dramatic come-from-behind victory against the Marlins it was almost too exciting to isolate any one thing to make you feel good about the New York Mets.  

There was the strikeout pitching of Taijuan Walker, the three-up and three-down striking out of the side by Edwin Diaz, and the almost unfathomable five-RBI night from Eduardo Escobar's final three at-bats to catch up, tie and win the game.  

Throw in the fact that the Washington Nationals managed to hang on to defeat the Atlanta Braves to make the shocking and unexpected Mets win that much sweeter.

During the game while Ron Darling and Gary Cohen were referring to the recent impressive play of Tomas Nido and his thunderous September bat, they asked a seemingly simple yet profound question.  

While everyone fully expects great pitching from the top trio of starting pitchers, shutdown closing of the door by Edwin Diaz, and run production from the formidable bats of Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, Jeff McNeil and others, who might turn out to be the surprise contributors who could push the Mets forward and over the top?

Now volunteering Tomas Nido was a good place to start.  During his parts of six years in a Mets uniform he actually holds a negative WAR of -0.6 which calculates how much below average he has been.  Consequently, seeing him hitting well over .300 this past month and driving his batting average up over .240 is indeed a demonstration of the unexpected hero.  

Perhaps on an even more obvious and grander scale is the late season resurgence of Eduardo Ecobar.  Obviously he's had a horrific 2022 season after signing as a free agent with the Mets.  Despite the poor adjustment to being on baseball's biggest stage, no one has accused him of dogging it nor having his head in the game.  

His smile rivals Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor for the biggest on the team.  He's also hitting well over .300 while adding both home runs and RBIs to the mix thus making him an unlikely positive contributor.  

Other players who have been solid during the season like Seth Lugo, Adam Ottavino, Carlos Carrasco and many of the hitters like Daniel Vogelbach have been struggling to help the club secure victories.  Luis Guillorme (after a solid offensive season) has fought injuries and execution at the plate.  

Yes, he's still making pitchers work very hard to get him out, but his average is down from the .300 range to .275 with just 15 RBIs for his entire year which incorporates 284 ABs.  That means he's on a less than 30 RBI pace for the 2022 regular season. 

Then there are others who have struggled from the get-go like Darin Ruf, Tyler Naquin, James McCann, Brett Baty and Mark Vientos who have not delivered what the club was hoping to get from them.  

Now in the case of the two rookies, they're adjusting to a new level of pitching while being under the microscope of New York media and undoubtedly need some time to make the evolution into major league capable ballplayers.  The others, however, are veterans who cannot hold their heads up and feel proud of their offensive contributions.  

Some folks are proponents of the philosophy of "Go big or go home!"  With the AAA season now over, the Mets have set up a taxi squad of players who have been performing in Syracuse like Dom Smith, Francisco Alvarez and others.  

The impatient folks who feel new faces coming off hot seasons are better than the veterans who are here cashing checks but not earning them.  They of course dismiss the early struggles of Baty and Vientos as somehow not representative of what can happen to a newcomer thrust into the spotlight with no room for failure.  

Others are perhaps overly indulgent in the long track records of the folks who are not delivering, feeling that their collective experience is worth perhaps more than current output.  They feel that guys who contributed solid numbers when it didn't matter will somehow reach down into their inner baseball DNA to embrace the final push towards October baseball and hopefully an entry into the World Series.

Like most extreme viewpoints in sports and in life, the truth lies somewhere in between.  It's entirely possible you will see some over-the-top performances from players who have not done as much as had been hoped when they were brought on board to be a part of the winning formula.  

What would happen, for example, if Vogelbach was able to resurrect his 30-HR power?  What if James McCann figured out how he was for the White Sox when in two seasons he combined for a one-year total of 25 HRs, 76 RBIs and hit .276?  What if Starling Marte does not come back at star level capacity from his finger recovery and you are forced into a committee of replacement bats trying to replicate his .292/16/63 stat line to go along with 18 stolen bases?

The challenge for Buck Showalter is not to create a team filled with high-priced veterans capable of steamrolling over other teams with their bats, arms and gloves.  No, the real issue right now is more like the old Billy Martin days of somehow motivating the less renowned players to perform at their best at the time when it's needed most.  

Let's not take anything away from the club that at the 11th hour completed an awesome comeback against the Marlins.  Instead, let's figure out who you least expected can emerge into the spotlight with the type of ball they have within themselves to make the dream of October winning baseball come to fruition.