Mike's Mets - It All Begins Again

 

By Mike Steffanos

I'm excited by the return of baseball this week, with the opportunity that 2023 represents for the Mets to continue to turn the page on their past struggles and build something special.

Spring training officially begins for the New York Mets this Wednesday. I've always looked forward to the day pitchers and catchers officially report, even in years when I knew the Mets wouldn't be very good. These days it feels more special, knowing that the Mets are heading into action with a powerful ballclub that will likely repeat as a playoff team this year. Think about that for a minute because that hasn't at all been common for this franchise. The Tom Seaver-led Mets of the 60s and 70s never did it. The powerful Keith Hernandez/Gary Carter mid-to-late-1980s juggernaut never appeared back-to-back in those pre-Wildcard days. Indeed, they only made two playoff appearances during that entire run. A late-season collapse in 2007 doomed the David Wright/Carlos Beltrán edition from accomplishing that rare feat.

In the 61 years of the Mets' existence, they've only made it to the playoffs in consecutive years twice. It first happened in 1999 and 2000, led by Bobby Valentine in the dugout and Mike Piazza on the field. The last time it happened was in 2015 and 2016, including a disappointing one-and-done exit in the 2016 NL Wildcard game. So if, like me, you're still feeling a bit bummed out by how the Carlos Correa saga ended for us, console yourself with the knowledge that the 2023 New York Mets are still quite likely to accomplish something exceedingly rare in Mets' history. In my case, that removes some of the sting when contemplating how much stronger the Mets' lineup could have been with Correa.

While the Mets are running out a lineup that will be quite similar to last year's edition, there have been changes that will give this year's offense a chance to be an upgrade over last year's — which, in fairness, was pretty good overall. The struggles to score in September and in the playoffs leave us with a somewhat distorted perception of that team. But still, they were pretty good, and there are reasons to be optimistic about the Mets' offense improving this year:

Addition by subtraction

James McCann will be a Baltimore Oriole this summer. I'm not a McCann hater — he was a hard worker and a good defensive backstop. Pitchers seemed to really like pitching to McCann. He had some tough luck with injuries when it appeared he might be figuring out his offense at least a bit. But James McCann was an automatic out for most of his time with the Mets. His OPS+ over two seasons with the club was 70 — 30 percent below the league average. And last year, it was worse than his first season at a lowly 55.

McCann's primary replacement to start the year will be Omar Narváez. While Narváez wasn't an offensive powerhouse last season, either, he has a lifetime OPS+ over 7 MLB seasons of 100 on the nose. Plus, Omar bats left-handed. His career slash line against righties is .268/.345/.406. Tomás Nido will never be mistaken for Johnny Bench as a hitter, but he slashes .245/.291/.377 against southpaws. There is every reason to believe this tandem will provide a significant upgrade over the production the Mets received from their catchers in 2022. And prospect Francisco Álvarez could play a substantial role with the club, even if he does seem likely to start the season in Syracuse. It is intriguing to consider how much Francisco's rare combination of power and hit tool for a catcher might contribute to the 2023 Mets.

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