Positive Takeaways from the Season- PIITB By JD
As the season winds down, I’d like to take a moment to name some of my takeaways (mainly positive ones) from the season. Poor play has hampered this season and turned into a lost year.
Let's start with Francisco Alvarez establishing himself as a franchise cornerstone. I don’t want to get too ahead of myself, but I will here. Think back to as recently as 2017 with Gary Sanchez. He burst onto the scene swatting 33 homers in 120 games and looked every bit like the Yankees catcher of the future. We all know how that turned out. There is no guarantee with these young guys. I have a lot of reason to believe in Alvarez. First off, his fielding has been miles better than we expected. His framing is in the 95th percentile and fielding run value is 87th percentile. His blocking has some work to be done, but he is 21. He’s walking in the 44thpercentile which is way above what I expected. His xBA and sweet spot percentile are low, and I would like to see improvement in those areas. He strikes out a lot, but again he is 21. Nonetheless, 23 homers and a 730 OPS in his first full major league season is amazing. I fully expect Alvarez to be the catcher of the future for this organization.
The rise of Kodai Senga. I gushed over Senga last week, but I am going to do it again. This guy is an ace. He has a 2.96 era and has one more start remaining. He should finish 3rd in CY Young voting as a rookie. His Ghost Fork has one of the league's highest whiff percentages of a single pitch. I can’t say enough good things about this guy. I hope his relationship with Yamamoto is enough to sway him over to the Mets as well. A rotation led by Senga and Yamamoto would look great next season.
The re-building of the farm system. Billy and the Mets worked very hard this deadline to beef up a faltering farm. While it is not littered with star players, it has improved significancy even with the graduation of Alvarez, Baty, Vientos, and Mauricio. Bleacher report has the Mets system ranked 4th. Guys like Drew Gilbert, Acuna Jr, Blade Tidwell, Jett Williams, and Mike Vasil could be banging on the door at some point next season. The Mets are in good hands, hopefully, it works out.
David Stearns! I mentioned Stearns briefly last week and I will go into depth in the off-season on Stearns. His role in the organization is somewhat unclear now. We know Billy Eppler is still going to be around so we’ll see how the responsibilities will be split. My hope is that the Mets use Billy solely for his strengths. Agents and GMs like Billy and he has obvious connections in Japan that cannot be ignored. I am completely fine with keeping Billy around assuming he and Stearns work well together. At the end of the day, this must be David Stearns’ show. For better or worse the Mets are in his hands.
6 comments:
Alvarez has been revelatory. What will he now do at age 22 in 2024? My guess is All Star caliber play.
Senga was a great signing. He really is an ace. If he had the Braves’ hitters and bullpen backing him up, he’d be a 20 game winner.
I think Vientos is on his way, too. While adjusting, one of the highest hard contact velocity rates in baseball. Next year, the adjusting will be largely over.
Acuna hasn’t hit well at all since the trade, and hopefully it is just the pressure of wanting to perform post-trade. His speed and fielding are assets. Gilbert really seems like an upcoming starting outfielder by mid 2024. Let’s see if he beats Jett Williams to the Mets.
Stearns was highly sought after and should be a huge plus.
Ryan Clifford
Gotta love our future.
Maybe,maybe,but I still think 3-4 of the prospects have to be ML starters by 2025 or this will continue to be a 75 win team.
Woodrow, IMO, the return of Edwin will add 10 wins in 2024
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