9/30/23

Tom Brennan - Baby Mets WAR Blues

“Hey, I see a WAR on the horizon, and it could be going better.”

We constantly try to evaluate where our 4 li’l bambinos are at.

Our Baby Mets.

A good way to simply do that is their WAR stat, where it boils down to a single grading number for each fella.

And those WAR numbers are not all that good.

Alvarez is solid at 0.7. Greatness lies just ahead.

Mauricio, too, in his limited play so far: 0.2. 

And he is 3 for his last 26, so his WAR is dropping.

The other 2 babies, Baty and Vientos?? 

- Both at -0.9, both negative. 

The 4 babes netted out to -0.9 WAR.

That won’t catch the Braves. 

Not by no means.

Ex-Mets prospect Jarred Kelenic was -1.8 as a rookie, then -0.2+as a sophomore, then +2.1 as a “Junior”. He’s steadily improved from his disastrous debut.

So, it seems these 4 Baby Mets are likely to likewise improve in WAR terms in 2024, perhaps overall from -0.9 in 2023 to a collective +2.0.

Maybe in 2025, +6.0.

But will that be enough to catch the Braves? 

I ask that, because the Braves? 

They are fully armed and ready to go to WAR.

ALSO:

How much of their collective struggles has to do with them playing in NY?

Would all 4 be rocking and rolling if they played in Pittsburgh or KC?

Evaluating that is huge.

So far, 3 of the 4 kiddies have hit better at Citifield than on the road, but is it playing for a struggling team in the intense glare of the Big Apple?

12 comments:

Mack Ade said...

Acuña
Williams
Gilbert

Looking forward to Baby Mets.v2.0

Tom Brennan said...

Ithonk 2.0 will be better than 1.0, if you exclude Alvarez from 1.0.

Williams is a future force, and Gilbert May hit better than Michael Conforto did.

Acuna? To me, I want more proof RE: his bat. He ain’t Ronald.

Mack Ade said...

I agree that Gilbert will hit better than Conforto

Williams? The Mets top prospect right now. Better suited for short or second but could wind up in center. The future Mets leadoff hitter.

Acuña? Agree but I think he will blossom in the chain come next season

Tom Brennan said...

Acuna is just 21. I am patient there. Ronald is super human and got here quicker.

TexasGusCC said...

A couple of thoughts:
- In an interview several years back with a player that I do not recall right now, the player said that a player grows thee most between his rookie and second year. The rookie year is about acclimating and learning the speed of the majors and by your second year after an offseason to digest it, you hit the ground running.
- On Kelenic: Been watching my him for a few years and that WAR is predicated mostly on his defense. In fact, last nig my while it was still a 3-0 game, he was up with thee sacks drunk and no outs. He saw six pitches and struck out. None of the six were in the strike zone and he didn’t foul any off. Just still can’t touch a curveball.

TexasGusCC said...

I am sorry for the comment as my phone autocorrects quite a bit after I’ve passed a section (and since I’ve gotten the screen changed, it likes to cut off any word ending in “…ing” and stick the word “my” for no reason and “the” is now “thee”) and I don’t expect it so I don’t proof read. I need to correct that mistake. I believe in the Kelenic portion of the comment, y’all get the idea.

royhobbs7 said...

On a side note: RP Jorge Lopez just released from the Orioles. The Mets should jump on him for next year. He would be an excellent 7th or 8th inning setup man.

This the area which needs most refinement for next year. Even though Diaz is returning and is healthy (?), we need to fortify the bullpen with an entirely new stable of RPs. We especially need 2 stoppers: i.e., RPs who can come into a jam and put out the fire (one Loogy and one RHP). This is the way the game is formatting.
I.e., try to get 5 innings from SPs #s 2-5, and then let the bullpen take over from there. The teams with the best pens seem to prosper rather than attempting to find 5 SP aces. 5 ace SPs is most difficult to sustain because of injuries and the outlay of dollars to acquire such top-tier SPs (see Mets - 2023!).

Woodrow said...

The Baby Mets were a failure this year. Hopefully at least two of them emerge as ML regulars next year. If they don’t it might be another 75 win season.

Tom Brennan said...

Roy, why not? The bullpen was treacherous again tonight.

TexasGusCC said...

Roy, several years ago, it was revealed that the Yankees saw a league inadequacy in relieving. With the money you need to get a star starting pitcher, you can get three good relievers, and that why they were the first to have a truly shut down bullpen. Things have changed, but not too much. Who is this Lopez and why was he released?

Gary Seagren said...

Look I think we're all debating whether or not we should have pulled the plug Aug. 1. Considering JV's solid post trade performance Q's return and massive improvements from Megill Peterson Lucchesi and Butto I think we could have made the PO's but the BP would have killed us and now especially with Nimmo and McNeil down. I'm happy we did what we did and I'm really looking foward to the off season. I'm also impressed that we played hard down the stretch didn't pull the "we're out of it" fade. Now Buck PLEASE let Alvy play today after his awesome night last night so I don't have to say "What The Buck" again.

Gary Seagren said...

Tex those are things our new PBO has to address.