If you ask Mets fans what they thought of the 2022 season, they’re likely to give you one of two answers, both on opposite sides of the spectrum. Some would say the season was all for nothing, ending in a dumpster fire. Others however, would tell you how much fun it was, night in and night out, all the outrageous comebacks and gutsy performances, unfortunately ending unceremoniously in the Wild Card round. As a season ticket holder who spent a whole summer in the Coca Cola Corner up in right field, I can tell you that both of those depictions were valid. On the one hand, this team had so much promise, holding the division from essentially day 1 all the way to the last week of the season, only to relinquish 1st place to the Atlanta Braves. It wasn’t just losing the division to the Braves, but rather how they lost it, playing absolutely brutal the last two weeks of the season, going away from what got them there in the first place; “good fundies” and small ball! However on the other hand, this team won 101 games, which had only been done 3 times before 2022. We watched in awe, as Pete Alonso set the franchise record with 131 RBI’s, Francisco Lindor set both the home run and RBI franchise records at the shortstop position, Jeff McNeil won a batting title with an AVG of .326 and winning a Silver Slugger award. We stood up and cheered, waving our Puerto Rican flags as Timmy Trumpet’s “Narco” blasted over the speaker system, #39 emerging from the bullpen like a gladiator entering the coliseum, striking out the side. Only then, did he acknowledge the crowd, almost as if to ask “are you not entertained???”. The 5 run comeback in St. Louis, the 7 run comeback in Philadelphia, the combined no hitter on a cool and breezy night in April. Did 2022 end miserably? Sure it did. But man did the Amazins’ take us for an incredible ride.

So where does this leave us today, on February 17th, 2023? Pretty similar roster as 2022, minus Jacob deGrom, add Justin Verlander, as well as a new potential star in Japanese phenom: Kodai Senga among some other new additions. Similar to the opinion of 2022, your outlook on 2023 is totally up to you. Are you a glass half empty or full type of person? You can complain that they’re running back a similar group especially in age that faded down the stretch and blew it when we needed them the most. Or, you can view it as that same team that won 101 games a year ago, and if they walk into October with a better mindset, they stand a chance at maybe winning a championship this year! Or maybe you’re like me, and you expect something in the middle. Maybe not a big parade down the Canyon of Hero’s in November, but certainly not a first round exit, much less giving up the division with less than a week left in the regular season. The starters as we stand today, look fantastic, other than age, the talent and skill set of the top 3 in this rotation can go toe to toe with just about anyone else in Major League Baseball today. How the rest of the rotation looks, I think is too early to tell. Nothing is definitive whether they will move to a 6 man rotation, and how the last few spots will shake out. You know Jose Quintana will lock down the #4 spot in the rotation. This leaves out McGuill, Peterson and Carrasco to battle it out for the #5 and potential #6 spots. With Joey Lucchesi back from injury you would have to imagine he gets his fair share at a spot in the rotation as well. The long inning reliever role also is vacant with Trevor Williams leaving in free agency and signing a contract with Washington. At the very least the 2023 New York Mets have depth on the mound and if we learned anything from the past 3 seasons in Queens, you can never have enough starting pitchers on your roster.

As for the bullpen, that’s a bit of different story. You know what you have in “Sugar” Diaz. Will he have another 32 Save, 1.31 ERA type of season? Maybe not. But you know what he’s capable of, his level of play only increases as the moment gets bigger and the lights get brighter, and by God the man has found his slider there is no doubt about it. Adam Ottovino is an interesting case. Outside of the shaky start to ’22, Adam really put it all together and became a calming presence on the mound. At times he was a sink or swim type of player, but for a relief pitcher in his late 30’s the man absolutely earned the contract his signed just a few months ago. David Robertson is also on the wrong side of 35 but like Ottovino has continued to throw strikes and get guys out. So when it comes to those 3 guys for the most part you can breathe a little bit. Now here is where things get a little more interesting. A guy like Drew Smith comes to mind after you name the top 3. Drew is a guy that really put things together in ’21 and started out in ’22 having a lot of Mets fans believing this was our future set up guy. The man had a scoreless April and didn’t have an earned run to his name until May 13th! However there were some inconsistencies that came after, specifically in July where Drew gave up 7 runs in 8.1 innings. Injuries as well as some accuracy issues have really put Drew Smith’s career on a roller coaster ride. I really believe this is a big “nut up or shut up” year for Drew. The man has a tremendous amount of talent and composure on the mound. If he can put it all together and stay healthy the sky is the limit for Drew, but like anything else, we need to see it on a consistent basis from start to finish. Outside of that, the rest of the bullpen is really a crapshoot, no other pretty way to put it.

Both the outfield as well as the infield remain with 2 exceptions. James McCann out, Omar Narváez in. From everything i have heard and read so far it seems as if the Mets will split time between Nido and Narváez. There was hope going into this year that we would see Francisco Álvarez break camp and make the roster, but from everything the Mets organization has said it definitely sounds like he will at the very least start the season in the minor leagues where they can develop his skill at the actual catching position. It’s hard to argue with that philosophy. Selfishly we all want to see Francisco rip moon shots into the second deck at Citi Field , and we want it right now! However when someone is coming up through the system with this much promise and talent, the last thing you want to do is force this on him and put unnecessary pressure on him to produce for the big league club, likely picking up some bad habits along the way in an effort to produce. At shortstop you have Francisco Lindor (who is very good at baseball, you Lindorks know who you are), at second base you have Jeff McNeil, the batting champion fresh off a brand new 4 year contract extension, and at first base the “Polar Bear” himself, Pete Alonso. The offense from those three guys leaves very little concern, all 3 know how to hit in the clutch, score runs, and get on base at a high clip. The one worry that pops up from time to time out of those three guys is Pete’s defense. The man isn’t the liability that the national media proclaims that he is, however he does have some silly moments out there, diving for balls that should go to McNeil and dropping a scoop here and there to end an inning. If he can clean those up, his dreams of winning a Gold Glove can absolutely come true….just as long as Paul Goldschmidt gets traded to an American League team or just decides to stop playing mid-season. All kidding aside I have full confidence in Pete and the progression through the years he has shown us. The outfield remains the same as well, Nimmo in center field, and Marte roaming right field, chewing sunflower seeds and communicating with anyone sitting in the first 3 rows of sections 103-107. Mark Canha will start most games in left field, likely batting in the bottom 3 spots of the order hopefully getting on base at a high clip and keeping the inning going. 3rd base is where things get interesting. Eduardo Escobar didn’t had a very hot and cold ’22 season, and when i say that, i mean mostly cold. That being said his September and October was so red hot, he quite literally put the team on his back and saved the Mets from an even more embarrassing train wreck. Escobar has some pop in his bat, and some speed in those pants that seem to be two sizes too small. His glove isn’t made of gold but certainly good enough to play everyday. The issue is less about Escobar and more about future stud Brett Baty, who made his debut in August of last season, homering in his first at bat and waving “I love you” to his parents in the stands as he rounded 3rd base. This is a guy the entire fan base has had their eyes on since he was drafted back in 2019. If he comes out of the gates hot in spring training and he’s ripping the cover off the ball, it’s going to be very difficult justifying a guy like Darren Ruf’s spot on the bench. One more guy to keep an eye on this March is Mark Vientos. Not much to talk about in the field but his bat definitely has some pop, he’s another candidate to make this team if a guy like Ruf struggles to make contact. Overall offensively, this was a great team last year, ranking 2nd in batting Avg and 6th in OPS. The issue with this team offensively was the long ball. Outside of Alonso and Lindor this team struggled to put balls over the fence. If the 2023 New York Mets want to compete in October, they definitely need to find ways of hitting a few more balls out of the park, or at least create the threat of doing so forcing teams to play them deeper. Thank you for reading my work, and LFGM!