What has to happen for the 2017 Mets to make the playoffs

Cabrera and Walker have to stay hot

One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made when it comes to predicting how a player signing would do was with Asdrubal Cabrera. I didn’t understand it, and felt he wouldn’t help us out much. I’ve never been happier to be so wrong.

In 2016, Asdrubal Cabrera had a career year offensively, and played amazingly on the defensive side as well. The 31-year-old veteran hit .280/.336/.474 last season for the Mets and took pitchers deep 23 times, his highest total since 2011 when he was with Cleveland.

Defensively, his range wasn’t outstanding, but it seriously felt like every ball that was hit his way, he could make a play for it. Even with an annoying knee injury, Cabrera played in 141 games for the Mets, and I could not be more excited for him in 2017. The Mets need him to keep being an integral part of the lineup for the team to be successful.

On the other side of second base, Neil Walker also made a huge impact for the Mets. While he only played in 113 games before his season ended due to a back injury, the former Pirate lit it up with the long ball.

Walker hit 23 home runs matching his career high from 2014, but maybe more importantly, he hit lefties hard last season, something he had historically not done. His career OPS versus southpaws is .700, but in 2016, it was 1.001. That’s not a typo.

Defensively, Neil Walker singlehandedly gave years of life back to Mets fans that had watched Daniel Murphy man second base in previous years.

The big question for him will obviously be his health. A back injury is never easy to recover from, but he should be ready for Spring Training, so it’ll be a wait and see game for Walker. The Mets will also need him to produce in 2017.