Mets: Amed Rosario needs to breakout in a big way this season

Once regarded as a top-five prospect in Major League Baseball, it’s time New York Mets shortstop Amed Rosario proves he deserved that ranking with a fantastic 2018 season.

So far, New York Mets shortstop Amed Rosario has yet to have a major impact on his club. The 22-year-old slashed only .248/.271/.394 in his short rookie campaign last season, leaving many Mets fans wanting more.

Well, we’ll get plenty of Rosario this year.

He’s the starting shortstop with no competition for playing time. Even if Jose Reyes is there to give Rosario the occasional day off, this job belongs to the kid.

The 2018 season has been quite similar to the year prior. Rosario isn’t hitting a ton and he’s not drawing walks either. Amazingly, in his first 231 plate appearances in the big leagues, Rosario has only six walks.

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It’s almost unheard of how someone could see ball four so few times. Per 162 games, this averages out to only a dozen walks. Unless he can develop a better yet, it’s going to be tough for Rosario to get the most out of his talents. Namely, it’s his speed we’ll miss out on most.

During his minor league career, Rosario never put up ungodly numbers. The same is true for Cleveland Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor. Yet somehow, he managed to become an incredible hitter. Rosario can certainly do the same even if not to the same level.

One major difference between Rosario at the big league level and in the minor leagues is how often he was hitting. In 2016, Rosario finished with a .324 batting average. Prior to his promotion in 2017, Rosario owned a .328 batting average.

These numbers were somewhat unexpected as he never hit higher than .274 in his previous three seasons. In fact, Rosario wasn’t very good at all in any of them. It wasn’t until 2016 when he finally began to make a name for himself.

Without any real power to speak of, Rosario needs to do the little things to get attention. If he fields well, the Mets can accept only a small number of home runs each year. I think they’d also be okay with Rosario hitting in the .260s. All he really needs to do is have some irreplaceable talent. Right now, he has yet to show he has one.

Next: Amed Rosario needs to start hustling to first base

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There’s plenty of time for Rosario to raise the bar and wreak havoc on his opponents. There’s no better time to do it than in 2018 when everything seems to be going right for the Mets.