New York Mets: Three Amed Rosario predictions for 2020

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 20: Amed Rosario #1 of the New York Mets rounds the bases after hitting a home run against Jorge De La Rosa #29 of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the seventh inning during their game at Citi Field on May 20, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 20: Amed Rosario #1 of the New York Mets rounds the bases after hitting a home run against Jorge De La Rosa #29 of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the seventh inning during their game at Citi Field on May 20, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, NY – JULY 27: Amed Rosario #1 of the New York Mets shakes hands with a young fan prior to taking on the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field on July 27, 2019 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images)

Going into the 2020 season, New York Mets shortstop Amed Rosario hopes to build on his strong second half from the previous year. This is what I’m predicting we see from him in his third full big league season.

A former number one prospect with the New York Mets, since debuting with the club in 2017, each year, Amed Rosario has taken a leap forward in his development as a major league player. In 2020, he looks to take his game to a higher level once again.

Each year since his debut, Rosario has shown increases in his stats across the board and looks to be close to becoming the force the Mets believed he could be when they first signed him.

Despite having a bumpy start to the 2019 season, Rosario was one of the team’s most consistent players in the second half of the season and was a key part of their late-season run that put them back into playoff contention. Particularly, from the months of July – September, Rosario batted .321 and finished the season with a career-high 15 home runs and 72 RBI.

I believe that Rosario’s second half in 2019 was the preview of things to come. This year we will see him establish himself as one of the top shortstops in the MLB.

Rosario will finish the year with 200+ hits

As I’ve already made clear, Rosario was one of the team’s top hitters in the second half of the 2019 season. Scratch that, he was one of the top hitters in the entire MLB in the second half of 2019. If his consistency carries over into 2020 he could realistically end up in the 200 hits club.

For the 2019 season, Rosario finished the year with 177 hits in 616 at-bats, however, he recorded 97 of those hits in his last 302 at-bats, spanning from the start of July to the end of the season, amounting to a batting average of .321.

If Rosario plays at a similar level for the Mets throughout the entirety of the 2020 season then he very realistically could finish the season eclipsing the 200 hits mark, making him the first Met to do so since Jose Reyes in 2008.

This would be a big feat for Rosario to reach in 2020, but its one that I believe that he could realistically reach, and if he were to do so, I believe it could lead to a second prediction I have for him next season.

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