New York Mets look good, but have a glaring defensive weakness

Infield Defense

First baseman Pete Alonso had a reputation as a poor defender but was surprisingly decent in his rookie campaign. He finished the year with a slightly above average UZR of 1.6 but a pretty poor DRS of -6, so there is clearly still work to be done.

He has said that he worked on his defense a lot during the offseason, so fans will hope to see an improvement with his glove in 2020.

The Mets have an elite hitter in Jeff McNeil, but that isn’t the case with his defense, which is honestly still a mystery. McNeil is much better at third base than anywhere else, which is a relief because it looks like he’s going to play there almost every day moving forward. That is the only position where he is above average in both DRS and UZR.

Second baseman Robinson Cano has been one of the best defensive players in the league for years but had it rough both at the plate and with the glove in his first season with the Mets. He posted a bad -6 DRS and a below-average -0.8 UZR.

He’ll look to bounce back on both ends this year, which will be huge for the Mets. They have had a terrible defensive infield so getting the former Gold Glover back would be incredibly beneficial for them.

Unfortunately, even though Amed Rosario’s offense improved greatly in 2019, he is still a terrible defensive shortstop. His UZR slightly improved from -5.2 in 2018 to -0.8, but he posted a -16 DRS in back-to-back years.

He’s definitely a big reason why the remainder of the Mets’ infielders must step up in 2020 because it’s unclear if Rosario will ever be even an average defender at short.

The Outfield

In the outfield, now that Juan Lagares is gone, Brandon Nimmo will likely take over in center. Nimmo, in general, isn’t a good defensive player but, unfortunately, he’s worst in center field. He has a bad career DRS of -7 and UZR of -5.5 at that position, but he probably was able to work on his defense there during the offseason. At least fans will hope that was the case.

Jake Marisnick was a huge acquisition in that regard because he’s a fantastic defensive center fielder, but he will most likely mainly be used as a defensive replacement in later innings since he can’t hit. For that reason, Nimmo’s defense must at least be decent.

Michael Conforto is one of the Mets’ very best defensive players, and his glove is going to be valuable in 2020. He will most probably play in right field most of the time, where his defensive numbers are solid. His DRS and UZR in right are both above average at four and 2.4, respectively.

It’s great that the Mets are likely getting their superstar left fielder Yoenis Cespedes back, they need him. Cespedes hasn’t played since 2018 and his most recent defensive numbers haven’t been what we’re used to seeing, but his glove is still extremely valuable. In 4858 innings spent in left, Cespedes has a DRS of 36 and UZR of 24.8.

The Mets clearly need some work and are going to rely on many of their players having improved defensively or, for their players who used to be good but fell off, reverted back to their good old ways. The Mets had the worst defensive infield in baseball last year, mostly thanks to Rosario, so it will be interesting to see if they have improved in that regard.

Ramos is also key to the team’s success so that every pitcher feels comfortable with him behind the plate and so that they stop giving up so many stolen bases. For the outfield, even though Nimmo isn’t great in center, the Mets will at least be in good shape in the corners.

Want your voice heard? Join the Rising Apple team!

Write for us!

There is a lot to hope for and potential improvements may be in the works, but the Mets’ poor defense could end up being quite detrimental to the team’s success in 2020.