NY Mets Lineup: Three best options to hit lead off for the 2021 season

When I was younger, I was taught that the leadoff hitter should be the fastest player on the team. The New York Mets had the perfect guy for that role in Jose Reyes. The thinking behind this was if you get the fast guy on base, he could just steal second or score from first on an extra-base hit.

Having speed as your leadoff hitter is great, but now I value getting on base the most for leadoff hitters. I believe most teams do as well.

For example, the Reds have used Joey Votto at the top of their order. He’s a first baseman with pretty much no speed (zero stolen bases in 2020) but is someone who draws a lot of walks and can be a table-setter for the middle of the order.

Having someone who can get on base at an extremely high clip is very valuable for a team with a lot of firepower like the Mets.

Guys like Pete Alonso, Michael Conforto, and Dom Smith can drive in 100+ runs if guys get on base in front of them.

The Mets had Jose Reyes who had blazing speed but wasn’t an elite on-base guy to hit at the top of the order during my childhood. Once Reyes left, Curtis Granderson became the guy at the top of the order. He was someone who drew a ton of walks and found his way on base but didn’t have the speed Reyes had.

Recently, the guys at the top of the order have been Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil. Both have flourished in that role and are excellent choices to hit in that spot this upcoming season. Both get on base at extremely high rates and can set the table for the big power bats. The Mets have three guys who I believe would be excellent options to hit at the top of the order this season.

Brandon Nimmo

This is my ideal choice to hit at the top of the order for the Mets. Despite never hitting .300, he has never had an OBP under .375 in his last four seasons. He draws a ton of walks and gets hit by a ton of pitches. In 2018, which is his only healthy season in which 162 games were played, Nimmo was fourth in all of baseball in OBP and led the league in hit by pitches.

The big issues with Nimmo have nothing to do with his bat. One big issue that I don’t think gets spoken about enough is his inability to stay on the field. As mentioned prior, Nimmo has one season in which he has stayed healthy (for the most part) during a 162-game season. In 2019, Nimmo was dealing with a neck injury after crashing into a wall which he tried playing through. He struggled mightily when on the field and finally went on the injured list in May.

Once he came back at the end of the season, he started to put up Nimmo type numbers. He slashed .261/.430/.565 with five home runs and 15 RBI in the month of September. Nimmo has had a bunch of other injuries that have forced him to miss time and this was an issue when he was in the minor league level as well. If he is unable to stay on the field consistently, it can be a real problem long term.

The other big hole in his game is his defense in center field. Had the Mets signed George Springer I think that would’ve done wonders for Nimmo because he would’ve been placed in a much more comfortable position for him, left field. While I don’t think this has affected his bat at all, it is something he has to work on and will probably be a reason he’s not in the lineup every day unless a DH is added.

The one weakness Nimmo has with his bat is his ability to hit left-handed pitching. In 2020 Nimmo slashed just .196/.317/.333 with one home run and two RBI against lefties. Michael Conforto had the same issue and he finally broke out against southpaws in 2020. If Nimmo gets the reps against the lefties I think eventually he will turn it around.

Nimmo possesses an ability to get on base and even if he doesn’t get on base, there aren’t many times he comes up and it’s not a 3-2 count. Leading off a game and forcing the pitcher to throw a ton of pitches right away is valuable whether that batter gets on base or not. Nimmo also possesses some sneaky power. He hit 17 home runs in 2018 and eight in his 225 at-bats this past season. That put him on pace for 21 home runs if this season had 162 games. With guys like Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto, and Pete Alonso behind him, combined with Nimmo’s ability to read the strike zone, he should see plenty of pitches to hit in that spot.

Jeff McNeil

The 2019 Mets went 86-76 with Jeff McNeil leading off most of the games they played. In his 93 games in that role, McNeil slashed .320/.386/.521 with 16 home runs and 57 RBI. He was an all-star and led the league in batting for much of the year. This season, McNeil dealt with injuries and struggled at the top of the order. Once he was healthy, McNeil turned into McNeil and started raking. But from the bottom of the order.

I don’t think McNeil should be hitting 7th as he did at the end of last season, but I would like to see him right behind Nimmo as another table-setter in front of the power bats. In his first three major league seasons, McNeil has been the model of consistency. He’s never hit lower than .310 and his OBP has fluctuated between .381-.384. He gets a ton of hits and gets on base at a very high clip.

If Nimmo were to struggle or get hurt then McNeil would be my next choice to lead off games for the Mets in 2021. Unlike Nimmo, McNeil is known for being ultra-aggressive at the plate. He swings at the first pitch as much as anyone in the game and is successful at doing so more often than not. He hit three leadoff home runs in 2019 and all three of them were on the first pitch of the game. While Nimmo forces pitchers to pile up their pitch count early, McNeil forces pitchers to throw him their best stuff from the first pitch until the at-bat is over. If a mistake is made, it most likely will result in a hit at least.

McNeil is another very good option to hit at the top of the Mets order and if he hits leadoff on opening night I won’t be upset one bit. He’s just as good of a spark plug and catalyst as Nimmo is for a lineup that should be one of the best in baseball.