New York Mets players on MLB Network’s The Shredder top 10 lists

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 06: Brandon Nimmo #9 and Michael Conforto #30 of the New York Mets celebrate their 14-1 win against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field on September 06, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 06: Brandon Nimmo #9 and Michael Conforto #30 of the New York Mets celebrate their 14-1 win against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field on September 06, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 21: Jacob deGrom #48 of the New York Mets pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays at Citi Field on September 21, 2020 in New York City. Tampa Bay Rays defeated the New York Mets 2-1. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 21: Jacob deGrom #48 of the New York Mets pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays at Citi Field on September 21, 2020 in New York City. Tampa Bay Rays defeated the New York Mets 2-1. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

Prior to every Major League Baseball season, the “Shredder” on MLB Network releases its top ten players at every position. As we approach the start of the 2021 baseball season, the shredder has released its lists and some familiar New York Mets faces are on it.

The shredder breaks every position up and lists the top ten players at each one, which includes starting pitchers and relief pitchers. The shredder analyzes various parts of a player’s game between their offense and defense.

At the beginning of the 2020 season, the shredder featured seven different Mets players out of the ten different positions to be ranked. At the beginning of this 2021 season, the Mets have an additional player from last year as they have eight players out of the ten lists.

As the 2020-2021 offseason is approaching its end, the Mets appear to be in good shape with a player on eight out of the ten top ten lists.

With multiple additions to their already deep team this winter, the Mets appear to be a legitimate threat this upcoming season.

Let’s take a look at what Mets found themselves as a top ten player at their position.

Relief Pitcher

The first position ranking released for the 2021 season was relief pitchers. Prior to the 2020 season, the Mets had Seth Lugo make his shredder debut as he came in as the seventh-best relief pitcher in the game.

Going into 2021, Lugo’s role has been a bit of a question mark as he was pushed into the rotation going down the stretch in 2020 and struggled. With his struggles in the rotation, Lugo did not find himself back on this list, and unfortunately for the Mets, they did not have any other relief pitchers ranked on the top ten list for this upcoming season.

Starting Pitcher

Moving on to the main position of the field we have starting pitchers. Entering the 2020 season the Mets had the best starting pitcher in all of baseball in Jacob deGrom. Coming off of back-to-back Cy Young awards it was no surprise to find deGrom at the top of the list of starting pitchers.

Entering the 2021 season, the Mets are in good shape once again. Following his back-to-back Cy Young awards, deGrom finished the 2020 season third in Cy Young voting and finding himself back at the top of the starting pitching rankings as a result.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 06: Pete Alonso #20 of the New York Mets is congratulated by his teammate Jeff McNeil #6 after hitting a solo home run against the Philadelphia Phillies during the second inning at Citi Field on September 06, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 06: Pete Alonso #20 of the New York Mets is congratulated by his teammate Jeff McNeil #6 after hitting a solo home run against the Philadelphia Phillies during the second inning at Citi Field on September 06, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images) /

Catcher

Next up on the ranking list, we have the catchers. Going into the 2020 season the New York Mets had the sixth-best catcher in baseball in Wilson Ramos. Ramos was coming off a great offensive year in the first season of his contract for the Mets. Sadly the Mets did not receive anything close to the sixth-best catcher in baseball this past season.

The good news for the Amazin’s is that their new catcher, James McCann found his way onto the shredder’s top 10 catchers list. He was not ranked the previous season, but after back to back solid years with the Chicago White Sox, he found himself as the tenth best catcher in baseball going into the 2021 season.

First Base

Next up on the list, we have first base. Entering the 2020 season the Mets had the third-best first baseman in Pete Alonso following his historic rookie season.

As we approach the 2021 season the Mets are fortunate enough to have Alonso back on the list despite moving backward in his sophomore season. Even though Alonso moved back a little this past season, he was still good enough to be ranked as the seventh-best first baseman in baseball.

Second Base

Next up on the list, we move over to second base. Entering the 2020 season the Mets did not have anyone on the list. Robinson Cano was coming off a poor season in his first season for the Mets and fell short as a result.

Cano did have a nice comeback season in the shortened 2020 season, but tested positive for PED’s in the offseason and will miss the 2021 season as a result. The good news for the Mets is that they have super-utility man Jeff McNeil set to man the position. McNeil ended up coming in as the second-best second baseman in the league for 2021 according to the shredder.

Shortstop

Moving over to the other middle infield position, we have shortstop. Despite Amed Rosario coming off his best season in 2019, he was unable to crack the deeply talented top ten list going into the 2020 season.

Going into the 2021 season it is a different story for the Mets. After shipping Rosario and their other shortstop option Andres Gimenez to the Cleveland Indians, they received back a new shortstop in Francisco Lindor. Their new superstar shortstop was ranked as the fourth-best shortstop going into 2021 after a down year in the shortened 2020 season.

Third Base

Next up we have the hot corner with third base. Going into the 2020 season the Mets were expected to have Jeff McNeil as their everyday third baseman. With this as the assumption, he came in at the fifth-best third baseman in a heavily talented pool after his first full season which was an impressive ranking.

Going into the 2021 season McNeil is expected to play second base as Robinson Cano is not eligible to play this season after being suspended. Unfortunately, the Mets did not have anyone ranked at third base going into the 2021 season following McNeil moving to second base.

Sep 17, 2020; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Mets first baseman Dominic Smith (2) and center fielder Brandon Nimmo (9) celebrate win against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 17, 2020; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Mets first baseman Dominic Smith (2) and center fielder Brandon Nimmo (9) celebrate win against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /

Left Field

Moving out into the grass, we start our outfield ranking with left field. Going into the 2020 season the Mets did not have a player break the top ten at the position.

Fortunately for the Mets, going into 2021 it is a different story. Dominic Smith found himself listed as the sixth-best left fielder in the game. Coming off back to back great offensive years, this was good enough to have Smith as one of the best left fielders in the game.

Center Field

Next up on the ranking list, we have center field. Going into the 2020 season the Mets had the ninth-best center fielder with Brandon Nimmo. Nimmo was coming off a 2019 season where he struggled with injury but had a breakout 2018 season the year before that one.

Luckily for Nimmo, he put together another great season in a shortened 2020 season which found himself ranked as the fifth-best center fielder going into the 2021 season. Despite Nimmo not being the greatest defensively in center field, his offense makes up for it according to the shredder.

Right Field

Coming in at the final position we land in right field. Coming off his first full season and a career-high in multiple categories, Michael Conforto found himself listed as the ninth-best right fielder headed into 2020.

Not much changed for the Mets in a year as Conforto is set to remain the right fielder. He was on pace for a career year in 2020 if it had not been a shortened season, and as a result, was ranked as the seventh-best right fielder in a heavily talented right field going into 2021.

The Mets are clearly in good shape heading into 2021 as stated early. In addition to the Mets having eight different players across the ten available lists, the majority of them are ranked high and did not just barely make their respected list.

After making some serious offseason moves and developing some great players, the shredder acknowledged it with the amount of Mets on the top ten lists, proving the Mets are a legitimate threat in the league now.

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