Three Mets players we should expect a career year from in 2021

Ask a room full of New York Mets fans what they expect from this team in 2021. Combine those answers together and I think you have a team stacked with 12 All-Stars, a ridiculous amount of league leaders, and a whole lot of career years.

Mets fans are excited about this season. I can’t blame them. It’s the first year sans Wilpon majority ownership.

In 2021, we should see the club bounce back from the miseries of 2020. The shortened campaign ended on time with the team on the outside of the playoff picture. A key element to making the postseason in 2021 will be to get some career years out of some important players. This year, I have three favorites to break out and put together the best season of their life.

Mets center fielder Brandon Nimmo

Brandon Nimmo is a “love him or hate him” type of player. Those who have been paying attention seem to adore him. He gets on base, hits with some good power, and always brings a good attitude to the field. He gets the job done at a high level.

Then there are those who still think he deserves to, at best, have a spot on the team as the fourth outfielder. I don’t quite understand where these people are coming from. As frustrating as he is at times (his defense and high strikeout ratio specifically), Nimmo is an important member of the Mets.

This year, I envision Nimmo putting together what we could consider a career campaign.

Nimmo’s best season to date happened back in 2018 when he first became an everyday player. Nimmo slashed .263/.404/.483 for the Mets while popping 17 home runs and driving in 47 over the course of his 535 trips to the plate. He walked a ton and seemed to get on base regularly enough to become a constant option to bat leadoff.

Nimmo was well on his way to replicating and maybe even surpassing his 2018 season last year. In his 225 plate appearances during the shortened season, Nimmo slashed .280/.404/.484 with 8 home runs and 18 RBI. The equaled OBP and one point higher in his slugging percentage was great to see. Even better, he hit for a batting average 22 points higher than what he has for his career.

Settled in as the starting center fielder this year, prepare yourself to see a lot of Nimmo. He may have a few more off-days than some other starters. However, he should get more than enough playing time to put together the best season of his career thus far.

Mets left fielder Dominic Smith

There won’t be a DH this year but that doesn’t mean Dominic Smith will be wasted on the bench. Now free to get at-bats every single day, Smith is our final candidate to have a career-year with the Mets.

Smith has yet to reach 200 plate appearances in a single season so it’s easy to understand why he’s here. His first two seasons were horrific but Smith seemed to discover himself at the plate in 2019. As a part-time player who missed most of the second half, Smith still managed to bat .282/.355/.525 with 11 home runs and 25 RBI. He followed it up with a .316/.377/.616 performance last year complete with 10 home runs and 42 RBI.

Smith has entered hostile territory. The hostilities are versus opposing pitchers.

There’s no reason to believe Smith will suddenly fall off from his quick ascension from a guy who looked like a failed prospect to a potential All-Star. Smith needs to hit. The Mets found a way to get him at-bats and unless he’s not hitting, there’s no reason to sit him down.

I’m most curious to see what type of hitter Smith develops into. Down in the minors, he hit for average much better than he did power. Based on what we saw during the last two seasons, it looks like he might be able to do both.

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Put it in marker, pen, and maybe even etch it into stone—these three Mets are about to have seasons we haven’t seen from them before.