Mets Predictions: 3 players set for a career year in 2021 update

Exactly two months ago, I put together an article for Rising Apple on three New York Mets I believed are headed toward a career year in 2021. About a month and a half into the season, I thought I would check in to see where those three players are.

Firstly, it looks like several members of this ball club are on track to put together unprecedented seasons. Specifically, the bullpen has a few guys off to amazing starts. I think at least one of them maintains it and ends up with some memorable numbers at the end of the season.

Secondly, there is no second point to make. Let’s just get right into how these preseason predictions of mine have fared.

I predicted Brandon Nimmo would have a career year for the Mets in 2021

I am a Brandon Nimmo fan but not a Brandon Nimmo geek. I don’t cite analytical data of his on dates—my wife would never allow it.

My basis for predicting a career year out of Nimmo in 2021 comes from a few places. For one, he’s in the age range we typically see players reach the pinnacle of their career. For yet another, we saw a lot of good things from him in 2020 to show he is more than a low-average, high OBP guy.

Nimmo definitely started hot for the Mets. At the time of landing on the IL, he was slashing .318/.430/.439 in 21 games played. Missing any length of time could hurt a case in seeing a career year out of him. However, I think we have all come to expect Nimmo to miss some time. Sadly, we always have to factor it in with a guy like him the same way we might pre-add a tip to the bill at a restaurant.

I still do think Nimmo can come back and put together some numbers which surpass his 2018 campaign. Barring some kind of major transformation for the worse when he does return to action, I think this remains a pretty safe prediction on my behalf.

Too bad I can’t say the same about all of the Mets I foresaw having a career year.

Dominic Smith still has time to turn things around and make this a perfect three for three

My final Mets player I predicted to have a career year in 2021 was Dominic Smith. He’s coming off the best season of his life. I believed he could do even more with extra at-bats and playing time.

After his first 29 games played, Smith has finally gotten his batting average up to .250. To go along with a .295 OBP and .356 slugging percentage, it’s safe to say things haven’t exactly gone his way.

Smith hasn’t been an absolute bust this year. He does have 14 RBI, second to only Pete Alonso on the team. His dip in power does have me a little concerned. Smith was a doubles machine last year and showed continued growth with the home run ball. He has only a pair of home runs this season and only recently picked up his fifth double of the year.

In a year with many Mets hitters struggling and players all across the league following suit, it’s hard to rip Smith down too badly. Pitching is dominating the league this season so to see Smith underperform in the early going comes as no surprise.

I just hope what we saw last year wasn’t merely fool’s gold. What if Smith was one of those players from 2020 that only ended the year with such awesome numbers because he didn’t have time to go through some heartaches?

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I’ll stick with these three Mets to eventually put together career years in 2021. All have the potential to do it. And by the looks of it, they could have some company down the line.