How good the NY Mets defense has gotten and the reason why it improved so much

It flew a bit under the radar since the whole team was struggling so badly, but the New York Mets' defense was a mess in the first half. They posted a collective -8 Fielding Run Value, which is a comprehensive metric that combines all Statcast data to gauge a player or team's overall defensive value. That mark, naturally, was one of the worst in the league prior to the All-Star break.

However, since that point, the Mets have actually be quite stellar on that side of the ball. They've accumulated +9 FRV in the second half, which ranks in the top 10 among all teams.

Naturally, there are a lot of factors that go into creating a good team defense, from the players themselves to the coaching staff and prep work that goes into building out a strong game plan. Still, it's nice to see that David Stearns' run-prevention focus is finally paying off, even if it's obviously too little, too late to matter for 2026.

The Mets' defense is being led in a new direction by the young guns on the roster

The biggest reason that the Mets' defense has reversed course this year is also one of the most exciting. A.J. Ewing and Carson Benge have combined for +12 FRV in the second half, forming the crux of what should be one of the best outfield defenses in baseball for the foreseeable future.

To that end, it also helps that Juan Soto has missed extended time recently. Obviously, the Mets are a better team when his bat is in the lineup, but Soto has never been a savant with the glove. His transition back to left field has yielded -5 FRV this season, and for his career, he's sitting on a -46 mark across all three outfield positions in just under 10,000 innings played. There were loose discussions among fans about having him settle into a semi-permanent designated hitter role when Luis Robert Jr. was still around, and I think it'd be foolish to abandon that idea now.

Elsewhere on the team, Luis Torrens has been a godsend behind the plate, posting +9 FRV on the year (which leads the team). In even better news, Francisco Alvarez has really turned things around, going from -4 FRV in the first half to +4 FRV in the second half. With better health, he looks more comfortable behind the plate again, giving the Mets one of the best backstop tandems in the league.

Between certain absences (Soto, Mark Vientos) and continued growth from young players, the improvements on defense don't look like just a flash in the pan. The Mets may not want to go as full bore on "run prevention" as they did last offseason, but it's clear that they have a core group of gloves capable of helping out the pitching staff, rather than hurting it.

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