Projected NY Mets starting lineup after the Luis Robert Jr. trade

You might have woken up this morning to see the New York Mets pulled off a late night trade with the Chicago White Sox to add Luis Robert Jr. to the roster.

The fallout is massive for both what they can do next, where certain players fit in, and how the structure of the lineup feels. Tyrone Taylor suddenly goes to the bench where he belongs and the Mets are feeling a lot deeper even if Robert isn’t the budding superstar he once was.

FanGraphs has a projected lineup for the Mets. Let’s evaluate and maybe put together what we think it’ll actually look like.

The projected Mets starting lineup after the Luis Robert Jr. trade

Here’s what FanGraphs had to say:

1) Francisco Lindor, SS
2) Juan Soto, RF
3) Bo Bichette, 3B
4) Jorge Polanco, 1B
5) Marcus Semien, 2B
6) Brett Baty, DH
7) Francisco Alvarez, C
8) Luis Robert Jr., CF
9) Carson Benge, LF

The biggest change from previous versions is Taylor is out in center field and Carson Benge moves down to the nine-spot. I don’t foresee this being the actual lineup the Mets open the year with. Brett Baty at DH still feels a little funky. If the plan is to have him at first base, he should play it and Jorge Polanco should be DH. Their spots in the order don’t need to change, however.

Robert Jr. is probably a better nine hitter if for no other reason than he can help turn the lineup over. What’s more, with the structure of this lineup, Francisco Alvarez and Robert as the breading to the lefty-hitting Benge.

If this is the starting nine against a right-handed pitcher, maybe the only change would be to flip Robert with Benge. However, I’m convinced they add another left fielder, Austin Hays being the primary target. In that case, the lineup stays the same with Hays hitting 8th and Robert in the 9th spot.

Alternative Lineup with Austin Hays
1) Francisco Lindor, SS
2) Juan Soto, RF
3) Bo Bichette, 3B
4) Jorge Polanco, 1B
5) Marcus Semien, 2B
6) Brett Baty, DH
7) Francisco Alvarez, C
8) Austin Hays, LF (future spot for Carson Benge)
9) Luis Robert Jr., CF

The beauty of Robert is he fits well as a number nine hitter when things aren’t going smoothly and could be right there in the meat of the order when they are going well. He has good speed and power in his bat. It’s his lack of actually hitting with regularity that will have some disliking the move.

Flexibility is something this Mets lineup currently has. Someone like Marcus Semien can bounce around. While the top three seem pretty set and unneeded for change, the one spot that feels a little empty is the cleanup spot. That’s probably because we’re going from Pete Alonso to Polanco or anyone else the Mets might employ. It’s certainly a place where a player such as Brett Baty or Mark Vientos could play themselves into. Let them earn it.