1 Mets player who was good in 2022 but won’t be as productive next season

There was a ton to like about what Starling Marte gave the New York Mets in 2022. Signing him was a huge move even if he ended up as the starting right fielder.

In 118 games and 505 plate appearances, Marte slashed .292/.347/.468. It was oddly similar to his career totals of .290/.346/.453. Only the power increased a noticeable amount.

Marte has aged pretty well as a baseball player. His strong debut season with the Mets should have us thinking positively about what lies ahead. However, parts of what we see from him in 2023 are bound to take a decline even if it’s only slightly.

The Mets should expect at least mild regression from Starling Marte in 2023

Certain types of players benefit from having youth on their side. Marte is one such example. Although he still stole 18 bases last season which is a lot for Mets players in recent years, it’s a much more likely total than the 47 he swiped in 2021. This isn’t even a case of playing fewer games. Marte actually had only 21 more plate appearances in 2021 than he did in 2022. The Mets just aren’t a team built for running. What’s more, Marte was caught 9 times in 27 attempts for a somewhat underwhelming rate for this speedster.

Another area we should expect to trend downward is power. Hitting another 16 home runs isn’t out of the question. To do it while missing about 40 games is asking for a bit much. Unless Marte does something unusual and develops power late in his career, what we experienced in 2022 might be his best home run rate as a member of the Mets.

Where Marte can perform similarly is easy. He can hit .292 or better yet again. He can reach base at a similar clip, too. Those parts of his game aren’t in as much danger with age. It’s things like speed and power that will probably go into the red in his age 34 season.

The same could be true for his defense. Marte wasn’t a bad right fielder for the Mets this past year. He was worth 0 WAR and had a mix of some positive and negative numbers in other defensive metrics. Let’s agree to call him about average. Will we even get that in 2023?

Marte will remain crucial to the Mets lineup in 2023. He just won’t be quite as All-Star worthy as he was in 2022.