1 Mets player fans were wrong to believe was cooked, 1 they were right to stick a fork in

Now nearing the end of the first month of MLB action in 2024, those preseason takes all of us had are either making us look like geniuses. Or maybe we’re looking for the delete button.

Heading into this year, even positive Mets fans viewed several members of this roster as absolutely cooked. This includes some of the additions who were coming off of less than stellar campaigns.

A pair of returning players, however, had fans eager to dump them in the offseason. We were wrong to believe one of them was cooked. If you stuck a fork in the other, you were dead-on correct to do so.

Mets outfielder Starling Marte would give you food poisoning with how uncooked he is

Who had Starling Marte being one of the best hitters on the team this season? The aging outfielder is much more than the singles hitter with bad defense from last season. Yeah, the glove looks tattered. The bat, on the other hand, has been one of the most consistent from Opening Day onward.

Despite his 0 for 5 performance in the finale against the San Francisco Giants, Marte is still hitting .290/.330/.450 in his first 107 plate appearances. It does feel like he’s striking out a lot and not walking much, however, the strikeout percentage isn’t even the highest of his career and the walk rate is almost a half-percentage above the 5.2% in his career. Thank the career-high 47.4% hard-hit percentage for his early success.

Marte’s production is easily explainable. Dealing with migraines, groin injuries, and other ailments last season undoubtedly slowed him down. Appearing fully healthy, his presence in the lineup is key to the club’s success whether he hits in one of the top two spots in the order or closer to the middle.

Mets catcher Omar Narvaez is setting off the fire alarm with how cooked he is

As raw as Marte has looked, catcher Omar Narvaez couldn’t look more burnt to a crisp. The veteran catcher will be asked for much more in the coming weeks as the team expects to be without Francisco Alvarez for about two months at minimum.

Narvaez is hitting .188/.235/.250 in his limited 35 trips to the plate. Of his 6 hits, 3 came in one game against the Cincinnati Reds and another 2 against the Atlanta Braves. Ironically, the Mets lost both games. In fact, they haven’t won a game yet when Narvaez has gotten a hit with the latest being his double against the Giants.

Narvaez, too, suffered from an injury last year that may have hampered him. It wasn’t as lingering as Marte. Explaining Narvaez’s downfall is easier without an excuse. He’s simply just not all that good anymore. Worse than his offensive performance is the atrocious defense. When the Mets face a fast team, they will run amuck against him. It’s one weakness the Mets cannot defend against. They can overcome a .200 hitter in the lineup. The inability to hold runners on or throw them out is the bigger issue to worry about.