2 Mets successes providing hope, 2 failures curbing our enthusiasm

The young players haven’t had enough of an impact

Last season was a learning experience for many young Mets players. Francisco Alvarez took over the full-time catcher duties. Brett Baty was the starting third baseman for as long as they could allow it. A slew of prospects one level away from the major leagues entering this season, it had potential to be a year where the young players would have a major impact on the season.

It hasn’t gone this way. Alvarez was batting just .236/.288/.364 before landing on the IL. Baty has had far bigger problems. Health has been mostly on his side while hard-hit balls have not. His improved defense has done very little to give us confidence that he is indeed the third baseman of the future for this team.

Mark Vientos only recently made his way back to the major league roster. His loud bat is doing a lot of early damage. It’s a shame the defense could keep him out of the conversation as a true starting third baseman on this team.

The Mets were quick to call up Christian Scott which was great to see. However, they don’t have any other impactful prospects pleading a serious case. Luisangel Acuna has struggled in Triple-A. Drew Gilbert has spent much of the year on the IL. Forget about Jett Williams making the leap from Double-A. He, too, has been hurt and ineffective.

This will not be a year where Alvarez and Baty are All-Stars or Acuna and Gilbert come up midseason and help the team make a playoff push. All are still a work in progress and in several cases, injuries have derailed those early dream scenarios.