3 Mets auditioning for bigger roles on next year's team

2) Tomas Nido’s audition for the 2023 Mets commenced with James McCann’s second IL stint of the season. 

Tomas Nido’s long-term future with the Mets is clearly on the line here, let alone a potential role on the 2023 Mets. James McCann is under contract for two more years and top prospect Francisco Alvarez is likely to be on the major league team in the near future. So, it is essential for Nido to generate a strong performance the rest of the way. 

For all the offensive struggles the Mets have had from their catchers this season (Nido has a .209 overall batting average, but a .333 mark with men in scoring position), run prevention has played a pivotal role in the team’s success, and Nido has been part of that success. Nido has only gunned down 5 of the 32 base stealers against him, but those caught baserunners have come in big spots for New York, especially over the past three weeks.  

Also, Nido's pitch framing has gotten better over the past seven weeks from earlier in the season when serving as the full-time catcher in James McCann’s initial injury absence. It will have to remain that way through McCann’s second injury absence for the Mets to remain efficient in run prevention. 

With Nido due for his second round of arbitration this winter, the Mets will have to make a decision on whether or not they will tender a contract, which is a big question mark right now because the Mets will put Francisco Alvarez on the 40-man roster this winter to prevent him from going to the Rule 5 draft. These next two months mean everything for Nido’s future endeavors in Queens. 

3) With many Mets bullpen uncertainties next season, Colin Holderman seeks to be a certainty for Buck Showalter next season. 

Colin Holderman has been someone that has impressed from the moment he made his debut on May 15. In 14 appearances, he sports a 2.25 ERA and a 2.30 FIP over 16.0 innings pitched with 9.6 strikeouts per nine frames. By some measures, he has been the Mets’ best reliever not named Edwin Diaz, which says something given he was not in the majors until a couple of months ago. 

Holderman's off-speed pitches have been superb this year. Between his cutter, slider, and changeup, opponents have gone just 2-for-26 with 14 strikeouts and no extra base hits with whiff rates over 40 percent.  

Holderman should be part of the inner circle of Buck Showalter’s throughout the season, but it is not because Showalter is utilizing Adam Ottavino and Seth Lugo in high leverage situations late in games to bridge the game to Edwin Diaz. 

But Holderman’s performance should be noteworthy for planning next year’s team because depending on how the Mets build their bullpen next season, Holderman will look to continue to pitch well.  

The Mets will see five of their top relief pitchers test free agency after the season, and much uncertainty remains for the Mets bullpen. But Holderman’s value for this team going forward will continue to increase with each scoreless outing (which 12 of his 14 appearances so far were).