Why these 3 Mets free agent additions will have a better year in 2023

The New York Mets had an active offseason with some obvious needed additions and some surprise ones along the way. The team did a mix of buying players coming off of strong seasons while also throwing some money at players they’re hopeful will be better in 2023.

With the players they re-signed eligible for this list as well, it’s these three Mets free agent additions from the offseason we should most believe will have a better year in 2023 than they did in 2022.

1) NY Mets catcher Omar Narvaez had an atypically bad season in 2022

Nobody should doubt what Omar Narvaez can do behind the plate. At 31 with a good track record on defense, it should be business as usual for him this season.

What’s a bit of a mystery is how he’ll perform at the plate. Narvaez’s career has included some major extremes. Last year was one of the extremes on the ugly side. He slashed .206/.292/.305 with the Milwaukee Brewers following an All-Star campaign the year prior.

Narvaez carries a lifetime slash line of .258/.343/.386 with him to the Mets this year. I don’t see this being the same situation as James McCann whose offensive numbers exploded with the Chicago White Sox in the juiced ball season of 2019 and continued into the shortened 2020 year. While Narvaez benefited greatly from the enhanced balls in 2019 as well, he has been a far more consistent hitter in his career, at least in terms of batting average and OBP.

Something close to Narvaez’s season in 2021 is what the Mets should hope to get. It was actually the third lowest batting average of his career at .266. After two years of McCann, we’ll take it happily.

Being able to play more regularly against right-handed pitchers could help Narvaez as well. More than anything, the resume speaks for itself.