Mets Kryptonite: Why the designated hitter spot will hold them back in 2024
We are still waiting to see if the New York Mets plan to make any more off-season moves with the start of Spring Training less than a month away. Despite adding some depth pieces like starting pitchers Luis Severino, and Adrian Houser and outfielders Harrison Bader and Tyrone Taylor, New York has not necessarily hit it out of the park yet during this offseason.
While this lineup has the likes of Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil to name a few and their top ace Kodai Senga and closer Edwin Diaz, it still seems like this team is missing something if they want to get back in the postseason or better yet, make a deep postseason run. That is why if the Mets fail to make any new additions to fill this particular, come 2024 it will be their kryptonite.
Why the Mets Kryptonite in 2024 will be their DH spot
This has been a problem for the Mets it seems like a while now and they were certain that in 2022 when they traded for Daniel Vogelbach from the Pittsburgh Pirates to fill this hole, it would fix their problem in the lineup. Unfortunately, Vogelbach was not the answer for the Mets as their designated hitter.
Even though Vogelbach had a decent second-half year for the Mets in 2022 hitting .255 with six home runs and 24 runs batted in, we can't say that he was productive this past season. In his first and only full season wearing orange and blue, Vogelbach only hit .223 with 13 home runs and 48 RBI. And when the Mets went elsewhere to fill the DH spot by placing young Mark Vientos, he only batted .211 which will not get it done. Even though towards the end of last season when they put DJ Stewart in that position and slugged his way to an impressive 11 home runs in 160 at-bats, I don't see him as the answer either.
Overall, the Mets batting average at the designated hitting position was a woeful .217 which cannot happen again in 2024. That is why the Mets must go after free agents Jorge Soler or J.D. Martinez. Both of these sluggers have what Vientos and Stewart don't have at a consistent level and that's power. Soler had 36 home runs last season for the Miami Marlins and Martinez had 33 for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Unless the Mets don't try to attempt to sign these two sluggers, their main kryptonite in 2024 will be at DH.