The Mets need a ton more from these 3 players to have a shot at the playoffs

Mets we need to see more from #3: Starling Marte

Starling Marte has been really bad this year.

The righty is slashing .256/.309/.336/.644 with five homers, seven doubles, 28 RBI, and 37 runs scored. His OPS+ is just 79, 21 percent below league average. His wRC+ is 83, 17 percent below league average.

At age 34, his age-related decline has taken effect. His sprint speed has slowly been declining since 2019, but the biggest step down came between last year and this year. His sprint speed was in the 68th percentile last year, and it’s now below average in the 47th percentile.

Even with his speed decline, the one area Marte has excelled is stealing bases. He’s stolen 23 bases in 27 attempts. His 23 steals is 6th in MLB, just three behind exciting rookie Corbin Carroll.

He’s also lost a lot of power. His isolated power (ISO) was .176 last year, and it’s down to just .080 this year. His barrel rate is down from 6.8% to 5.8%, which is a pretty big drop over one year. He’s pulling the ball less this year (42.5% last year, 36.7% this year), so he’s losing bat speed as well.

These three guys were a key part of the Mets’ success in 2022, and their decline is a major reason for their struggles in the first half of 2023. The Mets need them to turn it around and fast, but I don’t know if that’s possible.