5 players who deserve a B grade for 2022

The New York Mets have entered the offseason, which means that report cards are coming. 

This story will look at five players who deserve a B. These are players who played big roles, but maybe didn’t perform up to their normal standards, missed time due to injuries, had big platoon splits, or a combination of the three.

Let’s look at five Mets who deserve a B grade in 2022.

1) Adam Ottavino was a late sign last winter, and he turned out to be really important to the Mets in 2022.

The slider-slinger pitched in 66 games and totaled 65.2 innings pitched. He allowed 48 hits, 15 earned runs, 16 walks, and struck out 79 batters. His ERA was 2.06, his FIP was 2.85, his WHIP was 0.98, and his ERA+ was 188.

Ottavino’s Baseball Savant page is great. He finished in the 99th percentile in average exit velocity, 97th percentile in xERA/xwOBA, barrel rate, and hard hit rate, 96th percentile in xSLG, 92nd percentile in xBA, 90th percentile in extension, and 89th in strikeout rate. He only had one mildly-blue dot, and that was his chase rate in the 45th percentile, just a few ticks below average.

Given his arsenal and arm slot, it’s no surprise that he was better against righties than lefties. He held righties to a .161/.226/.253/.479 slash line with only seven extra-base hits all season. Lefties had an easier go of it in a smaller sample size, slashing .301/.358/.480/.838 against him.

There’s a chance Ottavino could be re-signed, but I don’t think the Mets would envision him being this good again. A 2.06 ERA is hard to replicate, especially factoring in how lefties handle him. I’d like to see him back in more of a righty-specialist role next year.