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.

2) Taijuan Walker had another really solid year for the Mets.

Walker made 29 starts and pitched 157.1 innings. He allowed 143 hits, 61 earned runs, 45 walks, and struck out 132 batters. His ERA was 3.49, his FIP was 3.65, his WHIP was 1.20, and his ERA+ was 111. 

His Savant page isn’t spectacular. Walker doesn’t throw hard or have wipeout, high-spin stuff, so the metrics don’t love him. He has two pink dots: his walk rate was in the 61st percentile and his chase rate was in the 56th percentile. He relies heavily on his defense to get outs, since he’s not striking guys out (32nd percentile in strikeout rate).

The story around Walker is similar to 2021 in that he was great in the first half and collapsed in the second. He had a 2.55 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 16 starts in the first half. In 13 second half starts, his ERA ballooned to 4.80 and his WHIP jumped up to 1.34. A large part of that is due to him giving up 11 homers in the second half, compared to only four in the first half.

It is worth noting that he finished the year strong. In his last five starts, had an ERA of 3.03, held opponents to a .632 OPS, and struck out 36 batters in 29 innings. This included two games where he struck out 10 batters (9/11 vs Miami and 10/4 vs. Washington)

The Mets have an interesting decision to make with Walker. He is a back-of-the-rotation arm that is really solid and since starting pitching is thin this winter, he might be one of the better arms available. 

3) Max Scherzer was nearly everything the Mets could’ve asked for this year.

Mad Max made 23 starts and pitched 145.1 innings. He allowed 108 hits, 37 earned runs, 24 walks, and struck out 173 batters. His ERA was a sparkling 2.29, his FIP was 2.62, his WHIP was 0.91, and his ERA+ was 169.

Scherzer’s Savant page is great. He’s in the 96th percentile in walk rate, 91st percentile in chase rate, 89th percentile in strikeout rate, 87th percentile in xERA/xwOBA, and 87th percentile in xBA. He does give up some hard hit balls (30th percentile in barrel rate), but he doesn’t give up many homers (only 13, good for an HR/9 of 0.8).

Unfortunately Scherzer was the star of one of the scariest moments of the Mets season. Scherzer removed himself from the game on May 18th and was later diagnosed with an oblique injury. He would go on to miss six weeks before returning in early July, but he never fully healed. He missed two more weeks in September when the oblique flared up again, and he did not look right in his lone postseason start, causing speculation of continued oblique issues.

Unfortunately that’s why Scherzer gets a B. He was incredible when he was on the field, but he missed significant time and he had his worst starts at times when he couldn’t afford it.  

4) Brandon Nimmo had arguably his best all-around season in the big leagues in 2022.

The lefty played in 151 games, just the second time in his career he’s played 140 or more (the other time being 2018). He amassed a career-high 673 plate appearances and 580 at-bats. He slashed .274/.367/.433/.800 and hit 16 homers, led the NL with seven triples, and 30 doubles. He scored 102 runs and drove in 64. His OPS+ was 130. None of those numbers are eye-popping, but they are solid all around.

Nimmo didn’t have the .400+ on-base percentage that we’re used to seeing from him, but he still got on base a lot. His walk rate was in the 78th percentile, and his strikeout numbers were all great (90th percentile in chase rate, 80th percentile in whiff rate, 76th percentile in strikeout rate).

Nimmo’s largest strides came in center field (literally and figuratively). As recently as 2020, Nimmo was known as a well-below-average fielder due to his lack of range and weak throwing arm. He had a -4 Outs Above Average in 2020, but quickly turned it to a +3 in 2021. He improved even more this year, doubling his OAA to +6, which was in the 91st percentile.

I would love to see Nimmo sign an extension and play center field for the Mets going forward. He’s one of the most important guys on the roster in my opinion, because he does so many things well. Other teams will target him too for that reason, so hopefully Steve Cohen and Billy Eppler act fast and lock him up.