2 NY Mets players who will continue to surprise us, 2 who will decline

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The first half is over. The New York Mets embark on a second half where they’ll hope the successes of the first half continue. This is a team with a starting pitching staff that has in the eyes of many overachieved. Meanwhile, the offense is about as awesome as it can possibly get.

We know where the Mets’ issues lie. They’re in the bullpen dirt, circling like vultures whenever a pitch count nears triple digits.

From the group of surprise successes for the Mets this season, one pair will see their first half continue for the final two and a half months while two others are bound to have their numbers go on the decline.

Mark Vientos will remain one of the key Mets hitters

Mark Vientos couldn’t have had a much better first half for the Mets. Smashing 12 home runs in only 199 plate appearances, his .291/.347/.549 slash line is as perfect as you could script it. His strikeout rate is right around 25% which is more than acceptable for a guy whose OPS is almost .900.

Nothing was handed to Vientos this year. On the contrary, a lot was taken. It took until the team signed J.D. Martinez for him to see reality. He wasn’t a part of the plan for 2024.

Plans have a funny way of falling apart. Early offensive struggles from multiple Mets players in addition to Brett Baty’s bat going completely cold had the Mets pivoting back to Vientos. His reputation as a poor defender at third base hasn’t lived up to its reputation. Vientos has been perfectly fine at the hot corner.

His presence in the lineup has helped lengthen the starting nine and made the absence of Starling Marte tolerable. Finally, we’re seeing the kid who raised his own hype in Triple-A countless times.

Jose Iglesias will come back down to earth

OMG! Not even a deal with the devil can guarantee what Jose Iglesias has done for the Mets. A .380 batting average and .999 OPS help highlight one of baseball’s most fascinating players of the year. How has this all happened in only 30 games?

The world has B.C. and A.D. The 2024 Mets have B.O.M.G. and the Era of Iglesias.

It’s completely reasonable to expect some sort of a decline out of Iglesias. This shouldn’t take away from what he has already done. The energy alone has been worth every moment. A locker room presence the ball club needed early on, Iglesias is one of those rare cases of a guy focusing on his musical career and not getting too distracted. Like I said, el diablo couldn’t even grant this sort of a wish.

The balance at which Iglesias has hit should continue. He doesn’t walk a lot nor does he strike out a ton. He swings the bat, puts the ball in play, and this year it has resulted in a lot of big hits for the Mets.

In his twelfth MLB season, this isn’t a case of a young guy finally figuring it out. There is little explanation as to what has gotten into Iglesias other than a guy playing like a kid again. When he first got on the Mets, he hustled out routine groundballs and even asked for the ball from his first hit. Credit Grimace or a team meeting all you want. Iglesias has been the good luck charm.

Jose Butto will continue to be a bullpen savior

Of all the Mets prospects in recent years to make it to the majors, none bored me more than Jose Butto. Often ranked between 10 and 15 on different lists, there wasn’t anything spectacular about him. There still isn’t except he is finally getting his chance in the major leagues and getting results.

Butto is coming off of a successful 42 inning stint with the Mets last year working as a starter and reliever. Now through 45.2 innings this season, we’ve seen him thrust into the bullpen where he has held things together in miraculous fashion. This isn’t going away anytime soon.

Since his move to the bullpen at the beginning of July, Butto has been the winner or secured the save for the Mets in each of his four appearances. This trend will stop. What will continue is how awesome he has been.

Butto has now gone 7.2 shutout innings in relief with two hits allowed. He has been a multi-inning stopper in relief. He has made Adrian Houser irrelevant in some ways. Houser’s own performance has helped in that department, too.

Bound for a bad outing eventually, Butto has earned plenty of trust alongside fellow first half surprise, Dedniel Nunez. Will Butto get another chance in the rotation? Unless the Mets foolishly subtract, they should keep riding the wave of excellence they’re getting from him as a reliever.

David Peterson will see his luck run out

David Peterson has been a weird case for the 2024 Mets. Still prone to outings where he can’t find the strike zone, his 3.9 walks paired with 6.6 strikeouts per 9 are a frustrating duo. The 3.09 ERA is good and the fact that he is 4-0 with the team winning 7 of the last games in which he started is pretty ridiculous.

Peterson hasn’t pitched all that well. His 1.42 WHIP is second to only the 2023 season in terms of “worseness.” Base runners aplenty whenever he’s on the mound, Peterson is not someone the Mets can fully invest trust in as the second half progresses.

Injury concerns, which there have been plenty of in Peterson’s career, aren’t the problem this year because he already underwent his lengthy IL stint. Reality setting in and runs starting to come around the bases is what should have us worried about putting any sort of faith in Peterson.

We can call his first half a success because of the run prevention he provided the Mets. But how many times has an inning ending double play gotten him out of a jam?

The Mets need to look beyond the end result with Peterson to see he isn’t someone they should rely on as much more than depth. Credit some good defense behind him for saving him from already getting chased out of the rotation.

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