3 Mets players who struggled in 2023 that we shouldn't give up on yet

With the 2023 season in the rearview mirror, the New York Mets have more roster questions than answers going forward.

Aside from cornerstone players locked up long term, there are no guarantees as to who will fit into the team’s plans over the next couple of years. Much of the last few months of 2023 served as an audition for players hoping to solidify their future roster spot.

For a few Mets, 2023 might have seemed like a step back – but fans should hold out hope that these players can still be key contributors.

1) NY Mets to still believe in: Jeff McNeil

After winning the 2022 National League batting title and earning a four-year contract extension, Jeff McNeil regressed considerably in 2023.

Missing all but six games, McNeil hit .270, nearly sixty points off his league-leading clip the year prior. Most of his advanced batting metrics, like exit velocity and barrel rate, finished in the bottom twenty percent of all qualified major league hitters.

McNeil’s season splits, however, project optimism that he will return to form in 2024. Through the All-Star break, he was hitting .253 with just 17 extra-base hits, translating to an OPS (.659) well below league average. In the second half, McNeil rebounded to hit .291 and surpass his power totals from the first half in 22 fewer games before a partially torn elbow ligament forced him out in the season’s final week.

Critical to McNeil’s value going forward will be as much about his defensive versatility as it will be about reclaiming hit hitting prowess. He logged innings at six different positions in 2023 and, with so many of the Mets’ top prospects projected to be middle infielders/outfielders, could be used as more of a corner outfielder instead of second base.

As he enters his age 32 season, McNeil should still be an everyday weapon, provided he remains the player he was in the second half of 2023. A slow start, however, could cost him playing time in favor of the Mets’ up-and-coming young core, even with a few years left on his current deal.

2) NY Mets to still believe in: Brett Baty

Brett Baty’s road towards becoming the Mets’ long-term solution at third base hit a wall in 2023. The 23-year-old struggled in all phases of the game, posting a mere .598 OPS at the plate and minus-5 defensive runs saved at the hot corner.

Despite a rough first full season that included spending most of August at Triple-A Syracuse, Baty has shown flashes of what made him a top-100 prospect. His hard-hit rate was in the 69th percentile for the season, and he hit safely in nine of his final twelve games with five RBI, all against teams fighting for postseason berths.

Whether Baty can get past his struggles might simply be a case of having patience in a young player acclimating to major league pitching. It is likely the Mets will give the former first round draft pick a strong chance at winning the third base job out of spring training in 2024.

How much rope he gets, however, will depend on how quickly other young in-house options like Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio develop. Neither is known as a strong defender, but each has experience at third base and showed a bit more progress offensively in part-time roles with the Mets last season.

David Stearns, the Mets’ new president of baseball operations, indicated the organization will look to thread the needle between fielding a competitive team in 2024 and not sacrificing competitiveness in future years. How they manage the case of Brett Baty will be a prime example of whether they can truly strike that balance.