5 Mets players we were wrong about to start the season

It’s okay to be wrong. The baseball phrase “3 out of 10 make a Hall of Famer” could easily apply to fans when it comes to making predictions. You’re going to miss often and sometimes wide. The 2023 New York Mets are proving it.

Many of us assumed with such a massive payroll, a roster full of talent, and a 101 season last year would result in nothing but smiles. Instead, we’ve seen a different ball club this season.

Opening up a jar of honesty and squirting out some humbleness, these are five of those Mets players fans were practically universally wrong about to start the season.

1) We were wrong about NY Mets pitcher Max Scherzer

Max Scherzer can still salvage his season. Unfortunately, it hasn’t started off so great. Is it the rule changes leaving him drained of energy? Whatever his problem is, this isn’t the same Scherzer we saw last season.

The year has started with a 3-2 record and 4.88 ERA for Scherzer in 6 starts. He is averaging just shy of a strikeout per inning and nearly 4 walks per 9 this year. The 5.65 FIP suggests he has actually been able to escape from having an even worse ERA to begin the year.

It’s looking like even a more pessimistic outlook for what Scherzer’s 2023 season could look like was a little too kind. There have been some good and bad starts thus far. However, even on those days when he has posted solid numbers, Scherzer hasn’t looked quite the same.

It might not be so much age as much as it is mileage on the arm which often comes with getting older. He’s getting close to 3,000 MLB innings. It’s taxing and as baseball fans have witnessed during the past two seasons, Scherzer seems to break down near the end of the year.

What really stinks is that we’re in May and already we’ve seen him get hammered. Through this early stage of the season, we were wrong to think he was complete ace material.

2) We were wrong about NY Mets outfielder Starling Marte

An All-Star representative of the Mets last year, Starling Marte is beginning to show his age this season. He can still steal bases and has some other good qualities that’ll keep him in the starting lineup. What’s missing most is the power he posted for the ball club last year. Although not a home run hitter, he was one of the more relied upon to pop a home run or knock a double in 2023.

Marte is quickly becoming more of a singles hitter. Frankly, it’s not something the Mets really need on a roster with plenty of station-to-station players already on it. Marte’s outfield range looks like it’s on the decline. Watching him for even a short period of time and you’d swear this isn’t the same exciting player from last year.

Through 162 plate appearances, Marte is a .231/.298/.279 hitter with only 5 extra base hits. Four have been doubles and one has been a home run.

From the start we’ve been wrong about Marte. When the Mets first signed him, the initial thought was he’d play a lot of center field. They’ve parked him in right field instead while allowing Brandon Nimmo to retain a position he has worked hard to keep. Marte certainly raised the bar with last season’s performance. This year, the bar needs to be lowered.

3) We were wrong about NY Mets pitcher David Peterson

Before the season began, David Peterson stood on his balcony and saw a neon sign that said “The World is Yours.” Or maybe this was a scene from Scarface. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it.

Peterson has been scarred and scared plenty this season. In 8 starts for the Mets, the lefty has gone 1-6 with an 8.08 ERA. He managed to make his way onto the Opening Day roster out of necessity. Management had seen enough of him but due to some injuries he has been brought back and sent down already.

Peterson had an excellent spring training albeit one full of walks. He earned a rotation spot over Tylor Megill, but the injury announcement to Justin Verlander allowed both to begin the year on the 26-man roster. 

Upon his most recent demotion, Peterson was the league leader in earned runs allowed with 35. He’s becoming an “every other year” type of pitcher. Following a productive season in 2022 where he regularly went back and forth between the majors and minors and even saw some action in relief, it looked like he could at least do the same this season.

It’ll be nearly impossible for Peterson to have good numbers by the time this year is through. The Mets may not have enough patience to even give him an opportunity.

5) We were wrong about NY Mets catcher Tomas Nido

It’s going to be hard to justify keeping Tomas Nido around. Prior to landing on the IL, the longtime Mets catcher was batting .118/.148/.118 with declining defensive skills. The one thing that had kept him in the major leagues for all of these years was his work behind the plate, not at it. Well, with very little offense and a not-so-special ability to call games, he has become irrelevant.

None of us were completely wrong about Nido, but we all assumed he’d be at least somewhere close to the hitter he was the last two years. Nido saw his playing time increase in 2021 and in 2022 he was the main guy behind the plate. A .239/.276/.324 slash line in 313 plate appearances last season gave us confidence that he could at least remain on as the short-end of a catching platoon with Omar Narvaez. Instead, he has been passed by Francisco Alvarez already.

Nido had a productive preseason where he actually hit the ball amazingly well. This furthered the thought that maybe the Mets would be okay with him playing regularly against left-handed pitchers. Why is it when games don’t count, certain players perform better?

With egg all over the face, these are the Mets players many of us were wrong about.