2 NY Mets players who’ve exceeded expectations after 50 games, 2 who’ve fallen short

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Maybe your New York Mets expectations haven’t been reached this year. Through 50 games, they’re not 50-0 like some people demanded. Having recently turned a corner only two drop two straight against the Chicago Cubs, they’re a .500 baseball club with strengths and weaknesses. Fans can fairly argue there are more of the latter.

Some players are having productive campaigns where they’ve contributed in big ways without all of the numbers to back it up. Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor are driving in runs even if their batting averages aren’t pretty. Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander are headed in the right direction as well.

What about everyone else? It’s these two players who seem to have exceeded what we thought they would do and these other two coming up short.

NY Mets closer David Robertson has exceeded expectations

Nobody has stepped up more than David Robertson this year. Knowing Edwin Diaz would be out all year has ignited something in Robertson to be his absolute best for the Mets whether he’s pitching in the ninth or any other inning Buck Showalter needs him.

Robertson is 2-0 with a 1.27 ERA in 21.1 innings of work this season. He has saved 8 games for the Mets and is arguably their only realistic All-Star candidate at the moment.

Expectations for Robertson were varied coming into the season. Originally intended to be more of a setup man and occasional closer, he is getting the bulk of those opportunities. He has earned every one of them.

Through 50 games, the closer spot has been of little concern. If the Mets get to the ninth inning with the lead and Robertson is on the hill, it’s easy street for New York.

NY Mets outfielder Starling Marte has fallen short of expectations

We finally got to see Starling Marte do more than hit a single on Sunday when a late blast ending his drought. Some regression could have been expected out of Marte. Injuries in the end of the season limited how many games he played. Offseason surgery served as a reminder of his age.

Unfortunately, the first few weeks of the year have been rough for Marte. He’s hitting .236/.302/.299 with 4 doubles, 2 home runs, and possibly some lingering injuries. He has taken advantage of MLB rule changes and has 13 stolen bases. At least there’s that.

He’s falling short of our expectations mostly because he may have raised them a bit last year. He was an All-Star for a reason. The numbers weren’t gaudy but if you recall at the time of his selection there weren’t all that many outfielders having a better year.

The poor numbers are almost masked by how badly teammates have done. The difference between Marte and them is we foresaw the possibility of a huge drop from the play of Eduardo Escobar, Mark Canha, and Daniel Vogelbach. With Marte, a decline was coming up but it seemed to catch a cab to accelerate the process.

This isn’t the same outfielder we adored and needed down the stretch in 2022.

NY Mets reliever Jeff Brigham has exceeded expectations

It’s easy to surpass expectations when there really aren’t any. Did Mets fans plan for Jeff Brigham to be the fourth or fifth best reliever in the bullpen this year? With the exception of Brigham’s closest friends and family (only the closest ones) nobody saw this coming.

Brigham remains an asset to the Mets because he can be optioned to the minor leagues for another arm. Lately, he's crossing himself off the list to ever go back to Syracuse. Showalter is using him later in games. Brigham is making those decisions look smart.

Brigham has yet to be the pitcher of record in his 16 appearances which include 16.1 innings. His 2.76 ERA is second-best among all pitchers with 10+ innings. Only Robertson’s is better. The dividing line in the bullpen includes the guys we do and the guys we do not trust. Brigham is in the trust circle and he’s buckling himself into it.

Fellow relievers like Drew Smith and Brooks Raley are meeting expectations if not slightly surpassing. Brigham is different. He didn’t even make the Opening Day roster or seem to have any shot at it. His 0.73 WHIP might be the most impressive statistic of all. Of the 7 hits he has allowed, 3 have been home runs. Solve this and Brigham boosts himself up to a new level.

NY Mets reliever Adam Ottavino has fallen short of expectations

For all of the good we’ve seen from Robertson, we’ve seen almost as much bad from Adam Ottavino. Repeating what he did for the Mets in 2022 was impossible. All we asked for was some level of trust. Ottavino doesn’t have it through the first 50 games of the season.

Last year’s performance definitely created some deception as to what we could see from Ottavino in 2023. Now 0-2 with a 4.82 ERA in 18.2 innings, he hasn’t been anything close to what he was in year one with the Mets. His 2.06 ERA wasn’t something we’d expect him to match but we didn’t think he’d revert this much. He gave up 15 runs in all of last season. He’s already at 10.

What’s a bit strange is Ottavino still has a 1.07 WHIP which is solid. His problem has been when he’s “off” he tends to always give up a run. Ottavino has tossed plenty of hitless innings this year. Unfortunately, there are a couple of clobberings mixed in as well.

The thought of Ottavino and Robertson sharing closer duties is beginning to subside. Do we really want him as the last line of defense? Through 50 games, he hasn’t looked so hot.

Ottavino is the pitcher version of Marte. Each seemed to outdo expectations in 2022. Now with them failing a little too regularly, it stings even more.

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