3 Mets player who will be better in 2023, 2 who will be worse

2) NY Mets will get a better year from Francisco Lindor

Francisco Lindor is another guy who had a good year in 2022. Compared to year one with the Mets, he felt like a completely different player.

Still, it wasn’t quite at the level of his best years in Cleveland. The .270/.339/.449 slash line falls short of the career numbers of .277/.342/.474. Lindor, much like the rest of the league, is striking out a ton. His 133 strikeouts in 2022 blew away his previous high of 107 from back in 2018. It was actually only the second time he has ever reached triple-digits.

More power is what the Mets could use out of Lindor. It’s not even with home runs. We can accept him hitting 26 again if it comes with 107 RBI. Lindor does need to start hitting more doubles. He had only 25 last year. For a guy who topped 40 two-base hits three years in a row while also hitting over 30 home runs, we know it’s something he’s capable of.

Having already witnessed Lindor get better in 2022, we should have faith he can take another step in 2023.

Now fully comfortable in New York with the woes of the 2021 season long forgotten, becoming a true MVP candidate should be on Lindor’s mind for this season. Although he had a ninth-place finish last season in the voting, it was a distant placement.

The 2023 season might not be the year where Lindor has his signature season. This doesn’t mean he can’t get immensely better.

3) NY Mets will get a better year from Tylor Megill

It shouldn’t be too hard for Tylor Megill to have a better season in 2022. After all, his 2022 campaign wasn’t so fantastic. Working as a starter and reliever, Megill finished 4-2 with a 5.13 ERA in 47.1 innings.

The numbers are a bit misleading because of a few bad performances from him. As long as he is able to stay healthy, Megill should look much better on the mound for the Mets in 2023.

The team does appear to have a plan of keeping him stretched out as a starter rather than find a spot for him in the bullpen. There is an art to being able to bounce between the majors and minors. It’s a lot less abstract than having to do what Trevor Williams did last year moving from the bullpen to the rotation. We’re going to miss that guy.

Megill has shown a lot of promise through the early part of his career. The numbers haven’t been quite there to justify making him a more permanent part of the rotation anytime soon. I do think Megill may ultimately find a spot in the bullpen. Even so, it won’t stop him from being a stud for Buck Showalter in 2023.

All Megill needs are the innings to improve upon last year. Another season wiser and more experienced, he’s an easy candidate to expect to take the next step.

4) NY Mets will see Starling Marte decline slightly

Starling Marte is now a 34-year-old right fielder coming off of core surgery and an injury that sidelined him for a good chunk of the final weeks in 2023. An athlete who relied a lot on his speed as recently as the 2021 season, I think we start to see a decline from him in 2023.

This doesn’t mean Marte will be in jeopardy of losing his job. He’s coming off of a season in which he hit .292/.347/.468. The numbers are close to the .290/.346/.453 he has hit in his career. It’s not so outrageous to expect him to do something similar.

Injuries could be a big factor, though. Marte played 120 games in 2021 and only 118 for the Mets in 2022. After playing 61 games in the 2020 season when there were only 60 games scheduled for each team (thanks to a trade), Marte has been an incredible producer but also regularly absent.

Marte’s power numbers for the Mets last year exceeded expectations. I wouldn’t expect him to hit home runs at the same rate again. He did steal far fewer bases than the 47 he had the year prior, swiping just 18 of them. He was actually caught 9 times after a season where he attempted to steal 52 and was caught just 5 times.

All great athletes decline eventually. A more noticeable one could be on the way for Marte.

5) NY Mets will see Jose Quintana be more like his old self

Age is more than just a number. It’s a good indication of what an athlete will do. A recently turned 34-year-old Jose Quintana will experience a similar decline as Marte. Their career paths are very different with Marte consistently playing well in recent years and Quintana only getting back to his best last season.

Quintana is coming off of an impressive year in which he finished 6-7 with a 2.93 ERA. It’s what he did early on with the Pittsburgh Pirates and how he finished with the St. Louis Cardinals which is what has Mets fans most excited about him.

Quintana won’t be nearly as good as he was overall last year. His Pirates numbers, which include a 3.50 ERA and 1.27 WHIP, are more line with what he has done for most of his career and over the last few seasons.

It’s hard to ignore the injuries and poor performances Quintana has battled through for many seasons. He is the kind of pitcher who will rarely make it past six innings. The Mets should, at best, hope he can have something close to the 3.75 ERA he comes to New York with this year.

Quintana will have to show early on that last year’s success was no accident. He’s a good arm to have but there is no way he is anywhere close to as good as he was in 2022, especially once he joined the Cardinals.