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3 Mets who should already be in the Rookie of the Year conversation

By Michael Cahill |
Colorado Rockies v New York Mets
Colorado Rockies v New York Mets / Jim McIsaac/GettyImages
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The New York Mets have one of the older teams in Major League Baseball this year. However, they also have some young and talented prospects who will step into bigger roles at some point this year. These three guys have a chance to be the National League Rookie of the Year, starting with…

Mets Rookie of the Year Candidate #3: Francisco Alvarez

I would say that Francisco Alvarez got a cup of coffee in the Big Leagues in 2022, but that’s a generous description for five games and 14 plate appearances. I’ll say he got a shot of espresso instead.

In those five games he slashed .167/.286/.500/.786 with a homer, a double, one RBI, and three runs scored. Three of his appearances came as a DH, and he caught the other two. The homer was a 439-foot rocket.

In the minors, he slashed .260/.374/.511/.885 with 27 homers, 22 doubles, 78 RBI’s, and 74 runs scored. He started the season in AA Binghamton for 67 games, then got promoted to AAA Syracuse for 45 games.

We know he can hit, but there are still some questions about his defensive abilities. Fans and media personalities alike have been debating whether Alvarez should start the year as a DH option for the Mets or whether he should start the year in AAA so he can catch everyday. 

The signing of Omar Narvaez would seem to telegraph that they will demote him to continue his development, which I think is the right call. His long-term development into an everyday catcher is far more important than a few DH at-bats in the short term. He will be up at some point this year, I just think it’s unlikely he starts the year in The Majors, even though he is confident enough to think he belongs there (which is good).

Mets Rookie of the Year Candidate #2: Brett Baty

Baty got a slightly bigger shot of espresso with Mets before suffering a season-ending thumb injury. In 11 games and 42 plate appearances, he slashed .184/.244/.342/.586 with two homers, five RBI’s, and four runs scored. 

Similar to Alvarez, Baty split the minor league season between AA Binghamton and AAA Syracuse. In total, he slashed .315/.410/.533/.943 with 19 homers, 22 doubles, 60 RBI’s, and 76 runs scored.

Baty played third base every day until his thumb injury because Eduardo Escobar was hurt. I would love to see Baty break camp as the everyday third baseman, but I don’t know if the Mets are willing to do that just yet. I think it’s more likely we’ll see a platoon situation with Baty getting most starts against righties and Escobar playing against lefties while also playing other positions including DH.

This is a big year for Baty, with Manny Machado and Matt Chapman looming in free agency next winter. If he has a big year, he could be a huge part of the future of this franchise. If he struggles, the situation becomes murkier. Do they sign one of the aforementioned free agents and move Baty to left field and hope he figures it out? Does he become trade bait? I hope not, but it’s in the realm of possibility. Let’s hope he makes a big contribution and we don’t have to find out.

Mets Rookie of the Year Candidate #1: Kodai Senga

Kodai Senga has the best chance of winning the Rookie of the Year award.

Senga will likely be slotted into the rotation as the #3 starter. Last year in the NPB, he appeared in 23 games and pitched 148 innings. He allowed just 104 hits, 31 earned runs, 50 walks, and struck out 159 batters. His ERA was 1.89, his WHIP was 1.04, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio was 3.18. 

One thing I can’t wait to see is his ghost forkball. His signature pitch can make even the best hitters look foolish. The pitch earned its name because it starts in the middle of the zone and disappears from the hitter’s view.   

Senga is 29 years old, so he’s in his prime. Workload shouldn’t be an issue at all, considering that he’s pitched 131 or more innings in six of the last seven years. It’s also encouraging that he excels at limiting home runs, with a career HR/9 in Japan of 0.6. In 2022, his 0.4 HR/9 would’ve led Major League qualifiers, beating MLB leader and new teammate Jose Quintana’s 0.43.

While I don’t put a lot of stock into projections, they do like Senga (and Baty) across the board. If he puts up numbers in the neighborhood of these projections, he’ll have a strong chance at winning the Rookie of the Year award.

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