1 most overpaid, 1 most underwhelming, and 1 most incomprehensible Mets player

NY Mets roster: 1 most underwhelming player, Starling Marte

The most underwhelming player on the Mets is Starling Marte. There are quite a few candidates for this category. For the most part, just about everyone falls here.

Marte hasn’t had a bad year. He’s slashing .258/.316/.333 with 5 doubles, 3 home runs, and 18 RBI. It’s about what we’d hope to get from Marte in the last year of his contract. For this reason, he’s the top choice for underwhelming.

What has pushed him into becoming the underwhelming player on this list is how much higher our expectations were for him. Marte was a gigantic part of the Mets lineup last year. His absence was felt in the final weeks to a point where we should wonder if having him out there a few games could’ve helped them win the division.

The .292/.347/.468 performance from Marte last year would be a dream come true in 2023. He is stealing bases, though. He has stolen 18 in 21 attempts. The MLB rule changes to help base thieves like him have been fully taken advantage of. As long as he stays healthy, reaching 30 or even getting to 40 is a possibility.

A bit more pop in his bat or at least a whole bunch of singles can help Marte’s year go from underwhelming to average. He probably raised the bar a little too high for our 2023 expectations with what he did last season. The pressure is on. We have a couple more seasons of Marte and we can’t have him performing like a number eight or nine hitter.