Why the two new guys should bat 1 and 2

The New York Mets will have a very different lineup in 2022. The signing of free agents Mark Canha, Starling Marte, and Eduardo Escobar makes the Mets’ lineup deeper and more versatile.

The additions of Marte and Canha put the Mets in a very interesting situation: when you include Brandon Nimmo, they have three players with elite on-base skills.

This gives the Mets a good problem to solve: they have three hitters who can hit in the top two spots of the batting order. 

In my opinion, Starling Marte needs to be in the leadoff spot. He’s coming off of a season where he posted his career high on-base percentage (.383), tied his career high in stolen bases (47), and set his career high and led the majors in BsR (12.3). His ability to get on base and take the extra bases will create a ton of run-scoring opportunities for the guys that follow him. 

Speaking of guys who follow him, Mark Canha should bat second. He’s another guy who is capable of putting up a near-.400 on-base percentage, and he set his career high in stolen bases in 2021 with 12. He also put up a BsR of 2, which is above average. 

The Oakland A’s mostly used Canha as their leadoff hitter in 2021, and he was good there with 93 runs scored. The reason I think the second slot is more suitable for him is because he has some pop. With 17 homers and 22 doubles, he could’ve driven in more than 61 runs in 2021 if he had somebody like Marte getting on base and creating chaos on the basepaths in front of him.

So where does Brandon Nimmo go? 9th. 

I’m a big believer in using the 9th slot in the order as a wraparound spot acting as second leadoff hitter. Since Nimmo is the worst baserunner (-0.9 in 2021, slightly below average) and has the least power (just eight homers and 17 doubles last season), it just makes sense to drop him.

His .401 on-base percentage and 14% walk rate plays *extremely well* as a second leadoff hitter. At the same time, since he doesn’t have much power, nothing is lost by dropping him in the order. 

My Mets lineup, as of right now, would look like this:

1. Marte
2. Canha
3. Lindor
4. Alonso
5. Escobar
6. DH (Davis or Smith)
7. McNeil
8. McCann
9. Nimmo

The benefit to this is that, starting the second time through the order, the power bats in the middle have three on-base guys batting in front of them, which will create more opportunities to score runs. If Nimmo leads off an inning at the nine spot, there’s a very good chance that at least one of him, Marte, and Canha are going to get on base and give Lindor, Alonso, and Escobar a chance to come up and do damage.

What do you think is the best solution to this good problem?