Grading the Mets' 2023 season: Players, Buck Showalter, and the front office
For a season that essentially ended at the trade deadline as a huge disappointment, my Mets final report card isn’t quite the bloodbath you might expect.
Some of that is due to several players raising their individual grades the last two months of the season, with no pennant-race pressure.
Some of it is a commentary on the way the Mets failed to do the little things to win games this season, which doesn’t necessarily show up in individual grades.
And some of it is owed to a wafer-thin bullpen that was a revolving door for underwhelming relievers with names like Yacabonis and Nogosek and Coonrod and a bunch of others who couldn’t hold leads or keep games close, yet also didn’t stick around long enough to warrant a grade.
In any case…the grades:
BILLY EPPLER
For a GM it’s an admission of failure to punt on the season at the trade deadline, so any critique of Eppler starts there. His biggest failings were the lack of depth in the bullpen (see above) and the lack of production at the DH spot, which contributed mightily to the Mets’ losing season. He does get credit for signing Kodai Senga, who pitched like an ace at a relatively bargain price. And Eppler also earned widespread praise for the prospect return on his trades of Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, even if Steve Cohen’s willingness to eat huge money on their contracts was the key ingredient to the deals.
GRADE: C
BUCK SHOWALTER
As I wrote in a column Sunday after Showalter’s dismissal: You can make the case that he didn’t suddenly forget how to manage after all these years, but there were issues, to be sure. The attention to detail that he brought his first year wasn’t in evidence as the ’23 Mets made too many mental and physical mistakes. More of a direct criticism was his lack of urgency in handling the bullpen when his team was struggling to save the season. Too often, Buck managed with the next day in mind, or even the next inning, especially in trying to maximize David Robertson’s appearances, rather than trying to win that day’s game.
Finally, I found it stunning that the Mets never retaliated for being hit by pitches more than any team in the majors over the last two years, especially when Pete Alonso repeatedly got drilled this season. It got to a point where they looked soft for not backing their star slugger, and while some of that is on the pitchers, there comes a point when a manager has to let his players know what’s what.
GRADE: C-
KODAI SENGA
A strong finish punctuated an outstanding first MLB season after coming over from Japan, as Senga pitched to a 2.98 ERA over 166.1 innings with 202 strikeouts, giving him a shot at Top 3 finishes in both the NL Cy Young Award and NL Rookie of the Year voting.
The right-hander got better as the season went along as he adjusted to his new environment, and better command led to more dominance. His ghost fork lived up to the hype, getting a 60 percent whiff rate, the highest on any single pitch in the majors. In short, Senga finished the season looking more like an ace than even the Mets’ brass had imagined.
GRADE: A
JOEY LUCCHESI
The journeyman left-hander returned from Tommy John surgery after missing the 2022 season and was a pleasant surprise for the Mets as a spot-starter. Lucchesi spent much of the season in Triple-A Syracuse but made the most of his nine big-league starts, pitching to a 2.89 ERA, allowing two or fewer runs in six of those nine starts, including three in September.
GRADE: A
JOSE QUINTANA
Quintana proved to be exactly the type of stabilizing factor in the starting rotation the Mets hoped for when they signed him last winter. If only he hadn’t been injured for the first half of the season.
As it was, the left-hander allowed two runs or fewer in eight of his 13 starts and pitched to a 3.57 ERA.
GRADE: B
TYLOR MEGILL
After a rough stretch in June that got him sent to the minors, Megill returned in August and pitched well enough the rest of the way to give the Mets hope he can be a back-end starter for them next season.
The 6-foot-7 right-hander pitched to a 3.00 ERA over his final eight starts as his fastball velocity ticked up to where it was before his 2022 shoulder injury, reaching 98 mph.
GRADE: C+
DAVID PETERSON
When the Mets needed Peterson most, at the start of the season, the lefty was at his worst, pitching to an 8.08 ERA in eight starts before being sent to the minors.
He was much better when recalled later in the season, out of the bullpen and then as a starter, pitching to a 3.65 ERA in the second half and finishing with seven scoreless innings against the Miami Marlins last week. But his inconsistency and spells of wildness means the Mets can’t go into ’24 counting on him as more than a depth piece.
GRADE: C–
CARLOS CARRASCO
This was a true failure of a season, and probably one the Mets should have seen coming with the way Carrasco finished in 2022, rarely getting swings and misses. This season he pitched to a 6.80 ERA in 20 starts and should have been pulled from the rotation long before a broken finger finished him for the season. He’s a free agent going into his age-37 season and likely won’t be back at any price in 2024.
GRADE: F
ADAM OTTAVINO
The veteran reliever had a solid season, but five of the seven home runs he gave up came in the first half of the season, contributing to the Mets’ struggles. He pitched to a 2.49 ERA in the second half, compared to 3.72 in the first half.
He did a much better job against lefties in ’23, holding them to a .217 average. It's up to him whether he comes back as he has a $7.25 million player option for next year.
GRADE: B
BROOKS RALEY
Raley gave the bullpen a much-needed dependable left-hander, pitching to a 2.80 ERA, and he was one of the few Mets who was at his best in the first half when the season was still up for grabs. He wasn’t the lefty killer he had been with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2022, yielding a .247 batting average and .728 OPS, but Raley dominated right-handers, holding them to a .191 average and .273 slugging percentage.
GRADE: B
DREW SMITH
The Mets keep believing Smith will realize the full potential of his stuff and become a dependable high-leverage reliever, but he again faltered too often in key spots, often because of hanging sliders. Opponents hit .319 and slugged .596 against his slider. Against his fastball, opponents hit only .171, yet he made mistakes with the heater as well, giving up five of the eight homers he allowed on that pitch.
GRADE: D
TREVOR GOTT
I'm still trying to figure out why Eppler thought it was worth paying off $4 million of Chris Flexen’s contract as a way of getting Gott in a trade from Seattle on July 3 when the Mets were still trying to save their season. In 29 innings he gave up 30 hits, 11 walks, and hit two batters, for a telling 1.414 WHIP.
GRADE: D
FRANCISCO LINDOR
Lindor finished strong to become the fourth Mets player to produce a 30-30 season, and he delivered Gold Glove-caliber defense at shortstop while playing 160 games, an important show of durability.
But he was inconsistent at the plate at times during the first half when the Mets’ season fell apart. As late as June 20, he was hitting just .214, and .221 as late as July 5, which translated to some key empty at-bats. And because the Mets never recovered to get back into contention, Lindor’s grade has to take at least a small hit.
GRADE: A-
PETE ALONSO
Alonso put up big power numbers, yet his season was marred by a major slump at a critical point in the season, making him a big reason they fell out of contention and wound up waving the white flag at the trade deadline.
In fact, it was no coincidence that as the Mets were going 7-19 in June, Alonso was hitting .152 in that month. They need his power and production (46 HR, 118 RBI) but they also need him to hit for a higher average than .218, which was a career-low.
GRADE: B+
JEFF MCNEIL
A strong finish made his numbers more respectable, as McNeil hit .270, but even that is 56 points lower than his league-leading .326 batting average in 2022, and he didn’t hit much at all when the season got away from the Mets. He did hit a team-high .318 with runners in scoring position, and he offered a lot of value defensively, moving often from second base to the outfield and playing well at any position.
GRADE: C–
BRANDON NIMMO
It was a second straight injury-free season, and that’s the key for Nimmo because as long as he’s healthy he produces. In the last couple of years he’s traded some on-base percentage for power, hitting a career-high 24 home runs this season as he got more aggressive in certain situations.
Either way, it’s an OPS of .800 or higher for the fourth straight year -- impressive for a center fielder.
GRADE: B+
FRANCISCO ALVAREZ
After enduring a difficult second half, Alvarez finished his breakout rookie season in style, hitting two home runs, including a grand slam, on Saturday to give him 25 for the year. That power, as well as the better-than-advertised defense, practically assures that he’ll be the Mets’ starting catcher for years. But will he be an All-Star or something less?
He’ll need to make adjustments at the plate after hitting only .177 in the second half with a .620 OPS, finishing the season with a .211 batting average and a .285 on-base percentage.
GRADE: B
DJ STEWART
Great story of a journeyman outfielder who seized his opportunity, with Starling Marte sidelined, and put up big numbers for a six-week period in the second half of the season, including 10 home runs in less than a month.
But before the Mets could pencil him in as a possibility for right field next season, he went cold late in the year, raising questions about whether he simply rode a hot streak for a while or can be of value in 2024.
GRADE: B+
BRETT BATY
Baty’s inability to adjust to major league pitching has been a disappointment for the Mets and leaves them with no idea if he can be the long-term answer at third base.
After losing his confidence and being sent back to Triple-A, Baty again struggled when he returned for September before finally putting together better at-bats late in the season, hitting .264 over his final nine games with two home runs. For the season, he hit .211 with nine homers, looking overmatched too often. He struck out 106 times while drawing 29 walks.
GRADE: C-
RONNY MAURICIO
He started out hot, hitting the ball very hard immediately after his Sept. 1 call-up, but faded a bit toward the end of the season. And the strikeouts became more frequent as pitchers got Mauricio to chase outside the strike zone, as had been the knock on him in the minors. In 101 plate appearances he hit .255 with two home runs, seven walks and 31 strikeouts.
The good news for the Mets is that Mauricio looked solid at both second and third base, but questions about his plate discipline will linger going into next year.
GRADE: B-
MARK VIENTOS
Vientos is intriguing because he hits the ball very hard, ranking in the 90th percentile of all major leaguers, but he hasn’t shown he can do so with consistency, and he struck out a lot, making for another young player with all sorts of questions about his future.
He did look better when he got more regular playing time late in the season, hitting .238 in September with a .448 slugging percentage and six homers. For the season, he hit .214 with a .631 OPS and 71 K’s in 233 plate appearances.
GRADE: C–
DANIEL VOGELBACH
Like many others, Vogelbach was at his worst when the Mets’ season was going under, as he endured a prolonged slump in May and June and became the focus of the fans’ anger on social media because of his near-daily presence in the lineup over Vientos.
Vogelbach hit better after the sell-off, putting up an OPS of .890 in August with six home runs, finishing the season hitting .225 with 13 homers and a .742 OPS. It's hard to see him being back next season.
GRADE: C-
STARLING MARTE
Marte never looked right, likely due to his offseason groin surgery, and his subpar play was a major factor in the Mets’ poor performance in the first half. He hit .248 with a .625 OPS, and while he did steal 24 bases he didn’t cover much ground in right field before injuries limited him to just four games in the second half. Now the question is how much he has left as he’ll be 35 next week, with two years left on his contract.
GRADE: D-
