The 2023 New York Mets have had one of the most revolting seasons as far as the expectations vs outcome results are concerned.
While it’s to be expected, that because of the huge loss before the season. The loss I’m referring to is when elite star closer Edwin Diaz went down and out for the season celebrating Team Puerto Rico’s 4-1 victory over the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic.
Diaz, 29, was lights out spectacular in his 2022 season. He wowed, notching 32 saves with a 3-1 record and a 1.31 ERA in 61 GP.
Diaz had been expected to give the then looking promising Mets a huge advantage late in games along with a huge confidence boost for the entire lineup, who was noticeably fired up in 2022 by his heroics, his entrance alone.
While the team had to find guys to step and fill those shoes, again, not an easy task, the mood seemed to shift towards gloomy when the team got off to a rather cold start early on. They never seemed to fall into place, slipping further away from playoff contention even by June.
The trade deadline was when things got real for the team. They parted way with some of the aging talent on the roaster, such as Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, and stars like Tommy Pham, David Robertson, and Mark Canha.
While the younger guys and rookies provided some spark coupled with hopes for the future, there were many uncertainties and tough moments where the team just simply looked painful to watch.
However, the 75-87, .463 fourth place finishing Mets have had few reasons to smile. While one of them is obviously not going to be playoffs related, 3 guys in particular have done a phenomenal job. Only one of them will be awarded my player of the year decision. Let’s take a look at the three overachievers and my final decision.
Shortstop Fransisco Lindor has done an impressive bounce back job as of the past few seasons. While many were so quick to place huge expectations on the star coming from Cleveland, he slowly has reminded those people that 2018 isn’t too far behind him, and he’s still got what it takes to be a star in Queens.
Lindor, 29, was nothing short of spectacular in 2018, which is notably a career best year for him.
The then Cleveland Indians, now Guardians, had been so blessed to have a shortstop of his caliber. That season, Lindor hit 38 home runs, 92 RBIs, batting .277 with a .352 OBP.
2021 was different for the star, who signed a 10 year- $341 million dollar deal with the Mets that offseason. He disappointed with 20 home runs, 63 RBIs and batted .277 with a .352 OBP.
Fans grew irate, taking to twitter to express their frustration over what seemed like “a waste of money” among hateful remarks.
However, 2022 seemed to be a quiet bounce back season for Lindor, who hit 26 home runs, 107 RBIs, batting .270 with a .339 OBP.
His 2023, however, might blow the haters away. In fact, some are slowly coming out of the woodwork to apologize to this man, and I personally think the apology is not loud enough. Let’s take a look at Lindor this year.
31 home runs, 98 RBIs, a .254 batting average and a .336 OBP.
That’s insane.
While Lindor is one of the candidates here for my player of the year decision, there’s two other faces who also deserve this award.
Next candidate.
Enter Kodai Senga. In just his first season in MLB, coming over from Japan, he dazzled each start, nearly, impressing fans and teammates alike.
While Senga is simply a usually smiling, happy to be on this team, all around genuine nice guy, his leadership and excellent work ethic coupled with top tier array of pitches ( the “ghost fork” pitch being his moneymaker, he executed a job well done in his rookie year.
Senga, 30, went 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA and 202 strikeouts.
What simply amazes me is not only the humbleness he displays but the fact that he is so underrated and took the adjustment in stride so well, that it’s almost as if it was something he did before.
A job well done, a job done exceptionally well.
However impressive this is, there’s one other guy who I’d like to remind everyone is a must keep, force to be reckoned with who is also deserving of my decision, before we get to the moment everyone has been waiting for, my decision.
Pete Alonso, 28, provided the Mets with grade A quality offense atop underlooked defense at first base for 5 seasons now.
Career wise, 192 home runs, 498 RBIs, a .251 average and a .342 OBP
The two time Home Run Derby champ and 2019 Rookie Of The Year award winner had a great 2023, making the solid argument why the Mets need to make him a Met for life.
Alonso hit 46 home runs, 118 RBIs, sporting a .251 average and a .342 OBP.
This is exceptionally gifted athlete work, and the fiery, extra competitive Alonso deserves a ton of recognition for what he has done for a team extra needy of a power bat to lead the team.
And now, it’s time. Three men giving their all to a team, exceeding expectations and playing their hearts out in a huge city filled with frowning faces eager for some sort of reason to be hopeful for the team. One player will walk away with the player of the year decision.
I personally feel, and have felt since I was a little girl, that if you work hard for something especially when the situation you are in is very difficult, and you handle it like a pro, doing not only your job well but going above and beyond and just smiling through adversity, you deserve every good thing that comes out of your hard work atop professional attitude. It’s never easy when the odds are against you. You want something so bad, but everyone’s like, he might be good, let’s take a chance, and you end up being so talented and respectable.
Kodai Senga is just an example of how we need to live our lives and handle challenges, and also pitch if we’re also talking baseball. He got the job done time and time again in such a difficult situation for him, an adjustment that is so crucial. Thank you Kodai for being a New York Met. Congratulations, and I look forward to your next year here.
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