Four Bounce-Back Candidates For Mets In 2022

Here are four Mets that are strong candidates to have bounce-back seasons in 2022.

Prior to the lockout, team owner Steve Cohen and general manager Billy Eppler spent $254.5 million in what was an exciting stretch for the Mets back in November.

And after a new collective bargaining agreement was finally reached on March 10, which allowed transactions to resume, New York acquired starting pitcher Chris Bassitt from the Oakland Athletics, before signing reliever Adam Ottavino to a one-year deal.

However, they've been relatively quiet ever since, adding Chasen Shreve, Mike Montgomery and Travis Jankowski on minor league deals as their only moves of note. 

At this point, it looks like the Mets are content with the roster they've built as we inch closer to the regular season. The club is projected to have a luxury tax payroll of $286 million entering the 2022 campaign, $4 million below the newly implemented "Steve Cohen Tax."

But if the team is going to have a legitimate shot at hanging with the defending World Series Champion Atlanta Braves in the National League East, not only are they going to need their top players to remain healthy, they must receive bounce-back campaigns from a number of individuals that underperformed last season.

Here are four current members of the Mets, whose production could alter the trajectory of the 2022 season.

Francisco Lindor

This is an obvious one. When the Mets traded for Francisco Lindor in January of 2021, they were so confident that they were getting a superstar who could lead the franchise into the future that they signed him to the richest contract for a shortstop in MLB history, 10-years, $341 million, on the eve of the regular season. 

But Lindor's first season with the Mets was far from a dream come true for either side. The 28-year-old got off to a horrific start, slashing .194/.294/.294 through the first two months of the year. 

After June 1, Lindor began to look more like himself, slashing .253/.342/.480 with 16 homers, 51 RBI, and 50 runs scored across his final 78 games.

Unfortunately, an oblique strain on July 16 forced him to miss a total of five weeks. Following his return from the injured list in late-August, Lindor kicked things into high-gear when the calendar flipped forward to September. During this stretch, the shortstop produced a slash line of .267/.359/.574/.933 with nine home runs and 25 RBI across 101 at-bats. He also became the first Mets' shortstop since Asdrubal Cabrera (2016) to hit 20 homers in a season. 

Lindor is confident that he can be more consistent this season. And as he revealed last week, life was moving too fast for him last year between being a father, husband and baseball player. On top of these factors, he was also traded to a new team and city, which was a major adjustment. During the offseason, Lindor took a new approach by learning how to create a better work-life balance. 

"So I know this year, after all I did in the offseason with my workouts, I just made sure I had time to separate between my workouts, and being with my wife, baby, and recover," Lindor said. "And I think that's something that I've done really well in the past couple of years. But last year, everything kind've blended together. So this offseason was all about preparing myself by being a husband, father, baseball player and a regular person at the same time."

While the Mets added some key pieces on the position player side during the offseason, Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha, they never truly splurged on a big bat. That's why the Mets will be heavily relying on a bounce-back year from Lindor, who is set to embark on his 10-year deal with the team this season.

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

Carlos Carrasco

Carlos Carrasco, the other half of the Lindor trade, who many around the industry looked at as a more than just a throw-in when the Mets acquired this duo from Cleveland, was hit hard by the injury bug in his first-year in New York.

The 35-year-old tore his hamstring in spring training, keeping him out of game action until July 30. Upon returning from the I.L. in late-July, Carrasco struggled last season, posting a 6.04 ERA and 1.435 WHIP across 12 starts.

He also pitched with a bone spur in his right elbow, which was surgically removed in October. Luckily, he is now healthy and could be primed for a more productive season, based off his career norms. 

“It feels like a new elbow for me,” Carrasco told The New York Post on Monday at Clover Park. “It doesn’t bother me, I can finish all my pitches, everything. So it’s completely different.”

According to Carrasco, the elbow injury hindered the effectiveness of his curveball and split-changeup. This is an issue that has since been resolved as a result of undergoing his procedure earlier in the offseason. 

While the Mets are taking it slow with Carrasco, the right-hander is throwing live batting practice and appears to be on track for Opening Day.

For his career, Carrasco has a 3.86 ERA, 3.49 FIP and 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings. If he can bounce-back, the Mets would have a dominant top four in a rotation that already features Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt. 

Jeff McNeil

In addition to Lindor, the Mets are counting on Jeff McNeil reverting back to his previous All-Star form as well.

Through his first 1,000 career at-bats, McNeil slashed .319/.383/.501/.884. But last season, the 29-year-old had a rough go of things with a .251/.319/.360/.679 slash line, seven home runs and 35 RBI in 386 at-bats.

The Mets received a number of calls about McNeil's availability during the offseason, but the team chose to hang onto the 2019 All-Star. According to manager Buck Showalter, McNeil will be the Mets' primary second baseman this season.

As McNeil told Inside the Mets last week, he did a lot of tinkering with his swing last year. This season, he is focusing on simplifying things, which is a key part of new hitting coach Eric Chavez's philosophy.

"It's been awesome," McNeil said about working with Chavez, "He communicates well. He was a fantastic hitter in the big-leagues, and someone whose done it before, so I've learned some things from him."

By working with Chavez, who endured a successful 17-year big-league career, McNeil is hoping to get back to the basics. And if he can once again be the above average hitter he was from 2018 to 2020, it will be a major boost to a Mets offense that was a major disappointment last season. 

Dom Smith 

Last but not least, Dom Smith played through a slew of injuries, which could've been a cause for his struggles in 2021.

On March 18, Smith told Inside the Mets that he was dealing with a partially torn labrum in his right shoulder last season. In addition to the shoulder injury, Smith was managing a right wrist strain and groin injury for much of the year as well. 

Now, he is back to full-strength, and has been turning heads early-on in camp. Smith hit two home runs off Scherzer in a sim-game last week, before hitting a homer and RBI triple in his first Grapefruit League contest of the spring on Saturday.

After getting healthy in the offseason, Smith is finally able to utilize his regular one-handed follow through on his swing, something he was unable to do last season after straining his wrist and tearing his labrum. The groin issue also prevented him from using his legs at the plate, which diminished his gap-to-gap power last year.

Smith, who looks like a man on a mission so far in spring training, worked on his pitch recognition and balance at the plate during the winter. Like McNeil, Smith has a chip on his shoulder entering the year, and is out to prove that his down campaign isn't the player that he truly really is. 

The 27-year-old was one the league's best hitters in the Covid-shortened 2020 season, slashing .316/.377/.616 with a .993 OPS, 168 OPS+, 10 home runs and 42 RBI. And in 2019, Smith slashed .282/.355/.525 with a .881 OPS, 11 home runs and 25 RBI in 177 at-bats. 

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports