After a busy, high-spending off-season — which led many to name the ballclub as World Series favorites — the New York Mets sit at .500 through 60 games played, a disappointing start for a team with the most expensive payroll in baseball.
Their two highest-paid players — Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer — have not been at their best so far. Verlander missed the first month or so with injury, during which Scherzer struggled with the home run ball. Scherzer was better in May, but Verlander has yet to hit his stride post-injury, leaving the Mets still chasing the first-place Atlanta Braves in the NL East.
The Mets still have plenty of time to turn their season around, but will need better performances from a number of players to make that happen. These are the players who have frustrated Mets fans the most in 2023.
3 Mets players fans are fed up with in 2023
Tomas Nido
Watching Tomas Nido play baseball is like taking a journey back in time, a time when third-string catchers could get by on their clubhouse contributions alone. In many ways, Nido is like the great Bob Uecker — the sparingly-used backup catcher turned commentator who played for three franchises in the 1960s.
The Mets catcher can't hit (six singles in 56 at-bats this year puts his average at .125), which means he's a good defender, right? Nido was a strong pitch framer in 2021 and an exceptional blocker in 2022 per the advanced catching metrics over at Baseball Savant, but has been average in both of those categories in 2021.
To put Nido's offensive struggles in perspective, Los Angels Dodgers outfielder Trayce Thompson — who recently resurrected himself from an 0-39 slump — has a batting average 30 points higher than Nido and his on-base percentage nearly doubles that of the light-hitting Mets catcher.
Starling Marte
Maybe conventional wisdom would say don't sign a 33-year-old, injury-prone, speedy outfielder to an expensive four-year contract. The Mets did just that in 2022 when the franchise signed Starling Marte. The Dominican outfielder provided a healthy return on investment in his first year, hitting .290 with a healthy combination of power and speed, earning him an all-star game appearance and even MVP votes.
This season, signs of decline are becoming apparent in Marte's game. His 17 stolen bases rank among the league leaders, but Marte has done little else for the Mets. His power numbers are way down — just nine extra-base hits in nearly 200 at-bats — and his slugging percentage easily sits at a career low.
Defensively, Marte has been a liability, costing the Mets four runs in the field. All this leads to a disappointing first two months of the season from one of New York's highest-paid players.
Adam Ottavino
One of the nastiest pitchers in baseball when he is on his game, Adam Ottavino posted a 2.06 ERA and won six games for the Mets during his first year with New York in 2022. This season, the veteran right-hander's ERA has nearly doubled (to 3.91), and his strikeout rate is down considerably.
In a thin, unproven bullpen, Ottavino and David Robertson were supposed to be the pillars. Robertson has been dominant, but Ottavino has not held up his end of the bargain. He'll throw five scoreless outings in a row, give a couple of runs, cost the Mets the game, then repeat the cycle. Few things are more frustrating from a fan's perspective.
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