The New York Mets improved from 77 wins in 2018 to 86 last year, but it still wasn’t enough to get the team back in the playoffs. Might that change this year under a new manager? Here’s an overview of the 2020 Mets. Let’s check the MLB Odds and World Series Odds for the New York Mets 2020 Season.
New York Mets 2020 Pre-Season Analysis
New York Mets Offensive Analysis
Despite winning 86 games last year, the Mets said goodbye to Manager Mickey Callaway. Fairly new GM Brodie Van Wagenen wanted to choose his own guy. Callaway, a former Indians pitching coach, went 163-161 in two seasons at the helm, missing the playoffs both years.
One Mets pitcher indicated Callaway was generally well-liked, but expressed disappointment the manager wasn’t a bigger presence. Callaway often isolated himself in the manager’s office and delegated responsibilities to his coaches. The team originally hired Carlos Beltran, a former Met, as Callaway’s replacement but he stepped down before ever managing a day because of his role in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal when Beltran was a player in Houston.
Luis Rojas then was hired to replace Beltran. The son of longtime MLB player and manager Felipe Alou, and the half-brother of former Mets outfielder Moises Alou, Rojas was the Mets’ quality control coach and outfield instructor last season. That was the 38-year-old’s first experience on a big league staff, after he spent 13 years as a coach and manager in the Mets’ minor-league system. Nearly every homegrown Met played for him at some point in the minors.
That includes 2019 NL Rookie of the Year Pete Alonso, who was with Rojas from 2017-18 at Double-A Binghamton. He got 29 of 30 first-place votes. On the penultimate day of the 2019 regular season, Alonso set an MLB rookie record with his 53rd homer, tops in the big leagues. Altogether, he played in 161 games, hitting .260/.358/.583 with 103 runs scored and 120 RBIs.
Alonso became the Mets’ sixth Rookie of the Year winner, giving them at least two more than any other expansion team. The last Met to win was Jacob deGrom in 2014; the last Mets position player was Darryl Strawberry in 1983.
Alonso wasn’t the only stellar rookie on the Mets last year as Jeff McNeil also got rom ROY votes. McNeil batted .318/.384/.531 with 23 home runs and 75 RBI in his breakout campaign. His batting average was sixth-best in the majors. McNeil suffered a fractured right wrist after being struck by a pitch in the last week of the 2019 season. He had surgery to repair the break in early October.
New York Mets Pitching Analysis
Few teams have a better rotation than the Mets, led by Jacob deGrom, who won his second straight NL Cy Young Award in 2019, becoming the 11th pitcher in MLB history to win one in back-to-back years. Unlike 2018, deGrom endured a rocky beginning to his ’19 season, posting a 4.85 ERA in April while losing his last three starts of the month. Everything clicked. From May 1 forward, deGrom was the NL’s best pitcher, going 9-5 with a 2.07 ERA over his last 27 starts.
DeGrom finished the season with 23 consecutive scoreless innings. In his final four starts, he went 3-0 with 35 strikeouts, two walks and a 0.32 ERA. He led the NL with 255 strikeouts, trailing only the Dodgers’ Hyun-Jin Ryu in ERA. DeGrom owns a combined 2.05 ERA and 2.32 FIP over the past two seasons, which both rank first in the MLB.
Noah Syndergaard has even nastier stuff than deGrom does but isn’t as consistent. Syndergaard went 10-8 with a 4.28 ERA in 32 starts. He struck out 202 batters and walked just 50 in 197 2/3 innings. He is under team control for two more seasons.
The rest of the rotation will be Marcus Stroman, acquired from the Blue Jays during last season, left Steven Matz and one of two offseason additions Michael Wacha and former AL Cy Young winner Rick Porcello. Or the Mets might just use six guys some weeks. While Stroman didn’t pitch at his best after the Mets acquired him last summer, there’s no denying that he is a solid starter. He owns a career 3.76 ERA and 3.64 FIP.
The closer is Edwin Diaz, who is a good bet to bounce back this season after struggling to a 5.59 ERA over 58 innings with the Mets in 2019. He was so bad he lost his closer role but will get the first shot at doing it again in 2020.
New York Mets Offseason Movements
- New York Mets Notable additions: 1B Matt Adams, RP Brad Brach, RP Dellin Betances, OF Jake Marisnick, IF Eduardo Nunez, SP Rick Porcello, SP Michael Wacha.
- New York Mets Notable subtractions: 3B Todd Frazier (TEX), OF Juan Lagares (SD), SP Zack Wheeler (PHI).
New York Mets Season Odds
Mets are +1700 to win World Series and +1000 to win the pennant.
