Why The 2023 New York Mets Will Win More Than 101 Games

In 2022, the New York Mets enjoyed one of their best seasons overall in franchise history. They won 101 games in the regular season, which is the second most wins in a season in team history. Only the 1986 World Series champion Mets had more regular season wins with 108.

The Mets had a busy offseason full of many big moves, to improve their current squad. With all their numerous acquisitions, the 2023 Mets will enter Spring Training with a lot of talent all around once again.

The 2023 Mets could possibly surpass last season’s 101 wins in the regular season. Here are various reasons why they could perhaps do so.

Improved starting pitching and depth

The Mets did lose one of their top starting pitchers over the years in Jacob deGrom, who bolted for the Texas Rangers back in December. But a couple of days after that, the Mets got his replacement, and maybe the perfect one in Justin Verlander.

Even though he’ll turn 40 years of age this year, Verlander has certainly shown no signs of slowing down and is still pitching at a high level. In 2022, Verlander went 18-4 with a 1.75 ERA and won his third American League Cy Young award. With his baseball smarts, work ethic and still sharp stuff, Verlander could have another monster year for the Amazins and has been relatively healthy for most of his career.

Behind Verlander is another ageless starter in Max Scherzer. Scherzer when healthy, has shown that he’s still a dominant pitcher.

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The Mets also lost Chris Bassitt and Tajuan Walker in free agency. But they replaced them with Jose Quintana and Japanese import Kodai Senga. Quintana had one of the best seasons of his career in 2022 and was an All-Star. Senga was one of the most dominant starting pitchers in Japan.

The Mets still have Carlos Carrasco, and they will also bring back David Petersen and Tyler Megill as insurance starters.

Overall, this current starting rotation could be better than last year. They replaced deGrom with Verlander, who has been healthier and pitched better last season. Scherzer is Scherzer. Quintana had a better 2022 overall than Bassitt, and if Senga can adjust well here in the U.S., he will provide more than Walker and could add another dominant presence in the rotation alongside Scherzer and Verlander.

Carrasco, who won 15 games for the Mets in 2022, will then drop to the No. 5 spot, which is great for a back-end starter. And if any of the starters get injured, Petersen and Megill are good replacements as well.

Improved Bullpen

In the offseason, the Mets also shored up their bullpen. They re-signed their otherworldly dominant closer Edwin Diaz and their solid setup man in Adam Ottavino. But they also added David Robertson, who is still consistently solid at age 37 and was an All-Star last year. They also traded for lefty Brooks Raley from the Tampa Bay Rays. Raley will provide the lefty presence that the Mets missed for most of 2022. Drew Smith is also back, and he had some solid moments last year as well.

Even if Diaz doesn’t repeat his dominant 2022, where he was virtually unhittable most of the time, he will still be one of the best closers in the game because of his dominant stuff with his 100-mph fastball and slider. Ottavino will set up Diaz again and Robertson will be a more effective seventh-inning weapon than the departed Seth Lugo. Raley will provide more consistency as a southpaw than Joely Rodriguez ever was in 2022.

The fact that the Mets will have Robertson, Ottavino, and Diaz at the end of games when leading, makes a Mets game virtually over when leading after six innings and will prevent manager Buck Showalter from overusing his starters.

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Still Solid Lineup

Yeah, the Mets may have lost out on Carlos Correa, who would’ve significantly improved the lineup. But despite that, the Mets will still bring out their same lineup, which was solid overall in 2022. Of course, you have the main hitters, Brandon Nimmo, Starling Marte, Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso and just re-signed National League batting champion, Jeff McNeil. All of them had solid 2022 seasons and there is no reason to believe that they can’t duplicate it again this year. It’s a well-rounded lineup with power, speed, and grittiness.

The Mets may have slightly improved at the catcher position by acquiring Omar Narvaez. He may not provide much offensively but he did hit 22 home runs in 2019 and could provide better defense than the disappointing James McCann. The Mets also added Tommy Pham, who can add depth in the outfield and at the DH position, which the Mets sorely need more production in the latter position.

Overall Outlook

We all know from the way the Mets season ended in 2022, that regular season success could mean little. But it’s still important and the 2023 Mets could have another great regular season and could be even better than they were a year ago.

The Mets really improved their depth in their pitching, both in the rotation and bullpen. New additions in Verlander, Quintana and Senga in the rotation, and Robertson and Raley in the bullpen, give the Mets more talent and flexibility. Quintana will provide a lefty presence in the rotation that the Mets Mets lacked much of last season and the same thing with Raley in the pen.

Despite not having much power still, the lineup will be solid again and can beat the opposition in many ways.

Then of course, there’s the reigning NL Manager of the Year in Showalter, who is one of the brightest managers still.

Because of the improved pitching in both the rotation and the bullpen, talent-wise and depth, the 2023 Mets can surpass even the 101 wins set last year.

David Hong