The New York Mets have a true X-factor joining their lineup this season.
It’s not that the Mets gave up nothing to get center fielder Luis Robert from the Chicago White Sox, but the cost was certainly diminished by the 2023 All-Star’s back-to-back disappointing seasons. And while the Mets don’t necessarily need Robert to hit close to 40 home runs again to help win games, it sure would be a massive lift if he rediscovered that form.
On Tuesday, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza spoke about what he’d seen from Robert so far in camp, hinting that the Mets had a good chance to hit big on their investment, which included absorbing the outfielder’s $20 million salary and shipping Luisangel Acuña and Truman Pauley to Chicago.
“The tools are there — elite power, the defense, the speed,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. “When he’s healthy, we saw it in 2023 a lot of the things that he can do. We’ve got to keep him healthy, and we’re going to be proactive.
“But as far as the ceiling and the potential from the player? Man. He’s got a chance to do something special here.”
Over the last two seasons, Robert put up just 28 home runs, 2.8 bWAR and a paltry 85 OPS+. If he even levels out to his career average OPS+ of 111, the Mets will be glad they nabbed him to stabilize the center field position, which has been a pain point for a few years now.
But Mendoza seems to think something resembling Robert’s 2023 campaign, which included 38 home runs, 5.3 bWAR, and an OPS+ of 130, could be in store. And we’ve seen such a phenomenon occur with position players like Andrew Vaughn and Romy Gonzalez, who broke out with new teams after leaving the White Sox.
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