Less than two weeks out from the start of spring training and there is still so much left to address with the New York Mets.
Will they make one last huge splash and dole out a ton of cash for reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer? Will they pick up a natural center fielder like Jackie Bradley Jr.?
And what’s the deal with the universal designated hitter this year?
Question marks aplenty with few answers to supply. From an offensive or fielding-position standpoint, if the Mets made no more additions to their core, they still have a pretty foreboding lineup. The one big unknown that looms though is how everyone is going to fit. Not necessarily a bad problem to have if you’re second-year manager Luis Rojas, but it’s not an enviable position, either.
If you were to ask 100 Mets fans how they would trot out an Opening Day lineup, you could very well get 100 different answers — and there wouldn’t be many incorrect options, either.
But we decided to build an Opening Day starting batting order for the Mets based on how each of the club’s eight-best bats have performed over their careers at each spot in the lineup.
To gain consideration for each spot, a player had to accrue at least 50 career at-bats in said position. On top of that, we were also looking for the best, most even distribution of right-handed and left-handed hitters. Here is what we came up with:
2021 Mets batting order options
1st: Jeff McNeil, 2B (L)
AB | R | H | HR | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
432 | 68 | 135 | 17 | 63 | .313 | .374 | .507 | .881 |
Other Options
AB | R | H | HR | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | |
Brandon Nimmo | 548 | 101 | 143 | 24 | 60 | .261 | .384 | .474 | .859 |
Francisco Lindor | 1,595 | 277 | 443 | 90 | 220 | .278 | .342 | .518 | .861 |
Michael Conforto | 345 | 66 | 89 | 23 | 52 | .258 | .379 | .504 | .884 |
2nd: Pete Alonso, 1B (R)
AB | R | H | HR | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
294 | 55 | 81 | 27 | 54 | .276 | .369 | .609 | .978 |
Other Options
AB | R | H | HR | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | |
Jeff McNeil | 285 | 43 | 88 | 6 | 28 | .309 | .361 | .467 | .828 |
Francisco Lindor | 716 | 95 | 204 | 24 | 86 | .285 | .337 | .461 | .798 |
Michael Conforto | 235 | 47 | 65 | 14 | 38 | .277 | .376 | .506 | .882 |
JD Davis | 169 | 24 | 46 | 7 | 14 | .272 | .363 | .444 | .806 |
Brandon Nimmo | 68 | 10 | 16 | 2 | 7 | .235 | .350 | .397 | .747 |
3rd: Francisco Lindor, SS (S)
AB | R | H | HR | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
809 | 132 | 243 | 24 | 103 | .300 | .358 | .454 | .812 |
Other Options
AB | R | H | HR | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | |
Pete Alonso | 265 | 38 | 61 | 17 | 49 | .230 | .345 | .472 | .817 |
Michael Conforto | 482 | 67 | 124 | 25 | 85 | .257 | .338 | .490 | .827 |
JD Davis | 128 | 23 | 33 | 7 | 17 | .258 | .338 | .484 | .822 |
Brandon Nimmo | 60 | 8 | 11 | 3 | 6 | .183 | .319 | .383 | .703 |
4th: JD Davis, 3B (R)
AB | R | H | HR | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
80 | 16 | 26 | 6 | 13 | .325 | .396 | .600 | .996 |
Other Options
AB | R | H | HR | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | |
Pete Alonso | 136 | 20 | 32 | 14 | 29 | .235 | .314 | .588 | .902 |
Michael Conforto | 487 | 69 | 116 | 24 | 69 | .238 | .341 | .448 | .789 |
James McCann | 252 | 38 | 65 | 12 | 40 | .258 | .320 | .464 | .784 |
Dominic Smith | 147 | 18 | 41 | 5 | 28 | 0.279 | 0.323 | 0.503 | 0.826 |
5th: Michael Conforto, RF (L)
AB | R | H | HR | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
223 | 40 | 67 | 16 | 40 | .300 | .380 | .547 | .927 |
Other Options
AB | R | H | HR | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | |
JD Davis | 96 | 12 | 29 | 3 | 11 | .302 | .393 | .448 | .841 |
James McCann | 186 | 27 | 46 | 6 | 19 | .247 | .303 | .409 | .712 |
Brandon Nimmo | 55 | 10 | 10 | 1 | 5 | .182 | .377 | .327 | .704 |
Dominic Smith | 104 | 10 | 20 | 3 | 12 | 0.192 | .259 | .337 | .595 |
6th: Dominic Smith, LF (L)
AB | R | H | HR | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
221 | 32 | 53 | 15 | 29 | .240 | .294 | .489 | .783 |
Other Options
AB | R | H | HR | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | |
Jeff McNeil | 65 | 8 | 19 | 1 | 7 | .292 | .370 | .415 | .785 |
Pete Alonso | 83 | 15 | 21 | 9 | 16 | .253 | .351 | .590 | .941 |
Michael Conforto | 159 | 25 | 39 | 8 | 28 | .245 | .356 | .484 | .841 |
JD Davis | 97 | 11 | 20 | 2 | 6 | .206 | .287 | .320 | .607 |
James McCann | 372 | 33 | 77 | 9 | 39 | .207 | .267 | .315 | .581 |
Brandon Nimmo | 95 | 17 | 26 | 2 | 10 | .274 | .430 | .411 | .840 |
7th: James McCann, C (R)
AB | R | H | HR | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
693 | 57 | 170 | 19 | 80 | .245 | .294 | .377 | .670 |
Other Options
AB | R | H | HR | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | |
Jeff McNeil | 56 | 8 | 21 | 3 | 10 | .375 | .507 | .643 | 1.150 |
Michael Conforto | 144 | 22 | 39 | 6 | 22 | .271 | .352 | .458 | .810 |
JD Davis | 94 | 9 | 19 | 3 | 11 | .202 | .240 | .340 | .580 |
Brandon Nimmo | 108 | 11 | 26 | 2 | 12 | .241 | .401 | .352 | .753 |
Dominic Smith | 76 | 9 | 18 | 4 | 12 | .237 | .318 | .487 | .804 |
8th: Brandon Nimmo, CF (L)
AB | R | H | HR | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
50 | 5 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 0.360 | .407 | .480 | .887 |
Other Options
AB | R | H | HR | RBI | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | |
JD Davis | 65 | 7 | 20 | 2 | 9 | .308 | .392 | .431 | .823 |
James McCann | 541 | 60 | 147 | 18 | 69 | .272 | .316 | .421 | .737 |
This first appeared on amny.com.