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Constructing the Mets’ potential Opening Day lineup

MLB: New York Mets at Washington Nationals
New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso (20) celebrates with Mets center fielder Brandon Nimmo (9). (Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports)

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.