Mets Need to Find a Role for Amed Rosario in 2020

The New York Mets have assembled a promising collection of position players, but they will need to make improvements if they want to make the playoffs for the first time in 2016. One of the most important names in the lineup will be Amed Rosario, a top prospect who is entering his third year as a full-time shortstop.

Rosario is still just 24, but he has yet to have the full breakout that many fans have been expecting. Defensively, Rosario has been above average at shortstop. However, his offense could still use work. While he improved his wRC+ from 85 to 100 last season, that still means he's exactly at league average.

There is ample reason to believe that Rosario will keep getting better. He did hit .287 and steal 19 bases last year, but his lack of real power has held him back. Rosario did improve his slugging percentage from .381 to .432 in 2019. His improvement from nine to 15 homers was encouraging, but he still was primarily a "singles hitter". The Statcast expected slugging numbers had him in the 35th percentile, which is well below average.

If Rosario can become a 25 to 30-homer player and start walking more, he could be the Mets version of Francisco Lindor. As it stands, he's a solid contact hitter who only has a 4.7% walk rate, a number which actually got worse in 2019. A career OBP of .305 is not very promising, and Rosario needs to figure out a way to get on base more often, either through more hits or more walks.

The Mets are committed to Rosario as their starting shortstop right now as Jed Lowrie's interminable leg injury doesn't seem to be improving. If Rosario misses any time or underperforms, the Mets will have serious depth issues at the position.

It's imperative for Rosario to play every day and start to rise in the batting order for the Mets to be successful. Right now, Rosario is slated to hit eighth. If he can improve his numbers and slide in as a No.1 or No. 2 hitter with his speed, the Mets will be far more dangerous offensively. His speed and contact skills could provide balance to a lineup filled with power hitters.

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Tristan Jung is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Tristan Jung also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username tristan1117. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.