The 2023 New York Mets were expected to contend and had to sell when it became evident that wasn’t going to be the case. Their old and injury-prone stars couldn’t stay healthy and struggled, forcing a change in the course. The 2024 team was quite the opposite: a re-tooling team not expected to compete overachieved, developed some stars and young contributors, and reached the NL Championship Series.
Drew Gilbert is working his way up the majors
One of the prospects that the 2023 sale netted the Mets, outfielder Drew Gilbert, is working his way up the majors but found Triple-A to be quite challenging in 2024. After a solid showing in Double-A upon landing in New York (167 wRC+ in 35 games), Gilbert wasn’t as productive in 2024 for Syracuse, hitting a disappointing .215/.313/.393 with an 85 wRC+ (below-average performance) in 56 contests.
The 24-year-old knows that the Mets will consider him for a promotion to MLB at some point this year if he manages to adjust to Triple-A pitching and dominates there for a few weeks, so he is already working hard on his swing to have it ready for what’s coming.
The Mets prospect is working on key swing changes
Gilbert isn’t just training, though. He is reportedly working on optimizing his swing to pull more balls in the air and increase his power output:
“Drew Gilbert has spent much of the offseason working on his swing, with an emphasis on pulling the ball in the air. If the early returns were any indication … the @Mets will have plenty to be excited about next spring,” Baseball America wrote on X.
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Gilbert, who hit 10 home runs in the aforementioned 56 Triple-A games, is a known fly ball hitter with 46.9 percent of his batted balls going in the air. Bringing down that infield fly ball percentage (IFFB%) from the 29.3 percent it was in 2024 is a must, though.
If Gilbert can consistently barrel the baseball and avoid so many popups, his potential is considerable and he could be a starter for the Mets someday. How soon? It will entirely depend on the strides he can make from this point until 2025.
