Part of a series of articles previewing the defensive performance of all 30 MLB teams by asking the question … are they good? We give an overview of team strengths, weaknesses, and other things to know, using Defensive Runs Saved and other stats as the basis for our evaluation. To see the full series, click here.

2025 Team Defensive Runs Saved Rank: 15th

Team Strengths

In trading for Marcus Semien, the Mets got one of the best defensive second basemen in baseball. Semien has had double-figure Runs Saved in four of the last five seasons, with 2025 being the exception (5 Runs Saved). He has consistently put up good numbers with regards to range, both fielding balls going to his left and to his right.

Most Runs Saved – Second Base, Last 3 Seasons

Two of the Mets best defensive players will likely be backups in 2026, outfielder Tyrone Taylor and catcher Luis Torrens.

Taylor had 7 Runs Saved in center field last season and 10 Runs Saved in right field two years ago. The run saving last season came largely from his arm. He had 7 assists in center without the help of a cutoff man. He’s shown good range too, moreso in right field. How much time he gets will depend on how rookie Carson Benge fares in right field and how Luis Robert does in center field.

Torrens ranked third among catchers with 11 Runs Saved and had his second straight season throwing out at least 40% of attempted basestealers (at a time when 20% is a good percentage). Torrens was fantastic at throwing the ball just enough to the first base side of second base that the shortstop or second baseman could take the throw and apply the tag almost without moving.

The Mets’ most improved defensive player from 2024 to 2025 was Brett Baty and he’s likely to fill a utility role this season. Baty had 4 Runs Saved at third base and 3 Runs Saved at second base last season and just generally looked comfortable at both positions.

Team Weaknesses

The Mets have weaknesses and they have unknowns. They moved Juan Soto from right field to left field. Soto says he’s focused on improving his defense and there’s definitely room for that. He had a rough defensive end to 2025 and finished with -7 Runs Saved. The last time he played left field full time was 2024 when he had -5 Runs Saved.

The unknowns are at the corner infield spots. Jorge Polanco has never played the position in the major leagues, but he’s expected to replace Pete Alonso at first base. Similarly, Bo Bichette has never played third base as a pro, but he’ll be expected to play it on Opening Day. We’re a little skeptical on both of these moves but we’ll wait to see how they do before casting judgement.

Mark Vientos is one of those players whose best position is hitter and he probably won’t play the field much this season. He had -10 Runs Saved at third base in 2025. He has 17 MLB games of experience at first base and could see time there.

Other Things To Know

With Semien as his regular double play partner, Francisco Lindor should do better at turning them in 2026. He had -4 Double Play Runs Saved with a conversion rate* of 50%. A good shortstop will have a rate in the mid 60s.

Conversion rate is how often a fielder turns a double play when they are involved in a play in a double play situation (fielder or relay man).

Robert who showed a lot of potential on defense in the early part of his career, has a combined 1 Run Saved in center field the last two seasons, hence our not listing him as a strength.

Francisco Alvarez improved his pitch blocking but his pitch framing results declined. I’m not going to call him a weakness, but another year of -5 Runs Saved wouldn’t be good.

Additionally, the sample size on Benge as a right fielder in the minors is small. In 26 games he had 4 Runs Saved. It looks like he’ll get a chance to play it in the majors.

Are the Mets A Good Defensive Team?

Much was made this offseason about the Mets trying to improve their defense. But it’s impossible to know if they’ve done that at the moment. There’s a lot of uncertainty at key spots and some key players are getting old.