All season long, Mets fans have been clamoring for the team to call-up top prospect Amed Rosario.  It was more than just wanting hope for a season the Mets have mostly squandered.  It was because Rosario addressed specific deficiencies this team has had all year.

Throughout this entire season, the left side of the Mets infield has been abysmal.  Mets shortstops accounted for a -19 DRS, which is the worst in the majors.  Mets third baseman also rank last in the majors with a -14 DRS.  It should then come as no surprise the Mets left side of the infield accounted for a -33, which is by far the worst in the majors.

It should also come as no surprise the Mets pitching staff has yielded a league high .321 BABIP.  This has been the under-reported part of the Mets pitching staff’s troubles.  Certainly, it had a profound affect on a ground ball pitcher like Robert Gsellman who had .331 BABIP and a 6.16 ERA.  We have recently seen some issues on that front with Steven Matz.  The overriding point here is the pitching has been affected by the inability of the left side of the infield to make the plays that need to be played.

There’s also the matter of how the Mets run the bases.  The Mets rank dead last in BsR, which is a stat designed to take into account all the different aspects of base running.  For many fans, we don’t need a fancy stat to tell us what we already know.  This team doesn’t steal bases.  They don’t take the extra base.  They’re thrown out on seemingly ever close play.  In sum, they’re a bad base running team.

When you’re bad defensively and bad base runners chances are you are bad team.  The Mets 48-55 record confirms as much.

Would Rosario have solved all of these issues?  No, nor would he have prevented so many of the Mets from going on the Disabled List throughout the season.  However, Rosario would have had a profound impact on this team.

Consider the defense for a second.  The Mets have the worst defensive shortstop play, and Rosario is seen as a player who could be a Gold Glover at the position.  Even assuming he has growing pains and is just worth a 2 DRS.  This year, that’s the difference between having Asdrubal Cabrera and Jose Reyes at shortstop and having Brandon Crawford at shortstop.  The separation between those two is vast, which would tell you how much better the defense would be.

There’s also the matter of Rosario continuously proving this year he’s ready.  In 94 games, Rosario has hit .328/.367/.466 with 19 doubles, seven triples, seven homers, 58 RBI, and 19 stolen bases.  He was also the starting shortstop in the Triple-A All Star Game and the Future’s Game.

All season long, Rosario has shown the skill set the Mets desperately needed all year.  Now, with the team having sold off Addison Reed and Lucas Duda, and the team sitting with a 48-55 record, we are finally going to see the type of impact Rosario could have on this Mets team.  It is more than likely it is too late to save the 2017 season.  It is also impossible to tell if this is the right time or not.

Maybe if he’s called up in May, he struggles.  Maybe he would have been the great player he has been.  After all, this is a prospect that seems undaunted.

No matter what the case, the Mets promise to be a much better team for the rest of the 2017 season.  Even if it doesn’t translate to wins and losses, there is now reason to watch because we get to see Rosario play.  At this point in the season, that’s all we can ask.