About two weeks ago the Mets resigned everyone’s favorite player who dislikes sleeves – Luke Voit!
Voit was drafted by the Cardinals in 2013 and made his major league debut in 2017. He was traded at the 2018 trade deadline to the Yankees where he made a name for himself. Voit had a solid 2019 campaign hitting .263/.378/.464 (124 OPS+) where he hit 21 homers. The following season he led the league with 22 homers (2020 was shortened due to Covid) and had 157 OPS+. The Yankees traded him during spring training in 2022 to the Padres who later traded him in the massive trade for Juan Soto. Voit finished the season with the Nationals and spent time last year in the Brewers and the Mets organization.
The 2020 season saw Luke Voit at the top of a lot of percentile rankings. He was in the 96th percentile for batting run value, 92nd for xwOBA, 81st for xBA and 95th for xSLG.
In 2021 and 2022 Voit was still an average power hitter according to OPS+ (109 and 104 respectively) but things fell off in 22 games with the Brewers where he hit .221/.284/.265 (53 OPS+) with no home runs. Strikeouts have always been a concern with Voit and in 2023 he reached a new low, striking out 36.5% of the time. A switch flipped after he signed with the Mets. In Syracuse he smashed 14 home runs over 37 games hitting .264/.415/.643. At the start of August he opted out of his contract so he could find an opportunity to play on a major league roster.
He’s now back with the Mets competing for a spot on the roster. He’s going to be directly competing with Ji-man Choi for a depth spot as either a DH option or backup first basemen. This competition is probably going to run the length of camp (unless Choi or Voit get an opportunity to play on a different team).
