Mets-Padres position-by-position 2022 Wild Card Series breakdown

Alonso and Lindor vs. Machado and Soto. deGrom and Scherzer vs. Darvish and Snell.

There won’t be any shortage of star power in the Wild Card Series between the Mets and Padres at Citi Field this weekend, with Game 1 of the best-of-three set starting Friday at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

The Mets were forced into the Wild Card Series by an even stronger Braves team that swept them at the very end of the regular season and claimed the National League East title despite both teams winning 101 games. The Padres, no strangers to elite division competition, finished second to the 111-win Dodgers in the NL West, sending them to New York for the first round of the postseason. Let’s break down all the matchups ahead of the series.

Here’s a position-by-position rundown of the Mets-Padres Wild Card Series.

Neither team is particularly strong at the catcher position. For the Mets, Tomás Nido has been a good defensive catcher, with +5 framing runs and a fast average pop time of 1.96 seconds; he just doesn’t provide much offense (.239 batting average, .600 OPS, three home runs). James McCann was supposed to provide the offense, but he’s done even less, batting .195 with a .538 OPS. The Padres have a trio of catching options in Austin Nola, Luis Campusano and Jorge Alfaro, none of whom have been great defensively or offensively. But between the three of them, they probably give a little more juice at the plate than the Mets’ catchers. Maybe MLB’s No. 1 overall prospect Francisco Álvarez makes the postseason roster for New York and swings the catcher battle toward the Mets, but for now, small edge to the Padres.

The Padres have been going with a combination of Brandon Drury and Wil Myers at first base; they could also use Josh Bell there. None of them are Pete Alonso. The rock of the Mets’ lineup, Alonso hit 40 home runs and led the Major Leagues with 131 RBIs. He started 133 games at first base and 150 in the cleanup spot. He posted a 146 OPS+. On the other side, Myers had a 108 OPS+ this season, Drury had a 109 OPS+ after the Padres traded for him, and Bell has slumped mightily, with a 75 OPS+ for San Diego.

The Mets, ideally, will have the MLB batting champion at second base in Jeff McNeil. McNeil, who hit .326 in the regular season, also gets some starts in the outfield, but Tyler Naquin can man right field against the Padres’ righty starters, and if Starling Marte and/or Darin Ruf are healthy and on the Wild Card Series roster to face Blake Snell, McNeil could stay at second all series. If not, Luis Guillorme has been capable for New York all year, especially defensively. Jake Cronenworth (17 home runs, 88 RBIs) was an All-Star for a second straight year in 2022, but if it’s him vs. McNeil at second base, this one goes to McNeil.

Sorry, Eduardo Escobar. Manny Machado is a big edge for the Padres here — maybe their biggest at any position (but read on). Machado is one of the top NL MVP contenders along with the Cardinals’ Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, batting .296 with 32 home runs, 102 RBIs and +8 outs above average on defense. His 7.4 fWAR led the National League and ranked behind only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani in all of MLB. Escobar hit 20…