Mets 2025 Season Review: Jesse Winker

Jesse Winker called his time with the Mets in 2024 a “dream come true”, while saying “the vibes are awesome” with respect to the club. After re-signing last offseason, he exclaimed that being a Met was “probably the most fun I’ve ever had” while playing the sport, adding that he always wanted to come back to the team.

Winker’s heel-to-hero story played perfectly within the aura of the OMG/Grimace/*insert gimmick here* Mets. Starting as the player who was playfully booed by fans after he trolled them in 2019, Winker became a Citi Field favorite. His 2024 numbers were hardly extraordinary (.243/.318/.365 with three homers, 12 runs scored, 13 runs batted in, a 97 wRC+, and a 0.1 fWAR in 44 games) but his infectious spirit on the field was addictive. His walk-off homer on an August getaway day against the Orioles further endeared him to the Flushing Faithful that once reveled in jeering him, and his home run and subsequent bat flip and pose in Game 3 of the NLDS against the Phillies gave him his iconic Mets moment. Him re-signing in New York brought about a lot of fanfare for a player that was, functionally, a platoon player in a part-time role.

Unfortunately, injuries prevented him from taking the field much for the 2025 Mets. You could argue (and accurately so) that Winker playing more games would have hardly made much of a difference for the Mets and probably would not have pushed them over the top in the postseason race. However, everything that was great and fun about the 2024 Mets existed partly due to Winker’s infectious injection of energy, and that was noticeably (and sorely) missing from last year’s squad.

Winker started the year off as the platoon DH with occasional outfield time, mostly seeing action against right-handed pitching. He remained healthy through May 4 and slashed .239/.321/.418 in 67 at-bats through those 34 games. His impact at the plate was limited, contributing just one home runs, five doubles, two triples, 10 runs batted in, and eight runs scored in those games. His season derailed in a doubleheader against the Cardinals in early May, when he left a game and was diagnosed with a Grade 2 oblique strain. That forced him to miss a little over two months of action. He briefly returned in July, appearing in two games against the Orioles. He was held hitless in three at-bats across two game and was removed from a July 10 contest in Baltimore with back tightness. He was officially shut down in September, ending any possibly comeback attempt.

Winker concluded his first “full” season with the Mets hitting .229/.309/.400 with one homer, a 95 wRC+, and a -0.1 fWAR in 26 games. His lone home run came in a 5-4 Mets win against the Phillies at Citi Field on April 21. His best game came on April 5, when he went 3-for-5 with two triples, a double, and two runs batted in, including the game-tying run. In addition to his three-hit game, he had four two-hit games, five games in which he contributed one hit, and remained hitless in his other 16 appearances for the Mets in 2025.

While Winker was never brought in to be a leading force for the offense, the spark and attitude he provided to the playoff-bound Mets in 2024 was sorely missing. On the heels of a team with awesome vibes that fulfilled a dream for Winker, it’s a shame that the same atmosphere could not be replicated in 2025. While Winker remains a free agent, a return to the Mets seems unlikely. If this is the last we see of Winker in a Mets uniform, at least Winker and fans alike can hold on to him going from villain to hero and bringing the team some really fund times in the 2024 campaign.