A quick review of how the Mets’ position players fared in the final week of the first half.
The Mets began their last week of the first half with a thrilling come from behind victory against the Orioles before getting swept in a doubleheader on Thursday. But over the weekend they bounced back to take two out of three against the Royals. No one is exactly red hot at the moment and the Mets had both sides of their DH platoon go down in one week. But perhaps the most encouraging thing on this meter is that Mark Vientos is finally showing signs of life.
There has been some roster churn heading into the second half. Jesse Winker returned for two games and then unfortunately went right back on the injured list again with back tightness. Starling Marte is on the injured list as well with a bruised knee. Travis Jankowski was designated for assignment, but Luisangel Acuña and Jared Young are both back on the roster. Acuña has one hit in eight plate appearances thus far since his return and Jared Young doesn’t have any plate appearances yet, but has appeared in one game.
It feels like only a matter of time before Francisco Alvarez is back as well because the Mets are getting no production out of the catching position right now. Luis Torrens has been great at throwing out runners, but he had just two hits and a walk last week in 18 plate appearances with a run scored. He also struck out seven times. Hayden Senger is hitless in four plate appearances with two strikeouts.
The best news on this meter is the green arrow next to Mark Vientos’ name. It felt like his game-tying, bases-clearing double in Friday’s win broke some sort of dam. Overall, Vientos put up a 140 wRC+ in 21 plate appearances last week. He led the team with seven hits, three of which went for extra bases.
Brandon Nimmo matches Vientos’ seven hits, but only one of his was an extra-base hit, making for a more modest 118 wRC+ in 26 plate appearances. But Nimmo did walk three times and score four runs.
Unsurprisingly, Juan Soto leads the team in walks with five. He also leads the team with ten strikeouts, but he still put up a 143 wRC+ for the week. Of his five hits, two were home runs and he also leads the team in RBIs with five. It was Soto who provided the go-ahead RBI single in tenth inning in Tuesday’s thrilling win in Baltimore and his two-run homer on Saturday was the margin of victory in that contest as well. Soto may not have been an All-Star, but his 161 OPS+ in the first half is certainly All-Star worthy.
Speaking of All-Stars, it may not have been a good week for Pete Alonso overall, but his game-tying home run in the eighth last Tuesday was the pivotal moment of one of the Mets’ most exciting wins all season. Unfortunately that was one of only three hits for Alonso this week, but he did walk five times to match Soto for the team lead, raising his wRC+ to poor, but not poop emoji worthy 69.
Rounding out This Week in the Fab Four, Francisco Lindor’s solo homer got things started in the eighth last Tuesday and was the first of his five RBIs, which match Soto for the team lead. Like Vientos, Lindor had a big day on Friday, going deep and driving in three runs. Half of his six hits went for extra bases and he leads the team with six runs scored. Overall, the NL All-Star starting shortstop put up a 129 wRC+ in his last 27 plate appearances of the first half.
Tyrone Taylor is in the green for the first time in quite awhile with a 116 wRC+ in 14 plate appearances. He collected four hits—two singles and two doubles. He scored a run and drove in a run.
Given the injuries the Mets are dealing with right now, both Ronny Mauricio and Brett Baty are sticking around for the foreseeable future. Both players have cooled off somewhat, but are still doing okay. Baty posted a 96 wRC+ in 17 plate appearances. He collected three hits, three walks, two runs scored, and an RBI. Meanwhile, Mauricio put up an 87 wRC+ in 18 plate appearances. He too had three hits, one of which was a home run. He scored two runs and drove in a run. Mauricio is still striking out quite a bit, but in an encouraging sign, he is starting to draw walks as well (he had two walks last week), which is perhaps a mark of Juan Soto’s influence as Mauricio works with the Mets’ star right fielder in the cage.
Jeff McNeil has cooled off after a few strong weeks in a row at the plate. He had three hits—two singles and a key RBI triple in the ninth inning of Sunday’s game. He then scored the game-tying run, which was his only run scored for the week. He walked twice and drove in two runs.