A quick review of how the Mets’ position players fared over the past week.
Now this is a position player meter I can get behind. And it’s how the Mets finally escaped their rut and took series from both the Brewers and Yankees last week. They actually hit with runners in scoring position! There are still players—namely Mark Vientos, Tyrone Taylor, and Luis Torrens—that are basically contributing no offensive production. But at least everyone else is hitting. And though no fireballs seems like a negative, it also means no single player is carrying the offense right now the way Pete Alonso did early in the season or the way Juan Soto did in June.
If I did have to pick out one standout performer this week, it would probably be Brandon Nimmo, whose hit not just one, but two grand slams this week. The first was in Game 2 of Wednesday’s doubleheader that seemed to finally lift the malaise hanging over the team. He then hit a grand slam for the second time in four days in Saturday’s slugfest. Of course, given the two grand slams, it’s unsurprising that Nimmo leads the team in RBIs this week with nine in total. It’s also unsurprising that despite hitting a somewhat pedestrian .261 for the week, he put up a 181 wRC+ in 25 plate appearances. He also stole two bases as well—the only Met to swipe multiple bags this week.
Francisco Lindor went back-to-back with Nimmo on Wednesday night, but of course his long ball was a solo shot as a result of Nimmo clearing the bases ahead of him. But he had an excellent night at the plate overall, reaching base four times in that contest and driving in three runs. He also scored four runs in Saturday’s victory. The two spot in the order has suited Lindor well to the tune of a 168 wRC+ in 27 plate appearances this week. Lindor leads the team in runs scored with six and amassed six total RBIs as well. He also shares the team lead in hits with seven.
Juan Soto is one of the trio of Mets with seven hits and one of them was a game-tying home run in the first inning of Friday’s exciting back-and-forth affair. Soto collected three hits in that game, but it seems like Soto reaches base at least three times in every game these days. Unsurprisingly, he also leads the team in walks this week with four. Overall, he posted a 170 wRC+ in 26 plate appearances this week, which isn’t quite the fireball pace he was on in June, but certainly will still play.
Starling Marte also had seven hits this week, though only one of them went for extra bases. But those seven hits came in only 16 plate appearances and therefore Marte leads the team with a .438 batting average this week in what was one of his better weeks in recent memory. Marte has been batting leadoff ahead of Lindor and has done well in that role, but playing the field in Sunday’s game may have proven a bit too strenuous for him. With Jesse Winker set to return soon, Marte may see his playing time diminish some, but he has been productive of late.
It is tough to say whose roster spot Winker will take when he does return. Travis Jankowski has not really played much, so he feels like an obvious candidate, since he has more or less just been pinch running and not doing anything else. But Winker locking up most of the DH at-bats on the long side of the platoon means it will be hard to find at-bats for both Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio. Baty had just three hits in 16 plate appearances this week, but one of those hits was a home run. Baty scored two runs, drove in two runs, and walked once this week. Mauricio had a productive week with four hits—three singles and a double—in 12 plate appearances with four runs scored. He also walked twice, which is encouraging.
Of course, it would be easier to send one of those two young players down if Mark Vientos wasn’t hitting so dang poorly. But Vientos remains lost at the plate in a way a poop emoji doesn’t even really properly convey. He is about as much of a threat with the bat as a pitcher right now, which given his breakout performance last season, is genuinely shocking. He has just one hit this week—a single—in 12 plate appearances. He also struck out four times.
Vientos is not alone though. Tyrone Taylor fared even worse this week, going hitless in 17 plate appearances and striking out five times. He reached base once this week via a walk and scored a run, but he is also a non-factor with the bat at the moment. Taylor does contribute defensively, but it feels like it’s been over a month since he had a big hit and it’s becoming unsustainable for the Mets to continue to send him out there almost every day in center field.
Luis Torrens rounds out the trio of players not contributing much offensively right now. Torrens had two hits—both singles—in 15 plate appearances this week with three strikeouts. Meanwhile, Hayden Senger matched Torrens’ hit total in just seven plate appearances with two runs scored, but we can’t pretend that Senger is going to be some sort of savior with the bat, despite his strong defense behind the dish.
Pete Alonso inched ever closer to Strawberry’s record this week with two home runs—both of them in Saturday’s game. Saturday was a huge day for Pete, who drove in five runs and scored three runs in that contest. His eight total RBIs are second only to Brandon Nimmo and his two grand slams for the team lead. Alonso posted a 170 wRC+ in 26 plate appearances this week.
Jeff McNeil also put up a 170 wRC+ this week in 19 plate appearances and arguably the biggest home run of all (though there are many this week to choose from) belongs to him. It was McNeil’s go-ahead two-run shot in the seventh inning off Luke Weaver in Friday’s game that ended up being the game-winner. It was McNeil’s only extra-base hit of his five knocks this week, but it was a huge one. McNeil drove in three runs in total this week and scored three runs. He didn’t draw any walks this week, but he was hit by three pitches.