It started with a sudden, scary drop (five losses). Then, it was a surprisingly quick and thrilling recovery (who saw 12 out of 15 wins coming?). And a return to reality? The Mets’ April (plus three games in March) reminded me of when I used to take my three daughters sledding here in Central New Jersey.
The Mets finish April at 15-14, just a half-game behind the Cincinnati Reds for the final wild-card spot, even if it is a tad early to look at the standings. They are 4 1/2 games back of the first-place Braves in the NL East.
Here are some stats as the calendar turns to May and we put sledding season behind us: The Mets are fifth in the National League in home runs with 32 and fifth in steals with 25. Brandon Nimmo has the only Met triple of the season. (The Mets are last in that category.) New York is ninth in the NL in batting average at .240 and eighth in on-base percentage plus slugging percentage at .695.
On the pitching side, the Mets are second in ERA at 3.48 (Philadelphia leads the NL at 3.44). New York ranks first in batting average against (.214) and home runs allowed (17), and third in strikeouts (271 in 261 innings). But they are second worst in giving up free passes (126). Only the Marlins have walked more men.
Tyrone Taylor and Mark Vientos were the unlikely heroes, both of whom delivered walk-off hits. The Players of the Month were Pete Alonso, Luis Severino, and Reed Garrett.
Hitter of the Month
Alonso slugged eight home runs, which ranks him third in the majors (Gunnar Henderson and Mike Trout, 10) and has him tied for second in the National League with Elly De La Cruz and Kyle Schwarber. (Marcell Ozuna has nine.) He hit his 200th career dinger last Saturday. He is slashing .234/.323/.477/.800 across 111 at-bats with 15 RBIs and has accumulated 0.4 WAR.
Honorable mention to Starling Marte (.288/.327/.442/.770), who looks healthy after an injury-riddled 2023. He has four homers and six steals. And to DJ Stewart, who has a .849 OPS, four homers, and 14 RBIs in just 53 at-bats.
Photo by Roberto Carlo
Pitchers of the Month
Severino was 2-2 with a 2.31 ERA and 1.06 WHIP. He struck out 31 and walked 11 in 35 innings. He pitched at least five innings in all six of his starts and never gave up more than three runs in any of them. His WAR is at 0.6. On Monday, he deserved a better fate when he carried a no-hitter into the eighth.
Garrett (0.6 WAR) is tied for the major-league lead in wins. He is 5-0 with a 0.57 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP in 15 2/3 innings. (He is on pace to win about 25 games!) There is a lot of fun to be had with Garrett’s stats if you are in to that sort of thing like Anthony DiComo. Not quite as much fun as sledding, but fun nonetheless.
