Over these last 11 games, the New York Mets have gone 4-7. Yes, the pitching has been somewhat of an issue, but the offense has not been able to come up with the big hits when they matter the most over this stretch. In Tuesday night’s 9-4 loss to the Oakland Athletics, the team found themselves in an early 7-1 hole, but they tried to work their way back into it in the bottom of the fifth.
In that inning, the Mets had four consecutive hits, including a Jesse Winker RBI double and a Pete Alonso two-run single. After Mark Vientos (in for J.D. Martinez) drew a walk, the Mets chased Joe Boyle from the game and they saw a former spring training teammate in Austin Adams. However, that familiarity did not help them. Jeff McNeil struck out, Jose Iglesias fouled out to first, and Francisco Alvarez struck out swinging.
As a team, the Mets were 4-for-17 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday and left 11 men on base. During this four-game losing streak, the offense was 4-for-33 in RISP and even had a game on Saturday where they had none of those opportunities.
Now, these last four games don’t reflect how clutch the team has been in RISP this year. In those spots, the Mets have hit the third-most home runs in the NL (40), have driven in in the fourth-most runs (398), and they have the fourth-highest .OPS (.800). You could make the case that this is just a small sample size. However, there are certain players that the Mets need to get going if they want to find their way into the postseason.
One of them is Alvarez. While Alvarez has done a good job behind the plate for the pitching staff, he has had a disappointing year at the plate offensively, whether it’s because of injuries or inconsistency. Since the All-Star break, the Mets catcher has a slash line of .167/.194/.250 with only one home run, 19 strikeouts and a .400 OPS. In eight games this month, he has 10 strikeouts and has yet to draw a walk.
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Brandon Nimmo would be another player. In 22 games since the break, the center fielder has a slash line of .145/.280/.181 with three RBIs, 29 strikeouts and an .OPS of .461. His 29 strikeouts are second-most on the team in that span (Pete Alonso has 33) and in the top 10 in all of the National League. His 12 hits are the second-fewest on the Mets among players who have played at least 15 games (Alvarez has 10).
While the struggles of the Mets’ offense isn’t solely correlated to those two players, they represent a different part of the Mets’ batting order. When the offense was hot before the break, it seemed that the lineup was a tough out across the board for opposing pitchers.
Since the All-Star break, the Mets’ lineup has 229 strikeouts, which is the fifth-most in the National League. They are one of five teams in the NL with a slugging percentage under .400 (.399).
If the Mets are going to make the postseason, their offense has to find it again. It doesn’t have to be everyone clicking at the same time, but it starts with finding a way to get back to the success they had with runners in scoring position during the early portion of the season. Yes, the pitching will have to do its part as well, but offense should be the thing that pushes this team forward or sends it home before October.
