Much was made of the Mets struggles in 2016 with men in scoring position. Rightfully so, they slashed .226/.306/.372 to go along with a 72 wRC+ and .282 wOBA (weighted on-base average).
This season has been a completely different story. They are slashing .321/.402/.530 with a 142 wRC+ and .383 wOBA, both rank second best in the major leagues. The players are roughly the same, so what really changed?
A noticeable change is the 2016 Mets walked at a rate of 9.6% with RISP and struck out at a 22.5%. The 2017 Mets are walking at 13.2% and striking out only 11.3% of the time (best in the majors). The 2016 Mets hit into 49 double plays, they’re currently on pace to hit 24 double plays this year.
Another change is the fact they are getting some rather impressive performances from 3 performers: Jay Bruce, Michael Conforto, and Travis d’Arnaud.
d’Arnaud leads all catchers in RBIs with 16 despite being a number eight hitter for the majority of this season. He is slashing .294/.455/.824 and a 209 wRC+ with men in scoring position.
Conforto is slashing .500/.588/.900 and a 235 wRC+ with RISP. Despite being a leadoff hitter this year, Conforto already has 18 RBIs this year.
Jay Bruce is slashing .500/.480/.818 with RISP and has a 239 wRC+ with RISP. His wRC+ with RISP ranks as the 9th best mark in baseball. His OBP is lower than his batting average because of sacrifice flies.
Perhaps another reason the Mets are having more success this season with RISP, no James Loney or Alejandro De Aza. Loney in particular, he received 85 plate appearances with RISP and slashed .203/.286/.350 with a 65 wRC+ in those PAs.
Point being: despite all the injuries the Mets are dealing with, the quality of players taking these important at bats has definitely improved. Even players who are hurt, performed with RISP. Lucas Duda was hitting .286/.583/.429 in 12 plate appearances with runners in scoring position.
We are only 27 games in but here is to hoping these changes continue throughout the year.
