Do the Mets have one of the most dangerous lineups in the league against left-handed pitching? It certainly looks that way with the way they are hitting lately.
New York recently crushed Phillies’ lefty Adam Morgan during Tuesday’s 16 run explosion at Citizens Bank Park, and they also scored 11 runs against Rockies left-hander Chris Rusin over the weekend.
While the Mets’ lineup only ranks 7th in the NL in OPS against lefties and 13th in average, that number is skewed by their performance earlier in the season. The lineup now is much stronger and drastically different than the one they had during the first half.
Having Yoenis Cespedes and Juan Uribe added to to the mix as well as the return David Wright and Travis d’Arnaud gives the Mets a fearsome lineup against lefties.
Buster Olney of ESPN Insider agrees and calls the Mets’ lineup formidable against southpaws. In his article, he broke down some of the players’ impressive splits.
Wilmer Flores: .898 OPS, 5 homers in 89 at-bats
Yoenis Cespedes: 6 homers in 112 at-bats
Juan Lagares: 30-for-97, .846 OPS
David Wright: 6-for-11, 1.674 OPS
Michael Cuddyer: 20-for-77, .352 OBP
Travis d’Arnaud: 9-for-25, 1.149 OPS
Lucas Duda .897 OPS
Juan Uribe: .878 OPS, 6 homers in 75 at-bats
Olney also says that even though the lineup overall is far from perfect, this gives the them an edge during the postseason if they have to face a left-handed ace like Clayton Kershaw or Madison Bumgarner.
By far the biggest help in this area is getting Wright back in the lineup, who has crushed lefties throughout his career. He has a career .341 average against them to go along with an outstanding 1.010 OPS.
With his dangerous bat back in the lineup, it won’t be surprising to the team’s numbers against left-handed pitching suddenly climb up the leader boards.
