It took a long time for the New York Mets to hire someone to lead the front office. That was frustrating to watch for many reasons, one being it delayed the organization from making moves that’d improve the roster for 2022. Once Billy Eppler officially came on board, though, the Mets quickly made up for lost time.
In the two weeks between Eppler getting introduced to the media and the lockout going into effect, New York spent quite a bit of money to improve the club for 2022 and beyond. This haul included Max Scherzer, Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar, and Mark Canha. The reasoning behind going after and eventually landing Scherzer is quite obvious, but I’ve found it interesting that the acquisitions of the three positions players mentioned all relate to one another in some way.
Given the strengths of Marte, Escobar, and Canha, their presence in the lineup will hypothetically raise the performance floor of the offense in a number of areas. One of those areas is New York’s performance against left-handed pitching, which is a situation where they haven’t experienced consistent success for quite some time.
Looking Back On Recent Years
Did you know that the last time the Mets finished a season with a winning record against left-handed pitching was in 2016? It’s true. Offensive production has been a little all over the map, but none of it has led to a winning record in the last five years, with 2021 being the worst from the standpoint of winning percentage. Here’s a look at New York’s record against lefties in each of the past five seasons, along with the team OPS and wRC+ in that situation.
When looking at the 2021 squad specifically, the wRC+ production was split right down the middle with certain parameters put in place. There were 12 Mets hitters with at least 50 plate appearances against a lefty last year. Six of them had a wRC+ over 100, and the other six were below 100. Based on what Eppler and Co. did before the lockout, it certainly seemed as if this was one of the scenarios they had in mind when looking for offensive upgrades.
Balancing Out The Everyday Lineup
We have no idea what the Mets’ everyday lineup will look like yet — partially because it’s January and partially because there will hopefully be another bat to pencil in soon enough — but some examples look very balanced. Here’s what FanGraphs’ Roster Resource has right now (whether a player is left-handed, right-handed, or a switch hitter is included):
- Brandon Nimmo — L
- Starling Marte — R
- Francisco Lindor — S
- Pete Alonso — R
- Robinson Canó — L
- Mark Canha — R
- Eduardo Escobar — S
- James McCann — R
Even if we switch Jeff McNeil for Canó, it’s the same kind of balance throughout the lineup from top to bottom. Something like this would be ideal for late-game situations when an opposing manager is trying to figure out which reliever he should be putting on the mound to face a minimum of three batters. A configuration similar to what’s seen above makes it just a little bit more difficult to figure out in certain situations.
Performance vs. LHPs For New Acquisitions
Sure, Marte and Canha are right-handed and Escobar is a switch-hitter, but can they actually hit left-handed pitching? That’s the key here, and they’ve each proven to be capable of doing so after looking at both their 2021 performance and overall career numbers.
Here’s a quick peek at each hitter’s performance when facing southpaws:
Although they may not light the world on fire with their numbers against left-handed pitching, it’s all about raising the Mets’ performance floor in various situations on offense. Based on how poorly they performed against lefties in 2021, that scenario needed some attention, and it may get more attention if the lockout ever ends.
New York reportedly showed some interest in free agent Kris Bryant earlier in the offseason, and if they were to successfully sign him, he’d be another right-handed hitter who can handle lefties quite well. In 134 plate appearances last season, Bryant posted a .910 OPS and a 138 wRC+ in that situation. For his career, those numbers jump up even higher to a .973 OPS and a 155 wRC+.
Improving the team’s overall performance in this area may not seem like a huge deal, but it’s one of those small things that could eventually make a meaningful difference by the end of a season. Escobar, Marte, and Canha all bring various skills to the table in Queens, but it also feels as if Eppler targeted them because they share many similarities in how they produce in certain situations.
