Being a diehard fan of the New York Mets is one of my greatest joys and I wouldn’t give it up for anything in the world. But man, oh man, it sure can be very humbling at times.
Once again my lofty pre-season expectations have been dashed and I’m left scratching my head and wondering what went wrong this time. Look no further than one of the worst ranked offenses in the game.
Take away the bats of first baseman Pete Alonso and the versatile Jeff McNeil and what you have left is a hodgepodge of under-performing players, many of whom big things were expected in 2019.
When the Mets added second baseman Robinson Cano, catcher Wilson Ramos and infielder Jed Lowrie during the offseason, the goal was to bolster a Mets offense that finished 23rd in runs scored and 29th in batting during the 2018 season.
On paper it appeared that GM Brodie Van Wagenen had struck the mother lode having added three All Star bats including an MVP contender in Lowrie. However, both Cano and Ramos have underwhelmed at the plate and Lowrie has yet to take a single at-bat as he continues to remain out with a sprained knee.
Additionally, the Mets were expecting a big season from Michael Conforto who I believed would be an MVP candidate in 2019. In his last 10 games, Michael Conforto is batting .182/.317/.242. Overall his numbers are still very much respectable, but not the top level performance most of us were looking forward to. The hope is that his bat heats up as the weather warms, much as it did last season when he finished very strongly.
A bigger concern is certainly the underwhelming performance of Brandon Nimmo, who emerged as key component in the Mets lineup last season and was expected to fill the role of leadoff hitter this year. Batting just .200/.330/.337, Nimmo’s .667 OPS is over 200 points lower than his .886 mark in 2018. Furthermore, he’s walking less and more problematic is that he’s striking out at a significantly higher rate at 32.3 percent of his at-bats.
Juan Lagares has been getting more playing time due to Nimmo’s struggles, and while he’s a big upgrade defensively, Lagares is only batting .203/.282/.328 for the season.
If you thought Todd Frazier could only go up after posting career lows in batting (.213) and OPS (.693) in his first season with the Mets, think again. Going into Friday’s contest against the Miami Marlins, Frazier is batting a woeful .143/.160/.265 since his return from the injured list.
“Right now, I’m not producing. We all know that,” Frazier told Newsday. “It’s something that is part of the game. I know I’ll be back for sure. It’s Mickey Callaway‘s decision at the end, but I got to start putting up some numbers, and that’s the bottom line. ”
It’s not all bad news for the Mets who now look forward to a 13 game stretch against the Marlins (10-27), Washington Nationals (15-22), Detroit Tigers (16-18) and San Francisco Giants (16-21). If the Mets can find a way to take 9 or 10 of these games, they could easily find themselves back in the thick of things in the NL East.
Most of the heavy lifting has been waged by Pete Alonso, who already has slugged 11 homers on the year and ranks third in the National League with 31 RBIs. He already has a 1.7 WAR and is on pace for a monster season if this performance keeps up.
Not to be overlooked is Jeff McNeil who is second in the NL with a .356 batting average and a .433 on-base percentage. His left-handed bat plays anywhere in the lineup and he gives the team plenty of flexibility offensively while providing versatility defensively. It’s amazing how long the Mets waited to bring this exciting all-around player up.
Amed Rosario – his defense not withstanding – has also been pretty productive offensively, ranking fifth among NL shortstops with a .279 batting average, fifth with 20 RBIs, and third with 38 base hits. Now if he can just stop committing all those errors.
Infielder J.D. Davis has been a pleasant surprise off the bench, slashing at .269/.360/.436 with three home runs and a 121 OPS+ in 30 games. He’s made the absence of Jed Lowrie a little less painful. The Mets also recalled Dominic Smith today, the former top prospect has looked great at the plate and has drawn praise from his teammates and coaches.
It’s still early and there’s plenty of season still left for the Mets to get back on track, but it will require some significant improvement from Cano, Ramos, Nimmo and Frazier if the Mets intend to make a push for the offseason. The Mets seem to have the starting pitching, but as the recently concluded road trip showed, the lack of run support failed to deliver many wins.
Perhaps, Jed Lowrie can help resuscitate a Mets offense that is currently on life support, sometimes all it takes is a little spark. But I do believe the best is yet to come for this team because there’s just too much talent on this squad to fail. These next 13 games represent a great opportunity for the Mets and we’ll know exactly what kind of team we have by Memorial Day. I’m hoping for the best.
