The Mets are 0-4 for the first time in two decades, and their offense validates those results.

There’s been a bit of a gap between the team’s expected statistics (average, slugging), and they’ve hit some really hard balls directly at defenders. Those defenders have seemed to make every play, too.

But the results are the results so far:

  • Scoring just one run in three of four games
  • In the other game, the offense didn’t wake up until one out in the eighth inning on a Brett Baty pinch-hit home run
  • They’ve scored the least number of runs so far this season, tied with the Chicago White Sox
  • They’ve been on base in just 25% of plate appearances, second least in the league

This has come down to some of their best players simply not performing and some questionable lineup decisions.

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Slow Starts for Stars

Francisco Alvarez and Pete Alonso have been getting on base. It’s been nice to see Starling Marte hit the ball hard with results, and Brett Baty has been lifting the ball with similar results.

But everyone else? It’s been a rough go of it:

The first three will perform better. Stewart was the choice over Mark Vientos to start the year, and it hasn’t looked good. Bader wasn’t signed for his bat, but you also wish his at-bats looked more promising.

But the poor offensive start can also be pinned on the questionable lineup decisions, which might be more the more concerning of the two given they highlight coaching philosophy and the overall roster.

Lineup Decisions So Far

With the talent on the Mets’ roster, DJ Stewart shouldn’t bat fifth ever again. Carlos Mendoza has seemed to opt for breaking right-handed batters up with lefties, which caused Alvarez to bat as low as seventh and Stewart to bat fifth.

Then once the game has started, Mendoza has chosen to let players bat for themselves in less-than-ideal scenarios. Harrison Bader routinely hitting against righties late in close games. Stewart finding himself up in important spots. Joey Wendle batting for himself with a runner on first and two outs in the seventh inning on Monday. Jeff McNeil was ready to bat. Instead, McNeil came up in the same scenario in the ninth. They’re playing for later, not for now. There are seven outs left! Get your best hitters up there!

But some of this comes down to the roster. Does Mendoza really have better options? We can be picky about individual managerial moves all we want (and we should keep on eye on them), but who else does Mendoza have at his expense? Omar Narváez and Wendle are his lefty bench bats. Neither are known for their bat. Zack Short and Tyrone Taylor as his righty bats. And… yeah.

Once J.D. Martinez is in the fold next week, the lineup will fill out. There will be more routine spots in the lineup. But the patchwork hasn’t worked so far. The top of the lineup has stumbled out of the gate. This was the lineup the team was comfortable with a week before the season started!

There are 158 games left. But an 0-4 start backed by poor offensive performance doesn’t warrant “things will even out.” We’ve seen that ring false before.