Mets Offense Unfazed By Dead Ball

Everything is coming up roses for New York’s lineup despite depressed offensive production league-wide. It appears this Mets offense is unfazed by the dead ball. MLB admitted to variations of their baseball in 2021, and buzz is growing; the ball may be altered once again to begin 2022. However, the bats from Queens have exploded out of the gate, orchestrating a high-scoring assault sans a favorable alteration to the sphere for which the game is named.

Historically Bad Start

Alex Fast of ESPN put the league-wide historically bad start into context. On April 22, major league batters collectively stood on a .231 batting average. The lowest BA in the history of baseball, dating back to 1871. Fifty-six players were hitting below .200 at that time.

It isn’t just that batting averages are in the toilet. Power is lacking, too. Ballpark Pal tracks ball flight and carry distance, factoring temperature, wind, humidity, launch angle, speed, spray angle, and specific stadium factors. Of the 2000+ batted balls traveling over 300 feet in 2022, significantly fewer actual home runs were hit than the metrics suggest should be.

Perhaps the shining example of the dulled-down comes from Baseball Reference’s data scientist Jeremy Frank, noting a nondescript April series between the Cardinals and Reds. Those three games were void of even a single home run. It was just the second time in Great American Ballpark history that a series of three or more games featured zero round-trippers.

Mets Ahead Of Curve

Meanwhile, in Flushing, the New York Mets offense appears ahead of the curve. Built around ideal launch angles and barrels which rely on the baseball carrying off the bat, other organizations are struggling to adapt to Manfred’s mushball. However, this Mets team creates runs by being aggressive on the bases and selective at the plate. They make contact in the zone and exercise patience when necessary. It is no wonder why they are the first team to have 12 wins.

*** statistical data as of 4/24/2022 credit Fangraphs ***

Buck Showalter‘s lineup ranks second in MLB with 75 runs scored and the second-best run differential of +28 more runs scored than their opponents. In addition, they are stealing runs at every opportunity. Only three other teams have more than the Mets’ eleven stolen bases on the year. Despite being thrust into a new defensive position, Starling Marte leads the team and the entire National League with four swipes of his own. He is carefully picking his spots to make the SB positively impact the outcome each night.

Stolen bases do not happen without runners reaching base. Sporting a hefty .343 on-base percentage, the team ranks second league-wide in getting on. Francisco Lindor leads the way, reaching base an astonishing 40.8% of plate appearances, good for ninth-best in the NL.

Emphasizing power over contact is the trend across the majors, but this team has bucked that trend with success. Zone contact rates are up across the lineup, and the group ranks eighth overall in ZCon% at 85.2 in April. More in-zone contact lends to fewer swings and misses. The Mets excel there, boasting a minuscule 9.6 SwStr%, which ranks third in the league.

Lindor’s ZCon%/SwStrk%/K% slash: 91.8/6.3/14.5

As whiffs vanish, so do the strikeouts. New York has K’d at a 20.0% clip, besting all but two major league teams. Each at bat is a grind for the opposing pitcher. Jeff McNeil heads the group with a 10.6 K%. He is just one of the Mets hitters leveling the playing field in the age of the strikeout. The opposition pitcher’s collective 8.9 K-BB% is the second-worst in MLB. Up and down the order, the plate appearances have substance, and it shows.

Will the commissioner bring back the juicier version of the ball? Only time will tell. For now, the Mets offense remains unfazed by Manfred’s meddling ways. While other cities watch high flyballs to left settle into a glove, this dead ball has life–at least in Queens, it does.