Since the end of their 11-game winning streak on April 24th, the Mets have averaged just three runs a game and posted a .224 average, both are ranked dead last in the NL.
Here are some disturbing trends:
- Leading off an inning the Mets are batting .193 with a .278 on-base percentage in 284 plate appearances.
- The Mets have too many dead spots in the lineup. Leadoff hitters are batting .215, 6th spot is batting .186, 8th spot .219, 9th spot .167.
- Mets second basemen are batting .203, while left field and right field are batting .227.
- The Mets bench is batting .114 with a .427 OPS.
It’s not just one or two areas of concern, it’s a very broad issue that permeates every facet of the offense and it’s different sub-sections. There’s not many success stories here.
The Mets added Michael Cuddyer and John Mayberry Jr. to boost their offense in the offseason. However Cuddyer has a .684 OPS and 91 OPS+ in 113 at-bats with 30 strikeouts. And Mayberry is batting .103 with a .436 OPS.
Kevin Long, the rock star coach, was brought in to change the dynamic and produce better results. But even when the Mets were playing better the offense was just not there, they were simply getting some timely hits.
The Mets currently rank 13th in the National League in batting, 14th in OPS, 12th in runs scored, and 14th in slugging percentage. Or basically as bad as the team was in 2014.
The team is playing without two key players in David Wright and Travis d’Arnaud, but unfortunately nobody on the team stepped up in their absence.
If not for a starting rotation and bullpen that ranks first or second in most of the league’s top pitching metrics, the team would be floundering. Luckily that’s not the case.
That said, sooner or later this offense needs to stand and deliver and stop squandering solid pitching performances. It’s going to be hard to survive the dog days of summer when there are so many dead spots in the batting order.
