Over the first few weeks of the season, the Mets’ pitching was spectacular. It kept the team in the game every night, allowing the offense to do just enough to win. During the Mets’ 11-game winning streak in April, they won only once by more than four runs.
However, you can’t count on a pitching staff to be that good for an entire season. There are going to be rough patches, and this team is no exception. Mets pitching has allowed eight runs or more four times over the past week. The Mets’ struggles, however, are not to be blamed solely on the pitching staff, which we figure will bounce back soon. It’s the offense that’s at fault.
The Mets have had one of the worst offenses in baseball in the month of May. While they rank 19th in runs scored this month, almost a third of those runs came in one game. If you go by rate stats, the Mets have been undoubtedly terrible. Here’s a look at how they rank:
They can’t walk, hit for power, or even steal bases.
Looking at April’s rankings, they really weren’t that much better. In some categories, they were able to climb up to the middle of the pack, but they didn’t get much higher. They were still near the bottom in home runs, wOBA, and wRC+.
It was really the pitching that distracted fans from the team’s biggest flaw. It may not have seemed so at the time — it appeared many Mets were actually hitting about as well as they could — but perhaps that is a sign that this team needs an infusion of bats. When your players are performing at their best and you still have a mediocre offense, changes need to be made.
David Wright‘s injury has added a whole new sense of urgency to the Mets’ offensive needs. Travis d’Arnaud will provide a boost but there is nothing that he, Ruben Tejada, or Daniel Muno can do to turn the offense around.
It may have been the pitching that cost the Mets games this week, but it’s the offense that’s sinking the team. It’s time to make a move, Sandy.
