Despite facing dominant pitching from Tyler Glasnow and Logan Webb, the Mets clawed their way back to win their final game and split their road trip 3-3. They return home for a six-game homestand with renewed offensive confidence, especially with the imminent return of slugger J.D. Martinez.
The 36-year-old Martinez, who finalized a one-year, $12 million contract in late March, will finally make his Mets debut. It took some time for Martinez to ramp up, especially after a tight back led to a setback, but he’ll be slotted into New York’s lineup and immediately be one of the team’s best hitters.
One would think that the plan would be to slot JDM into the No. 4 hole, especially with Francisco Lindor‘s struggles against righties, but manager Carlos Mendoza seems to have found a lineup he’s content with. And perhaps Lindor is coming around after smacking two home runs on Wednesday from the left side of the plate.
There’s an argument to be made for shuffling the lineup, but the Mets might be strategically better off keeping Lindor where he is, nestled between their hottest hitters. So that would mean Mendoza would stick with Brandon Nimmo, Starling Marte, Lindor, and Pete Alonso, all ahead of Martinez.
Nimmo and Lindor have struggled to start the season, but Alonso and Marte have hit well. The addition of a player who slashed .271/.321/.572 with 33 home runs, 103 RBIs, and a .893 OPS a season before is going to force pitchers to pitch to the Mets 1-5. It may not be the Los Angeles Dodgers or Atlanta Braves lineup, but the Mets, especially with their patient approach under hitting coach Eric Chavez‘s guidance, are going to make opposing pitchers work.
Photo by James Farrance
Nimmo’s underlying metrics suggest a player ready to break out. Marte has looked every bit like the 2022 version of himself, despite his sprint speed and his defensive output in right field being questionable at best. Lindor has yet to hit his stride. Alonso is hammering home runs and remains one of the game’s foremost power threats, but we’ve yet to see him with a player behind him who’s hit at least 33 or more home runs in five major league seasons.
That’s where Martinez comes in, as one of the game’s most fierce power threats and arguably the bat the Mets have been missing for an entire decade.
So, what does this mean for the Mets lineup? Well, after Martinez, it’d be hard to envision that it doesn’t go something like Brett Baty–Jeff McNeil–Harrison Bader/Tyrone Taylor–Omar Narváez.
In the absence of Francisco Alvarez, it’s hard to envision that the Mets and Mendoza could put together a better offensive lineup. You could argue about moving Alonso to No. 3 and sandwiching Martinez between him and Lindor. But as the New York Post’s Mike Puma relayed Wednesday, Mendoza indicated that he still plans to hit Martinez behind Alonso in the order. While previously, that meant Martinez was hitting cleanup, that level of thinking has since changed. Either way, the Mets are giving Alonso, who is stuck on 199 carer home runs, a level of protection he’s never had. No offense to Daniel Vogelbach, but Martinez is in a different stratosphere regarding his power, approach, and ability to drive in runs.
The Mets lineup could look like this with Martinez:
- Nimmo
- Marte
- Lindor
- Alonso
- Martinez
- Baty
- McNeil
- Bader/Taylor
- Narváez
Speaking of production, it’s hard to figure out what this means for D.J. Stewart. Yes, he still has an option, but he’s turned it on lately, and he gives the Mets a power bat from the left side of the plate that their bench currently doesn’t have. Joey Wendle isn’t that guy. Stewart can also play a corner outfield position in a pinch. But beyond that, he gives Mendoza a valuable option off the bench, especially considering that the Mets manager hasn’t been afraid to pinch-hit in big spots, and Stewart roped a double on the first pitch he saw the last time he pinch-hit. That’s not to say that it’ll be a frequent occurrence, and Stewart’s playing time will likely decrease significantly, but that likely points to him still being a valuable member of the 26-man roster.
So, it likely means that this will be the end of the road for Zack Short, who somewhat surprisingly made the team out of his spring training. His role is a little bit of a duplicate of Wendle’s, except on the right side of the plate, and he’s yet to stand out defensively or from the plate. Of course, it’s incredibly tough for Short to gain much momentum from not playing every day, and there was a school of thought that perhaps he’d play more vs. lefties, but his .111/.273/.111 slash line in nine at-bats and the emergence of Baty against lefties have made him virtually unplayable in situations where he isn’t a defensive replacement.
So, in all likelihood, Short will be Martinez’s roster move, and the Mets’ roster will significantly improve.
