While the beginning of the season cannot be classified as anything but a success for the Mets, the bottom of the lineup has been a frustrating experience thus far.
At the time of this writing, the Mets are an 8-4 ball club, one that came into the day in first place in the National League East. Their pitching has been (largely) out of this world, with a team wide 2.02 ERA that leads the league. It is a far cry from the 0-5 start that 2024 brought, and it is hard to be too negative about the team writ large right now.
Despite the overall good vibes surrounding the Mets, there is a pretty large red flag that fans have been subjected too — the offense, namely the bottom part of the lineup.
The Mets, as a team, are hitting .221/.305/.371, which is far too low on every account. Their wRC+ is 95, 16th in baseball. And when you break it down even further, it is buoyed by just a few players.
Pete Alonso has turned back the clock to 2019-2022 so far this season, erasing a lot of the chase issues he showed in his 2023 and 2024 seasons that had the Mets and other teams around the league wary of giving him a long term deal this past off season. He is hitting .333/.451/.667 (208 wRC+), which is simply incredible stuff from Alonso.
Juan Soto has been said to have had a slow start, and I kind of understand where the idea is coming from — he has not really driven many balls yet, as he has just five extra base hits so far. He is also hitting .279/.404/.442 (142 wRC+) and has reached base in every game. He has been good and he will be even better as we get into the season (especially since no New York Met has looked less excited about the cold weather they have been playing in since Yoenis Cespedes).
The third player who has been really carrying things thus far is Francisco Lindor, though his season stat line of .244/.292/.366 (85 wRC+) does not tell that story. He speedran his early season struggles that often haunted him in both his stops in New York and Cleveland, going 0-13 to begin the year and hitting a blistering .346/.387/.538 (154 wRC+) since April Fool’s Day, so his season line will likely catch up soon. Who knows, maybe he might be an All-Star this year?
After that, it has been a mixed bag for the Mets offense. Brandon Nimmo and Mark Vientos have been bad and awful, respectively, with Nimmo hitting .200/.245/.378 (75 wRC+), and Vientos hitting .119/.245/.167 (32 wRC+). While I think it is a little too early to be declaring them problems for the reason of the season, they are slumping right now.
Those five are the healthy regulars in the lineup, and there is some good and some bad. The rest of the lineup has been mixed and matched throughout the season, and frankly have mostly been underwhelming.
Second base has been a platoon between Luisangel Acuña and Brett Baty, and neither one have hit. Acuña is hitting .158/.238/.211 (36 wRC+), and Baty has been even worse, hitting .111/.111/.148 (-29 wRC+ – yes negative). It is really untenable offense from the spot, though they really do not have a better option in Syracuse, so it is likely this until Jeff McNeil returns.
Center field has also been a platoon between Tyrone Taylor and Jose Siri, and it has yielded similar results. Taylor is hitting .154/.154/.154 (-13 wRC+ – yes, negative!!), and Jose Siri is hitting .059/.200/.118 (7 wRC+). Second base has gotten a lot of attention, largely due to Baty being a former top prospect who is trying to get his career back on track, and Acuña being a big part of the 2023 firesale haul, but center field has arguably been even worse from an offensive standpoint.
Catcher and designated hitter have been much kinder to the Mets, and that is in large part to Luis Torrens and Starling Marte. Luis Torrens has been a key part of the 8-4 start, hitting .300/.333/.550 (148 wRC+), making the loss of Francisco Alvarez a little easier to swallow. Unfortunately for him, a contusion on his arm has stopped him in his tracks and he has missed the last few games. Hayden Senger has been a downgrade, hitting .222/.263/.278 (58 wRC+), but he showed an ability to be a strong defender and that makes him a quality third catcher.
Starling Marte has not played much, only appearing in eight games, but he is hitting .235/.391/.412 (137 wRC+). Jesse Winker has also been solid, hitting .208/.296/.417 (101 wRC+), clearly with an idea to sell out for more power.
So, where do the Mets go from here?
For starters, a lot of this will feel a lot better when (or if, depending on your affinity for Panic City) Nimmo and Vientos start to hit like the Mets think they are capable. If those two were even around league average they may have a few more wins under their belt, let alone if Vientos is hitting around his 2024, and Nimmo is more in-line with is career numbers. After that, though, it gets a little dicey.
While the Mets have a ton of pitching depth, the depth on the offensive side is a little lighter. Second base will almost certainly go right back into Jeff McNeil’s hands when he is back from the injured list, he has not been a picture of health in his career, and has been roughly league average offensively the last two seasons (though, truthfully, that may look Barry Bonds-ian compared to what we have seen so far). They also have Ronny Mauricio, assuming he gets back on the field, and their best offensive prospect in Jett Williams later on in the season to give chances to if things really go sideways.
Center field is a bit scarier organizationally. but also more likely to be solved by the guys on the roster right now. While Taylor has been abysmal so far, he is a career 98 wRC+ hitter — he will probably figure it out. Siri is more volatile, with a 106 wRC+ season in 2023 sandwiched between two 75 wRC+ seasons in 2022 and 2024, but that is a lot better than his 7 wRC+ right now — and also something he likely gets to with time. If they do not, though? The answers are much less exciting.
Carson Benge is a very exciting prospect, and a natural outfielder to boot, but he has played a grand total of 18 minor league games in his very young career. Position players are flying through the majors now so it is possible that late in the season he can contribute to the Mets, he is still only High-A Brooklyn right now — he really has to dominate to get consideration in 2025. After that, the outfield organizational depth is the likes of Billy McKinney and José Azócar, which are players you like to have in your Triple-A lineup, but do not want to rely on in the big leagues.
Catcher is absolutely going to be handed back to Francisco Alvarez, who is actively playing his is first recap game as I write this, and it should. But Torrens is a good backup option and Senger is a quality third catcher due to his strong defense.
Designated hitter is hardly worth mentioning here but alas, here we are. It will be a Winker-Marte platoon unless one of them gets hurt or falls completely off the face of the Earth, which to be very clear is possible. If that happens, though, I would wager a trade for the 2025 version of Jesse Winker rather than anyone already here.
So, a lot boils down to one word: patience. The Mets are 8-4 and are being carried by the pitching staff and a big three of Lindor, Soto, and Alonso. The rest is about patience. Nimmo and Vientos are too good to be bad for this much longer, and Vientos looked a lot better against Miami than he has before that series. The bottom of the lineup has been frustrating, but at second base there are returning players to look forward to, and prospects yet to debut. At center field, you have two players who are better than they have shown. Behind the dish, Alvarez is coming back sooner rather than later. Designated hitter on this team is never going to be the incredible hitters you think of when the term pops into your mind, but a Winker-Marte duo can be fine. And if things go sideways at any front, there’s always the trade deadline.
The offense needs to be better if the Mets want to go anywhere, but after 12 games the stars are acting like stars, and the rest have time to hold up their end of the bargain.