Mets Player Meter: Position players, April 6-19
· Yahoo Sports
Listen, there is no good introduction to this other than to just give you a trigger warning because if you read on, you will see the worst meter you have ever laid your eyes upon. And once you lay your eyes upon it, you will not be able to unsee it. I can’t.
I don’t need to rehash for you why the meter looks like this. The Mets have lost 11 straight games. They only have one win in the time period encompassed by this meter. They are last in baseball in runs scored. The only two guys in the lineup with a pulse at the moment are Francisco Alvarez and a guy they just brought up six days ago.
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So to serve as your buffer and make it so that you have to scroll down a bit to actually see the meter for the sake of your own mental health, I will include this image to serve as the introduction to the meter instead of more developed thoughts.
Okay here’s the actual meter (you were warned).
PlayerLast weekThis weekFrancisco Alvarez, CBrett Baty, UTILCarson Benge, OFBo Bichette, 3BFrancisco Lindor, SSRonny Mauricio, INF—MJ Melendez, OF—Tommy Pham, OF—Jorge Polanco, 1B/DHLuis Robert Jr., OFMarcus Semien, 2BTyrone Taylor, OFLuis Torrens, CMark Vientos, 1B/3BJared Young, 1B/OFBefore we get into the really ugly, horrible weeds of this, we’ll start out with some logistics. Jared Young, who had actually been doing pretty well with the bat, hit the injured list before the Dodgers series with a torn meniscus, which will unfortunately sideline him for quite some time. After much hemming and hawing, Jorge Polanco was placed on the injured list as well retroactive to April 15 with a right wrist contusion; in theory he will miss less time.
The Mets called up Hayden Senger to take Polanco’s roster spot, but Senger has yet to appear in a game so he does not appear on this meter. Presumably the decision to roster a third catcher—other than the fact that the Mets have very few options right now—is rooted in their desire to be able to DH Francisco Alvarez sometimes, since he is the only regular actually hitting. Alvarez has posted a 120 wRC+ over 39 plate appearances in the past couple of weeks. He leads the team in walks with six. Only one of his eight hits went for extra bases, but that hit was a home run. The Mets have not yet opted to DH Alvarez since Senger was called up and that might partially be because Luis Torrens has just two hits in his last 11 plate appearances.
When Young was placed on the injured list, the Mets recalled outfielder MJ Melendez from Triple-A. Other than Alvarez, Melendez is the only other Mets hitter to receive a positive grade this week. As you may recall, he was a candidate for King of Spring Training this year and he has carried that momentum into the regular season, maybe in part because he does not yet have the stink of the team’s bad vibes on him. He has collected five hits and two walks in 16 plate appearances, including a home run in Sunday’s game which represented the Mets’ only run in their most recent loss.
It’s hard to imagine Melendez losing his spot on the roster when any of the injured Mets return—starting with Juan Soto tomorrow. Senger will likely be the first to be sent down, but it’s hard to imagine Tommy Pham, who was called up on April 13, is long for this roster, even as haggard as it is. Pham is hitless in eight plate appearances so far and struck out in half of them, looking very much like a guy who doesn’t belong in the big leagues right now. Pham replaced Ronny Mauricio on the roster when he was called up. Mauricio was briefly recalled when Juan Soto first hit the injured list, had his one heroic walk-off moment in four plate appearances, and then was sent back down.
Speaking of guys that don’t look like they belong in the big leagues right now, that unfortunately applies to Carson Benge as well. Benge has put up a 38 wRC+ in 36 plate appearances over these last 12 games and looks overmatched. He has six hits over that span—one double and five singles. He has scored two runs and walked three times, but did not drive in any runs and struck out seven times. But to be fair to Benge, he is far from alone in his struggles.
Brett Baty and Mark Vientos join Benge, Pham, and Torrens in the poop emoji brigade and those two are arguably the poopiest of all. Ever since we all wondered if we were perhaps witnessing the resurrection of Mark Vientos, he has put up an almost incomprehensible -50 wRC+ in 34 plate appearances. He hit one very cool moonshot in Chicago that looked like he may be showing signs of life, but that’s one of just two hits he’s had since our last meter and that is not enough to save him from the poop. Baty’s wRC+ in the past two weeks is also a negative number (-2). Baty has five hits—four of them singles—and three RBIs in 35 plate appearances. He has walked just once and struck out a whopping eleven times, which leads the team. Both Baty and Vientos have also had challenges defensively.
Bo Bichette matches Baty’s 11 strikeouts to lead the team, which says something about how things are going for him. Unlike Baty and Vientos, his defense at third base has been much better lately and he’s actually made a few really spectacular plays in the past couple of weeks, but unfortunately his poor hitting is more memorable as part of the Mets’ collective ineptitude at the plate. Bichette’s 73 wRC+ is sadly actually one of the better marks in the regular starting lineup, which demonstrates how bleak things have really been. His 11 hits are second on the team and he’s one of just two Mets with double-digit hits in the past two weeks, which again says more about the lineup that it does about Bichette.
Francisco Lindor is the team leader in hits with 13. Normally being the team leader in hits for a given meter would be close to an automatic positive grade, but even with leading the team in hits, Lindor holds a mediocre 70 wRC+ over the past 12 games (50 plate appearances). Ten of those 13 hits were singles, which is not ideal. Lindor leads the team in runs scored with five (lol) and has recently been dropped to third in the lineup in an attempt to bolster run production, but he has just one RBI over the past 12 games—the result of a solo homer.
Luis Robert Jr. is with Bichette and Lindor in the “mediocre, but not absolutely terrible” category with a 73 wRC+ in 44 plate appearances. Early on, when the Mets were still winning once in awhile, Robert was one of their hottest hitters, but he has cooled off significantly. He has eight hits in the past 12 games—5 singles, two doubles, and a home run. He is still also taking the occasional walk; he has walked four times in those 44 plate appearances. But he also has struck out 11 times to match Bichette and Baty for the team lead.
Marcus Semien is another player whose arrow turns upside down from green to red. After his very slow start, Semien perked up a bit right in time to get a positive grade for his very first meter, but he has not been very productive since. He posted an ugly 41 wRC+ in 45 plate appearances since our last meter. Of his nine hits, just one went for extra bases. He scored a run, drove in two, and walked twice. He also stole a base—something the Mets aren’t doing much because they aren’t getting on base all that much. Lindor, Benge, and Baty each also have one steal since our last meter and no one on the team has more than one.
Juan Soto’s absence has meant more playing time for Tyrone Taylor and he has been…okay. He has four hits—three singles and a double—and a walk in 17 plate appearances, good for an 87 wRC+. He’s scored a run and driven in two runs while playing his usual solid outfield defense.