Mets Player Performance Meter: Position Players, August 14-20

With the Mets having completed a bunch of waiver trades over the past couple of weeks, the player meter is going to look quite a bit different the rest of the way this season than it had all year—especially on the position player side. This season is now about the performances of the team’s youngsters and what types of players they might look like heading into the 2018 season.

Perhaps still a candidate to be traded, Asdrubal Cabrera has an option for next year that might have the Mets interested in keeping him around for the rest of this one. Despite hitting .261 this week, he had just a .308 OBP and .304 SLG, all of which was good for a not-great 65 wRC+.

Gavin Cecchini had a decent week at the plate, coming in just a bit below league average, albeit in only five plate appearances.

There seem to be an inordinate amount of criticism of Yoenis Cespedes lately—which might not be surprising given the players left on the major league roster and the tendencies of fans—but the guy hit .273/.370/.591 with a pair of home runs and a 145 wRC+ this week. And with 16 home runs in 305 plate appearances this year, he’s hitting home runs at roughly the same clip as he always has as a Met.

Michael Conforto had one of his worst weeks at the plate this year, by far, with a 16 wRC+. He should be fine.

Travis d'Arnaud, however, is not a stranger to down weeks at the plate this year and had another one: .222/.250/.278.

He’s been pretty good this year with the bat, but Wilmer Flores struggled this week, too. He hit .133/.300/.333.

Curtis Granderson was dealt to the Dodgers on Friday night, but before that, he had another great week at the plate—because of course he did—with a .182/.308/.727 line, two home runs, and a 157 wrC+. That week perfectly illustrates why batting average isn’t king when analyzing players.

He played a decent amount, but Juan Lagares had a 36 wRC+.

Brandon Nimmo got eleven plate appearances, and he hit .400/.455/.500 with a 159 wRC+. He figures to get plenty of playing time down the stretch as the Mets figure out what’s in store for 2018.

Kevin Plawecki is back! And he hit a home run in the only game he played since rejoining the team. He’s back because the Mets let Rene Rivera go to the Cubs on waivers. His final week at the plate for the Mets wasn’t a great one.

Jose Reyes got one plate appearance before hitting the DL but singled.

Amed Rosario had a 53 wRC+ for the week, and Dominic Smith had a 39 wRC+ despite the fact that Rosario hit one home run and Smith hit two. Right now, you just have to keep reminding yourself that these dudes are very young and still adjusting to baseball’s highest level.