Mets Player Performance Meter: Position Players, July 9-15

Despite the fact that the Mets have been a much better team in July than they were in June, they have still struggled to score enough runs to win ballgames. And that was on full display this week, outside of Saturday’s convincing win. With Todd Frazier on the disabled list and the team’s refusal to call up Jeff McNeil, they are now carrying an extra roster spot of dead weight, and this week’s meters reflect that.

Ty Kelly, Matt den Dekker, and Kevin Kaczmarski are a combined 1-for-25 this season. Ty Kelly has the only hit of the bunch, which came in Saturday’s game. Matt den Dekker reached base just once this week on a walk.

Dominic Smith has struggled since being called up from Triple-A as well and now seems to be banished to the bench, with rumors swirling that he may be demoted soon. His performance would certainly warrant it—he has a -34 wRC+ for the week with just one hit in 14 plate appearances—but for a young prospect trying to prove himself, it’s hard to argue that he’s gotten a fair shake.

The other player that has had an awful week at the plate is Devin Mesoraco, who is coming off of a hot week and has cooled off quickly. He holds a -26 wRC+ for the week with just three hits and one RBI in 21 plate appearances. That RBI was a part of the crooked number the Mets put up in the first inning of Friday’s game against Tanner Roark.

Unfortunately there were a lot of poop emojis to go around this week, but let’s focus on the good news: Amed Rosario had a great week this week. His nine hits and 0.4 fWAR for the week are both tied for the team lead. Of Rosario’s nine hits, six were for extra bases, including three triples. He also stole two bases. He put up a 182 wRC+ for the week. Rosario has apparently been tinkering with his swing lately and the early returns look very good. Hopefully this is the start of a stretch of success for the young shortstop.

Asdrubal Cabrera has the team lead in wRC+ this week with a blistering 186. He also put up 0.4 fWAR this week. He had six hits, including two home runs, five walks, five runs scored, and three RBIs. He seemed to hurt his finger in yesterday’s game after attempting to catch a wayward throw with his bare hand, but stayed in the game. He remains the Mets’ most tradable bat going into the deadline.

Wilmer Flores also had another good week at the plate, matching Rosario’s hit total with nine hits of his own, including a walk-off home run in the day game of Monday’s double-header. He posted a 132 wRC+ for the week with three runs scored and three RBIs. He also didn’t strike out a single time this week.

Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto share the team lead in RBIs with four apiece, but neither put up terribly impressive numbers at the plate otherwise this week. Conforto remained mired in his slump, but showed the first sign of breaking out, belting a three-run homer in Saturday’s win. That represents one of just three hits over his 29 plate appearances this week. However, he does lead the team in walks this week with six. He holds an 89 wRC+ for the week.

Nimmo’s big highlight of the week was of course his walk-off three-run homer against the Phillies in Wednesday’s game. But overall, he posted just a 55 wRC+ for the week with five hits, two walks, and four runs scored. His walk-off homer represented three of his four RBIs for the week.

Jose Bautista, who had been one of the Mets’ hottest hitters, also had a down week, posting a 79 wRC+. He had six hits, including a home run, three walks, three runs scored, and three RBIs.

Jose Reyes has gotten the bulk of the plate appearances with Frazier on the DL and he hasn’t done much with them. He has a 59 wRC+ over 27 plate appearances this week, with five hits, just one of those for extra bases. He also walked three times, scored three runs, and drove in two.

Kevin Plawecki has seen limited playing time this week, with just eleven plate appearances, but he had four hits over that span, posting a 174 wRC+. One of those four hits was a solo home run off Max Scherzer that brought the Mets within two on Thursday.