Mets Player Performance Meter: Position players, September 2-8

This week, the Mets took two of three from the Nationals, but then lost two of three to the Phillies at home. An even .500 for the week is something that certainly feels like a letdown and is not good enough for a team desperately trying to cling to Wild Card contention, especially when one of the losses was an absolute backbreaker. However, more on the pitching later. Other than being shut out on Saturday, the Mets were not starving for offense this week. In fact, the team’s 134 wRC+ for the week ranks first in the National League and second in baseball. With roster expansion and several players coming back from injury, this week also saw many new names added to the meter.

The meter is pretty feast or famine this week, with many players either raging hot or ice cold with not much in between. Luckily, there are more players in the former category than the latter. One of those players is Robinson Cano, who has been on fire since coming back from the injured list this week. He played in four games and had 14 plate appearances, but posted a 257 wRC+ over that span, including two home runs, four RBIs, and three runs scored. He had been looking a lot better with the bat before his torn hamstring and picking up right where he left off with a strong September would be an important demonstration to the Mets that he can be helpful moving forward to next year and beyond.

After a slow start returning from the injured list, Jeff McNeil looks like Jeff McNeil again this week. His nine hits and eight RBIs both lead the team for the week. He’s sporting a .360/.467/.600 slash line with a 183 wRC+ over 30 plate appearances. He had two extra base hits this week, both of which were home runs. He also walked four times—a high clip for an extreme contact hitter like McNeil—and scored five runs, which is tied for the team lead.

Pete Alonso is another Met who scored five runs this week. He also is the only Met besides McNeil to collect nine hits this week. He put up a 146 wRC+ over 30 plate appearances this week. He hit two home runs, drove in five runs, and walked once. That one walk, of course, won the Mets a game on Friday night. He is tied with Mike Trout for the major league lead with 45 home runs on the season.

Brandon Nimmo is another player that has looked fantastic since returning from the injured list. In vintage Nimmo fashion, he leads the team in walks with eight, which is double the total of any other player on the team. As a result, he holds a team-leading .524 on-base percentage this week. He also collected three hits—including a home run—scored three runs, drove in four runs, and stole a base this week.

Tomas Nido is yet another player who was activated from the injured list this week after suffering a concussion. He went hitless in four plate appearances this week. He will now be sharing backup catching duties with Rene Rivera, who collected two hits and a walk in his four plate appearances this week. Rivera scored a run and drove in a run.

It’s hard to see how either them will get too much playing time though because Wilson Ramos continues to rake. His hitting streak may have ended, but he has not cooled off at the plate. He posted a 148 wRC+ this week over 19 plate appearances. He had five hits, including a home run in yesterday’s game in which he went back-to-back with Cano. He also walked twice, scored three runs, and drove in five runs.

J.D. Davis is staying hot with the bat as well, making it hard for Mickey Callaway to leave him out of the lineup, even with other guys getting healthy. He posted a 193 wRC+ over 18 plate appearances this week. His eight hits are second to Alonso and McNeil for the team lead. He scored three runs and drove in two runs this week.

Joe Panik’s good week at the plate puts the Mets in a very fortunate position of having a lot of options to mix and match with their lineup and give guys like Cano a lot of rest if needed. Panik put up a 180 wRC+ this week in 13 plate appearances. He had five hits, including his first home run as a Met. He also had four RBIs.

Panik’s pseudo platoon mate, Todd Frazier, did not have a good week, however. He had just one hit—a single—in 12 plate appearances this week. He did, however, walk three times and score two runs. All of that is good for a 51 wRC+. With the Mets in a position where players like Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo have to play every day as they try to keep playoff hopes alive, Frazier is a player whose playing time may suffer.

Other regulars that struggled this week were Michael Conforto and Amed Rosario. Conforto put up an ugly .185/.241/.333 slash line with a 52 wRC+ in 29 plate appearances this week. He collected five hits—including a home run—and walked twice. He does, however, share the team lead in runs scored with McNeil and Alonso this week.

Rosario posted a 64 wRC+ this week. He had seven hits for the week, all of them singles. He scored two runs and drove in just one. He did, however, steal a base this week. It was his 16th stolen base of the season.

Withe huge bench the Mets are enjoying, guys like Juan Lagares and Luis Guillorme are often the odd men out, but do contribute as defensive replacements. And both were able to contribute with the bat as well this week. Lagares collected three hits—including, amazingly, a home run—and a walk in eight plate appearances this week, scoring three runs. Guillorme had one hit—a double—and two walks in six plate appearances this week.

Rajai Davis, along with rookie Sam Haggerty, are mostly delegated to pinch running duty at this point. Haggerty did his job in his pinch running appearance, scoring a run that put the Mets ahead 3-2 in Friday night’s rollercoaster game. Davis appeared twice as a pinch runner this week and was retired in his only plate appearance.

With all the Mets returning from the injured list of late, none is more surprising than Jed Lowrie. He’s had just two plate appearances so far and has struck out in both of them, still likely shaking off the rust of not having faced major league pitching all season. Still, when most had given up any hope of seeing him play in the majors at all this season, he is indeed sporting the orange and blue in the big league dugout.