Mets Player Performance Meter: Position players, September 25-October 1

The weather wreaked havoc with the final week of the Mets’ season, which was played against two division rivals currently playing in the postseason. They played two doubleheaders, splitting one with the Marlins on Wednesday and sweeping one from the Phillies on Saturday. The Mets also—well, I’m not quite sure how to describe the outcome of Thursday’s suspended game—and lost to the Phillies in the final game of the 2023 season. Other than the Mets’ big boppers, much of this meter is red, which feels like a fitting good riddance to this season of Mets baseball.

We’ll start with the biggest silver lining in this final week by far, which is that Francisco Lindor achieved a 30-30 season, becoming the first Met to do so since David Wright. Lindor was by far the Mets’ most productive hitter in this final week, leading the team in wRC+ (300), batting average (.389), hits (7), home runs (4), RBIs (8), walks (4), and runs scored (7) among players with ten plate appearances or more. He accrued 0.7 fWAR in this final week alone. It’s unfortunate that so much else went wrong for the Mets in 2023 because Francisco Lindor had himself a fantastic season.

Another piece of good news is that Pete Alonso and Francisco Alvarez were able to end their seasons on a high note after being poop emoji recipients in the penultimate week of the season. Alonso may not have reached the 50 home run mark, but 46 long balls and 118 RBIs with a 122 OPS+ is certainly nothing to sneeze at. Alonso’s week started off strong, as he went 4-for-4 in Game 1 of Wednesday’s doubleheader, helping to lead the Mets to a lopsided victory. Unfortunately, he had just one hit the rest of the week, but it was still good for a 107 wRC+ overall. Alvarez’s week was punctuated by his two homer game in the nightcap of Saturday’s doubleheader, the second of which was a grand slam. His six RBIs this week were second to Lindor for the team lead and he posted a 148 wRC+ in 14 plate appearances.

Omar Narváez had a very good final week of the season as well, collecting three hits in six plate appearances, including a home run. Tim Locastro amassed three hits that included a home run as well, scoring two runs and driving in two runs. Unfortunately Locastro was playing a lot more in this final week because both Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil had their seasons cut short due to injury; Nimmo has a sprained shoulder and McNeil has a partially torn UCL. It’s unlikely either of these injuries will impact their 2024 campaigns, but it’s unfortunate for the pair of extended Mets who have stayed remarkably healthy this season otherwise.

Danny Mendick and Michael Pérez were called up to replace the injured Nimmo and McNeil. Each appeared in only one game and neither reached base. Luis Guillorme also failed to reach base in his three plate appearances in the final week of the season.

Those injuries also allowed DJ Stewart a lot more playing time in the final week of the season, but unfortunately the Mets summertime cult hero went hitless over 18 plate appearances in the final week of the season, reaching base once via a walk and once via a hit by pitch. Stewart has resurrected his career in New York and I’m sure a poop emoji performance is not how he wanted his season to end. Similarly, Rafael Ortega posted an ugly 32 wRC+ over 19 plate appearances in the final week of the season. He collected three hits—all singles—walked twice, scored two runs, and drove in a run.

Unfortunately, outside of Francisco Alvarez, it was not a good final week of the season for our Baby Mets. Of the trio of Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio, and Mark Vientos, Mauricio was the only one above the Mendoza line in the season’s final week, but only just. Mauricio matched Alonso’s five hits for the week, but only one of them went for extra bases—good for a 49 wRC+. He scored four runs and walked twice, but did not drive in any runs this week. He also struck out nine times, which leads the team. Baty posted a ghastly 8 wRC+ over 22 plate appearances, collecting only four hits this week with one extra-base hit. He drove in two runs and scored three runs. It was Baty’s single that got the Mets on the board early against Taijuan Walker in Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader. Vientos, who had been on a power surge during the month of September, did hit one home run this week (in Wednesday’s Game 1 victory), but unfortunately it was one of just two hits he had all week.

Daniel Vogelbach did not appear in any of the season’s final six games.