Mets Player Performance Meter: Position players, April 17-23

The Mets went 4-3 this week, taking two out of three from the Dodgers in LA and then splitting a four-game series with the Giants at Oracle Park. The Mets finish their long West Coast road trip 7-3 and now head back home for some in-division games against the Nationals and Braves at Citi Field. Other than when they were blanked by Clayton Kershaw on Tuesday, which was a situation where you simply have to tip your cap to a future Hall of Famer, the offense performed pretty well this week, scoring at least four runs in each of the other six games and posting a 115 wRC+ as a collective over the seven-game span. Francisco Lindor has cooled off significantly last week, but Jeff McNeil is finally looking like Jeff McNeil again and Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso are continuing to do what they do best—get on base and hit bombs, respectively.

We’ll start with Brandon Nimmo, who is one of two fireball recipients this week. Nimmo has been performing well all month, but he really took it to the next level this week, posting a 212 wRC+ in 33 plate appearances this week. And he did that without walking a single time. That’s right. Brandon Nimmo somehow had no walks this week, but he did lead the team in hits with fourteen, including two home runs. Nimmo’s big day at the plate this week came in Wednesday’s rubber game victory over the Dodgers, in which he went 5-for-5 with a home run, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Nimmo’s .455 on-base percentage is currently second in the league and his .350 batting average is sixth. On top of that, it feels like he makes at least a couple of fantastic catches in center field every week.

After struggling to find a rhythm to start the season, Jeff McNeil is finally doing Jeff McNeil things again. His twelve hits this week are second only to Nimmo for the team lead and his blistering 232 wRC+ in 30 plate appearances this week leads the team. He also leads the team in runs scored with six. McNeil was a key contributor in both victories in the Giants series, reaching base five times on Thursday and hitting a home run and going 2-for-4 with two runs scored on Friday. For this, he is the other fireball recipient alongside Nimmo this week.

Despite a somewhat unremarkable 109 wRC+ over 31 plate appearances this week, Pete Alonso leads the team in RBIs with nine because he continues to hit dingers. He had two of them this week and was the only Met along with Nimmo to go deep multiple times this week. Alonso racked up four RBIs in Thursday’s game alone—two of them coming on a two-run homer in the fourth that put the Mets on the board. Alonso currently leads the league in total bases and his ten home runs on the season are second only to Max Muncy’s eleven.

Speaking of home runs, Francisco Álvarez had a huge one yesterday that finally pulled him out of the doldrums in a big way. In the sixth inning of yesterday’s game, he showed his legendary power by taking a pitch that was practically at his eyeballs and sending it out of the ballpark for a game-tying home run. Unfortunately the Mets went on to lose the game, but it was still a big moment for Álvarez, who had been struggling mightily with the bat. The home run was one of three hits in twelve plate appearances this week for Álvarez—good for a 104 wRC+. It’s still nothing to write home about, but it’s certainly an improvement over last week.

And it’s certainly an improvement over Tomás Nido, who gets a third straight poop emoji this week for his -15 wRC+ in 13 plate appearances. He had two hits this week—both singles—and scored a run, which was the extent of his offensive output. It seems that Buck Showalter is continuing to turn to Nido to catch Kodai Senga and his unwieldy ghost fork, but as long as Nido is hitting this poorly, Álvarez will continue to get opportunities catching the Mets’ younger pitchers and Max Scherzer, who has expressed a desire to work with Álvarez.

Tommy Pham fell off precipitously since his fireball-worthy performance last week, going hitless in eleven plate appearances this week. He did walk twice and drive in a run, but it’s not enough to save him from being the other poop emoji recipient this week.

Francisco Lindor has also cooled off significantly since last week, posting a 53 wRC+ in 32 plate appearances this week. However, he is still scoring runs; his five runs scored this week are second only to McNeil for the team lead and are equal to Brandon Nimmo and Mark Canha in that department. He has just five hits this week, but three of them were for extra bases. He also walked once and drove in two runs.

Starling Marte struggled this week as well, missing some time due to lingering stiffness/pain in his neck from when he hit his head against Jean Segura’s knee in the Marlins series. In 20 plate appearances, he posted a symmetrical but not good .200/.200/.200 batting line with a 12 wRC+. He had four hits—all singles—and did not walk in any of the five games he appeared in. He scored two runs and drove in a run this week.

But where Lindor and Marte have fallen off, others have picked up. We already discussed McNeil, but Daniel Vogelbach has finally seen some regular playing time and has looked much better at the plate as a result. He is still walking; his three walks this week are tied for the team lead. But he is also finally attacking the ball more, collecting six hits this week in 20 plate appearances—good for a 188 wRC+. His biggest hit this week was his first home run of the season—a two-run shot that put the Mets ahead in Monday’s back-and-forth affair. Vogelbach collected three RBIs in total on Monday and five for the week, which is second to Alonso for the team lead.

Mark Canha’s stock has gone up this week as well. He shares the team lead in walks with Vogelbach with three. His biggest hit this week was an RBI double in Wednesday’s game that gave the Mets two key insurance runs in that rubber game victory. Overall, he amassed eight hits, three RBIs, and five runs scored in 27 plate appearances, putting up a very strong 137 wRC+ for the week.

Luis Guillorme has also continued to reach base at an impressive clip, spending his second straight week in the green on this week’s meter. With Starling Marte sidelined for part of the week, Guillorme got some playing time at second base with Jeff McNeil shifting to the outfield. He made the most of it, turning some spectacular double plays with Francisco Lindor and producing with the bat as well, posting a 128 wRC+ in 15 plate appearances. Guillorme collected four hits and two walks, scored three runs, and drove in a run.

Eduardo Escobar, meanwhile, has seen his playing time diminish significantly with Brett Baty’s promotion to the big leagues. But, he did have a big moment in Thursday’s series opener against the Giants, following Pete Alonso’s home run in the fourth inning with one of his own that put the Mets up 4-0. It was one of two hits for Escobar in seven plate appearances this week.

It was a mixed bag for Brett Baty in his first week up with the Mets. He has gotten the lion’s share of the playing time at third base, but has mostly been shielded from lefties thus far. He collected five hits—all singles—and walked once in 22 plate appearances, good for a 49 wRC+. Baty’s key contribution this week was a go-ahead RBI single in the fourth inning of Monday’s victory. In total, he drove in two runs and scored one. So far, it is not the production the Mets are hoping for from him and he has yet to show the power that he displayed in Triple-A, but his season is young.