Mets Player Performance Meter: Position players, May 1-7

Needless to say, it was a rough week for the New York Mets. After splitting a doubleheader against the Braves on Monday, the Mets were swept by the Tigers in Detroit and then dropped two out of three to the Rockies at home. The Mets should have been taking advantage of this soft stretch of the schedule, but are instead doing the opposite. Though most of the blame for the Mets’ poor play is squarely on the shoulders of the pitching staff, the Mets’ offense has been inconsistent. This meter paints a picture that isn’t too terrible, but the presence of three poop emojis and no fireballs is pretty stark. Despite a brief downturn last week, Brandon Nimmo remains the Mets’ most consistent offensive performer and Brett Baty and Francisco Álvarez heating up has been a small silver lining of late.

We’ll start with the aforementioned Mets’ leadoff hitter. Brandon Nimmo is back in the green this week with a solid 117 wRC+ in 35 plate appearances. He leads the team in hits with eight. Half of those went for extra bases, including a triple in Monday’s narrow defeat in Game 1 of that twin bill and a home run that represented the only run on either side in Friday’s victory. Nimmo also walked twice and scored four runs. He remains the Mets’ leader among qualified hitters in batting average (.310), on-base percentage (.407), wRC+ (146), and fWAR (1.7).

A big problem, however, has been Starling Marte hitting behind Nimmo. The Nimmo-Marte 1-2 punch ahead of the Mets’ big boppers in Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso was a recipe for success last year, but Marte has struggled in the early going this season. Those struggles were particularly acute this week, when he posted an 11 wRC+ in 25 plate appearances. Marte had four hits this week—all singles—walked once, drove in one run, scored one run, and stole a base. Marte got a much-needed day off yesterday and Buck Showalter has even spoken of dropping him down in the batting order while he tries to right the ship.

Marte is part of a trio of poop emojis this week, though his is obviously the most significant one. The others belong to Tomás Nido and Luis Guillorme, whose struggles with the bat don’t have as much of an impact as Marte’s, but demonstrate the lack of punch on the Mets’ bench right now. Nido’s 2023 season has pretty much been one big poop emoji so far and that continued this week, as he collected just one hit in nine plate appearances. He also scored a run. Nido has pretty much been relegated to being Kodai Senga’s personal catcher at this point, though he did play in three games this week, in part due to the multiple doubleheaders. Guillorme had two hits—both singles—in ten plate appearances this week with one RBI in yesterday’s game when he got a start at second base.

Luckily in supplanting Nido as the everyday catcher, Francisco Álvarez has begun to hit, earning an up arrow for the second straight week. In 16 plate appearances this week, Álvarez collected four hits—two of them extra base hits—and walked twice, good for a 129 wRC+. One of those extra base hits hit the wall and didn’t miss being a home run by much. Álvarez scored two runs and drove in two runs this week. Both of those RBIs came in one of the Mets’ only victories this week—Game 2 of Monday’s doubleheader.

Álvarez and Brett Baty looking good at the plate represents one of the only silver linings for the Mets right now. Though Baty’s 97 wRC+ for the week isn’t exactly awe-inspiring, his six hits are still third on the team. One of those hits was a big one for Baty: a 430-foot home run in Game 1 of Monday’s doubleheader that was his first home run against a lefty in the majors and brought the Mets within 6-5 at the time. Overall, he scored three runs and drove in three runs this week. Baty’s big league career is still in its infancy, but he has already demonstrated that he has the ability to be an everyday regular in the majors.

Like Baty, Francisco Lindor also collected six hits this week and put up a solid, but unremarkable 102 wRC+ for the week in 33 plate appearances. But Lindor does share the team lead with two other players in RBIs with four. He also notched a quartet of runs scored and walks—tied for the team lead in both those categories as well. He also led the team in stolen bases this week with two.

Pete Alonso shares the team lead with Lindor in both RBIs and walks, despite a measly .148 batting average for the week over 32 plate appearances. His biggest hit this week was a three-run homer in Game 1 of Monday’s doubleheader that brought the Mets within striking distance in that contest. Alonso also scored three runs this week, putting up a 71 wRC+. This represents an improvement over last week, but the Mets are still going to need more out of their biggest bat.

After putting up a big old stinkburger last week, Tommy Pham saw quite a bit of playing time this week and had a much better week with the bat. Pham posted a 179 wRC+ in 16 plate appearances and was pretty much the Mets’ only productive bench bat this week. He collected four hits—two of them for extra bases—and walked twice. Pham had a three-hit game in the narrow loss in Game 1 of Wednesday’s doubleheader in Detroit, one of those hits being a solo homer that represented his only run scored and RBI for the week.

By contrast, Mark Canha has still yet to really get it going. This week was definitely an improvement over last week’s poop emoji performance, though. Canha put up an 88 wRC+ in 25 plate appearances this week, collecting five hits, two walks, and three runs scored. Like Pham, his only RBI this week came in the form of a solo homer in Game 1 of Wednesday’s doubleheader, in which he served as the DH.

The Mets’ regular DH, Daniel Vogelbach, has had his second strong week in a row, despite a baserunning blunder in yesterday’s game. In 23 plate appearances this week, Vogelbach collected five hits and three walks—good for a 136 wRC+. The power that Vogelbach had been lacking also arrived this week; three of his five hits went for extra bases, including a home run in yesterday’s game. He shares the team lead with Alonso and Lindor in RBIs with four and scored two runs in total.

Jeff McNeil had a big day with the bat in yesterday’s loss, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored, raising his wRC+ for the week to a respectable 94 in 29 plate appearances. McNeil was also an important contributor in Monday’s victory in Game 2 of that doubleheader, collecting two hits, including a home run, and scoring two runs. Overall, McNeil’s seven hits this week are second only to Nimmo for the team lead. He scored three runs and drove in three runs in total this week. McNeil’s flexibility in the field continues to be essential for the Mets’ ability to giving the struggling Marte and Canha regular rest.

Eduardo Escobar notched just seven plate appearances this week, but he hit a home run in one of them. In the bottom of the ninth of Game 1 of Monday’s doubleheader, Escobar’s solo shot brought the Mets within a run, though they ultimately fell short. Escobar also walked once this week.