Mets Player Performance Meter: Position players, June 19-25

Though there are players who are slumping, the Mets as a collective posted a 105 wRC+ this week and scored enough runs to win two out of three in each of last week’s series. However, as we all know, the pitching was not up to task so instead the Mets lost two out of three to the Astros and then the Phillies, culminating with yesterday’s loss, which Gary Cohen dubbed the most horrific of the season. I can’t say I disagree, but more on that in the pitching meter. Francisco Lindor is the standout performer in this week’s meter, with Pete Alonso finding his stride again post-injury, and Tommy Pham and Daniel Vogelbach staying in the green for the second straight week. Meanwhile, Jeff McNeil continues to struggle mightily and Francisco Alvarez remains mired in a slump.

We’ll start with Francisco Lindor, who earns the sole fireball in this week’s meter with his team-leading 206 wRC+ across 27 plate appearances. He also leads the team in runs batted in (7), runs scored (5), hits (7), home runs (2), walks (5), and stolen bases. Lindor drove in five of the eleven runs the Mets scored in Monday night’s lopsided victory and had a big day at the plate in the series finale in Houston as well, reaching base in all of his plate appearances. Watching Lindor go full dad power mode in the aftermath of the birth of his second daughter is just about the only thing this team has going for it at the moment.

Though Pete Alonso going back to hitting dingers is nice too. Alonso hit two long balls this week—one in the aforementioned series finale in Houston and one in yesterday’s series finale in Philadelphia. All but one of his five hits were for extra bases—good for a 128 wRC+ for the week. His six RBIs this week are just one shy of Lindor for the team lead.

Daniel Vogelbach also drove in six runs this week in his second strong week in a row with the bat after struggling all season prior to his mental health break a couple of weeks ago. The Mets’ DH put up a 125 wRC+ in 17 plate appearances. Wednesday’s series finale was his biggest day at the plate this week; he went 3-for-5 that day with two doubles, three RBIs, and a run scored.

Tommy Pham continues to be one of the Mets’ most consistent hitters this month, posting a 123 wRC+ in 27 plate appearances this week. Like Lindor, he also collected seven hits and stole two bases this week. Pham also walked four times, scored four runs, and drove in two runs. Until he cools off, he will continue to be in the lineup every day.

Meanwhile, Mark Canha struggled this week after a hot start to his June and he is the one who is losing the most plate appearances to Pham. Canha put up a 44 wRC+ in 10 plate appearances this week. He notched just one hit and one RBI for the week. He also walked twice.

Starling Marte, by contrast, started every game this week and had a good week with the bat, posting a 119 wRC+ in 27 plate appearances. Marte rounds out the trio along with Lindor and Pham of players who racked up seven hits this week. Marte also shares the team lead in runs scored with Lindor with five. He also drove in five runs and stole a base. Marte’s only home run this week came in Saturday’s victory, in which he played an instrumental role by going 2-for-4 overall with two runs scored.

After his fireball performance last week, Brandon Nimmo had a relatively mediocre week with the bat this week, putting up an 86 wRC+ in 27 plate appearances. He collected six hits; all but one of them were singles, but that one extra base hit was a home run that put the Mets on the board in Friday’s series opener in Philadelphia, which turned out to be the only run the Mets would score that day. In total, Nimmo drove in three runs and scored three runs this week.

Brett Baty matches Lindor and Marte for the team lead in runs scored with five. Five is the theme for Baty this week; he also collected five hits in 16 plate appearances. A .313 batting average for the week certainly ain’t bad, but when you consider the fact that all five of his hits were singles and that he didn’t drive in any runs, it ends up being sort of meh results-wise. I will also admit I am dinging him a bit for the botched double play in yesterday’s game that cost the Mets the game in excruciating fashion. That said, the pitching shares the blame for this and Baty took complete responsibility for the miscue.

Baty will be seeing a lot more playing time with Eduardo Escobar having been traded to the Angels for two minor league arms. Escobar hit an RBI single in Tuesday’s game prior to the trade. Danny Mendick has been called up to fill a backup infield role and went hitless in his first three plate appearances.

Baty’s fellow baby Met Francisco Alvarez continues to struggle, though his numbers are not quite as gaudy as last week. This week, Alvarez collected two hits and walked twice in 16 plate appearances—good for a 39 wRC+. He also scored two runs. By contrast, Omar Narváez finally had a good week with the bat, notching one hit, walking three times, and scoring two runs in seven plate appearances.

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room for a moment. Jeff McNeil has been bad. Like, really bad. Almost shockingly so, given the fact that he won the batting title last year. This week his struggles were especially prominent, as he earns the sole poop emoji in this week’s meter with his ugly -24 wRC+ in 21 plate appearances. He collected two hits—both singles—drove in a run, and stole a base. That is the extent of his production this week.

Luis Guillorme had just three plate appearances this week, but he made the most of them, going 2-for-3 with a triple (!!!) and a run scored in Saturday’s victory over the Phillies.