Mets Player Performance Meter: Position players, July 24-30

The Mets went 4-2 this week, splitting the Subway Series with the Yankees in the Bronx and then taking three out of four from the Nationals at home. The offense performed significantly better than it did last week, primarily driven by Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso both getting hot with the bat at the same time. Meanwhile, Francisco Alvarez and Brandon Nimmo have cooled off, but Jeff McNeil finally had himself a good week, as did Mark Vientos. Unlike the pitching side, the lineup has not yet been affected by trades, though it has been affected by injury, with Starling Marte and Luis Guillorme still on the sidelines. But that will probably change in the coming days (or even in the coming hours).

Francisco Lindor turned things all the way around from poop to fireball this week, posting a team-leading 232 wRC+ over 27 plate appearances this week. He hit two home runs this week to put his total over 20 for the year, going deep in back-to-back games over the weekend. Lindor had a strong performance in yesterday’s game in particular, going 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, a walk, and two runs scored. He led the team in hits (9), walks (4), runs scored (7), and stolen bases (2) this week. A 30-30 season (my preseason bold prediction for Amazin’ Avenue) remains within reach for Lindor.

The only major offensive category in which Lindor does not lead the team this week is runs batted in; that distinction belongs to the red-hot Pete Alonso, who finally looks like himself again. Alonso drove in a staggering twelve runs this week, which is almost half of the total runs the Mets scored over these past six games. Alonso hit two home runs in Tuesday’s victory over the Yankees and racked up four long balls this week in total. Overall, he put up a 209 wRC+ in 27 plate appearances and gets a well-earned fireball. Last week, Pete was hovering right around the Mendoza line, but has since bumped his season batting average safely above it, accompanied by a respectable 124 OPS+ for the season. After being mired in a deep slump, hopefully the Polar Bear is in for a strong month of August.

In Tuesday’s raucous victory in the Bronx, Alonso went back-to-back with Daniel Vogelbach who had himself a solid week, posting a 122 wRC+ in 13 plate appearances. Vogelbach collected three hits—one of which was the aforementioned home run—walked once, scored two runs, and drove in two runs this week.

Also trending upwards is Mark Vientos, who is getting more playing time and had his first solid week since getting called back up. He racked up four hits in 14 plate appearances—all but one for extra bases, good for a 217 wRC+. One of those extra base hits was a solo home run in Saturday’s loss. In total, Vientos drove in two runs this week.

Vientos’ home run on Saturday was back-to-back with Francisco Alvarez, who otherwise struggled this week, putting up a 61 wRC+ in 17 plate appearances. That home run was one of only two hits for Alvarez this week, but he did walk two times and score three runs this week.

Omar Narváez had barely been playing with Alvarez so hot, but since the Mets’ starting catcher has cooled down, Narváez has gotten a few more plate appearances. The problem is, he hasn’t done anything with them. He went hitless in seven plate appearances this week, drawing one walk and driving in one run. Narváez has had a rough time defensively of late to boot.

Speaking of a rough time defensively, Brett Baty continues to struggle on both sides of the ball. Baty collected three hits and two walks this week in 20 plate appearances—good for an unremarkable 51 wRC+. He scored a run, but did not drive in any runs this week. Hopefully the Baby Mets can turn it around or the post-trade deadline lineup may be tough to watch.

Part of the reason would be the potential absence of Mark Canha, who has been the subject of some trade discussion. Canha racked up six hits this week in 22 plate appearances. All but one of those hits were singles, but it still gets him in the green with a 128 wRC+ for the week. He also walked three times, scored a run, and drove in a run.

Of all the Mets’ position players though, it is Tommy Pham who is the most likely to be dealt. Pham has been dealing with a bit of a groin problem that kept him out of the lineup (there is no way the Mets were risking one of their more valuable trade chips), but returned to action this week, posting an 86 wRC+ in 13 plate appearances. He collected three hits, one of which was a home run in Saturday’s loss. I’m not a betting woman, but if I was, I’d wager a pretty large sum that this is the last meter I’ll be writing for Pham, who holds a 127 wRC+ for the season and was one of the few pleasant surprises for the Mets this year.

With Marte sidelined and possibly an outfielder or two traded soon, we have seen and will probably continue to see a lot more of DJ Stewart in the outfield. Stewart had one hit—a single—in eight plate appearances this week. We’ve also been seeing way too much of Danny Mendick, but to his credit, he fared better in his eight plate appearances, collecting three hits, two of which were for extra bases.

Though Alonso and Lindor getting hot is the big story this week, Jeff McNeil’s recent turnaround should not be overlooked either. McNeil’s seven hits this week match Alonso for the second-most on the team and his four runs batted in are the second-most on the team as well—though that is a distant second, as we know. McNeil also walked twice and scored three runs, putting up an excellent 151 wRC+ for the week. McNeil getting things going over a more prolonged stint would be one of the few things to get excited about in this second half.