Mets Player Performance Meter: Position players, August 7-13

With Starling Marte back on the injured list and Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo battling some more minor ailments, the Mets have an interesting cast of characters on the position player side at the moment. Some of the lineups they’ve been trotting out—Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader especially comes to mind—make me wonder whether I’m writing a King of Spring Training post or a meter. The Mets lineup was pretty feast or famine this week, beginning the week with a rousing 11-2 victory over the Cubs and taking two out of three in that series, but then looking absolutely horrendous over the weekend against the Braves and getting shut out twice before finally rebounding in Sunday’s game to avoid the sweep. The small silver linings to take away here are that Pete Alonso remains hot and Jeff McNeil appears to maybe be turning things around.

We’ll start with Pete Alonso since he is the standout performer on the position player side by far this week. Alonso posted a blistering 243 wRC+ this week, going deep four (yes, four) times and racking up ten RBIs (no one else on the team drove in more than three runs over this seven-game span). Alonso also led the team in walks with seven and even stole a base to boot. The Polar Bear is putting together quite the second half and his wRC+ for the season is up to 132, which is very impressive considering his long rough stretch following his wrist injury earlier in the season.

Some good news for a team desperately lacking in things to be optimistic about: Jeff McNeil is back to doing Jeff McNeil things. He leads the team in hits this week with ten and put up a 169 wRC+ overall in 30 plate appearances. He matches Alonso for the team lead in runs scored with six. Highlights of his week were his go-ahead solo homer in the series finale against the Cubs and a three-hit performance in Sunday’s victory.

Brandon Nimmo has been battling a quad issue that kept him out of the lineup for a bit and he is easing back into things by playing left field instead of center field. But he hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down in the field and continues to perform well with the bat, earning his second week in a row in the green. Overall, he posted a 123 wRC+ in 27 plate appearances. His seven hits and four walks are both second to Alonso for the team lead. Somehow, despite all of those hits and walks, he didn’t score any runs or drive in any runs this week.

With Nimmo not playing center, the newly-activated Tim Locastro will get some reps out there. Locastro only got in two games last week and went hitless in three plate appearances. When Locastro was activated from the injured list, Abraham Almonte, who had just one hit and a run scored in twelve plate appearances this week, was designated for assignment.

Meanwhile, Rafael Ortega has been a near everyday fixture in the outfield these days in Starling Marte’s absence and he did well for himself this week, matching Nimmo’s hit total with seven. But all seven of those were singles and he only walked twice, good for a solid but less impressive 103 wRC+ for the week. But Ortega did score two runs, drive in two runs, and steal two bases this week. That .412 BABIP he put up this week may catch up with him soon enough, however.

Much like Nimmo, Francisco Lindor has been dealing with a minor ailment that kept him out of Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader. But imaging on his side revealed good news and he didn’t need much rest. In 22 plate appearances this week, Lindor collected five hits and walked twice—good for a 91 wRC+. He scored four runs, drove in one run, and stole a base this week.

Since Brett Baty’s demotion, Mark Vientos has gotten the chance to play a lot of third base and be in the lineup almost every day. He has comported himself well in the field, but struggled with the bat this week, putting up a .179/.207/.214 slash line across 29 plate appearances. He scored one run and drove in one run this week.

Jonathan Araúz is also in the red for the second straight week since first coming up, notching just one hit in 16 plate appearances this week. He is saved from the dreaded poop emoji by his three walks and two RBIs. Danny Mendick, on the other hand, has faired a bit better lately, collecting three hits in eleven plate appearances this week. One of those hits was a home run—his first as a Met—in last Monday’s victory over the Cubs. He drove in three runs and scored two runs in total.

Francisco Alvarez is unfortunately trending downward this week with his 47 wRC+ in 19 plate appearances. He had just three hits—one of them for extra bases—and two walks. He walked twice and didn’t drive in any runs, which is unfortunate considering with the Mets’ current lineup construction, Alvarez probably has to step up as a run producer. The other part of the catching tandem fared better this week; Omar Narváez posted a 119 wRC+ over this seven-game span. He also collected three hits, but in fewer plate appearances (11) and two of those were for extra bases. He drove in a run and scored a run this week.

Daniel Vogelbach had an okay week, putting up an 89 wRC+ in 20 plate appearances. He walked twice and collected three hits, including a home run in Saturday’s Game 1 laugher. In fact, he was responsible for all three runs the Mets scored in that game which I can hopefully erase from my memory as soon as I finish writing this. It probably says more about the Mets’ lineup than it says about Vogelbach, but his three RBIs match Danny Mendick for the second-most on the team for the week behind Alonso.

Sometimes DH, sometimes outfielder DJ Stewart did not cover himself in glory this week, going hitless in ten plate appearances. He did walk once and drive in a run, though.