Mets Player Performance Meter: Position players, August 14-20

This week, big boy bombs were in effect. Though the bottom of the Mets’ lineup still looks pretty grim these days, all of their good hitters are hitting and all of their power hitters were hitting long balls in bunches this week. In total, the Mets hit 17 home run this week, which is the most in baseball over that span. The Mets’ 46 runs scored this wee were second only to the Rockies—who play their home games at Coors—in the National League. Unsurprisingly, this power barrage resulted in two series wins against the Pirates and the Cardinals.

There’s a whole lot of fire on this meter, but we’ll start with Pete Alonso, who earns his second straight fireball for another massive week in which he posted a 195 wRC+ in 31 plate appearances. Alonso collected six hits this week and a whopping four of those were home runs, including a massive 466-foot blast in Saturday’s lopsided victory. In fact, all six of his hits this week went for extra bases; he also walked four times. His seven RBIs this week are tied for the team lead.

Somehow, Alonso is not the only Met to hit four home runs this week. And if you weren’t watching the games (I can hardly blame you if this is the case), you’d never guess who the other one is. It’s DJ Stewart, who matches Alonso’s four home runs and seven RBIs this week in 13 fewer plate appearances. Stewart’s best game as a Met came in Wednesday’s series finale against the Pirates in which he went deep twice and drove in three runs. Overall, Stewart posted a blistering 282 wRC+ this week; he is simply on fire right now.

Speaking of improbable home runs, you might expect a power surge from DJ Stewart, but how about from Tim Locastro? In the ninth inning of Thursday’s victory, Locastro launched a ball to dead center for his first home run of the season to give the Mets a crucial insurance run. In total across his ten plate appearances this week, he collected three hits, scored three runs, and walked three times—a very productive week in his second week back from the injured list.

Brandon Nimmo got in on the power party as well, going deep three times this week and joining the fireball brigade with his 232 wRC+ in 32 plate appearances. His eleven hits this week are just one shy of the team lead and he shares the team lead in walks with four. He drove in four runs and scored six runs this week. Nimmo’s red-hot August continues, as he holds a 180 wRC+ for the month and a 129 wRC+ overall for the season.

The team leader in hits this week is Francisco Lindor with twelve. Lindor boasts a 159 wRC+ in 31 plate appearances this week. Though he did not seem to get the memo with the long balls, he did collect three doubles and lead the team in runs scored with seven. In Monday’s 7-2 victory, Lindor stole his 20th base of the season and became the first Met to have a 20-20 season in 15 years. On Saturday, Lindor had a big day at the plate, going 4-for-5 in that victory. As of this morning, Lindor is fifth in all of baseball in fWAR.

Rounding out the list of fireballs this week is Daniel Vogelbach, who put up quite the excellent .308/.471/.769 slash line in 17 plate appearances this week. He matches Nimmo and Alonso for the team lead in walks with four. Of his four hits this week, two of them were home runs—one in Monday’s victory and one in Saturday’s lopsided win. In total, Vogelbach scored three runs and drove in five runs this week.

Somehow I still haven’t even gotten to the end of the list of Mets who homered multiple times this week. The final entry into that club belongs to Jonathan Araúz. Unfortunately for Araúz, those two long balls represent essentially the extent of his production this week. He logged just one other hit and walked twice—good for a 75 wRC+ overall for the week. Araúz will continue to se lots of playing time with Mark Vientos sidelined due to wrist tendonitis.

The same can be said for Danny Mendick, who by contrast has not gotten it done with the bat this week. He is the only poop emoji recipient on this meter, logging just two hits—both singles—and a run scored in 14 plate appearances this week. He sports a -24 wRC+ overall for the week. When Vientos went on the injured list, Abraham Almonte was added to the roster to take his place. Almonte went hitless in two appearances with one strikeout this week.

Rafael Ortega also continues to see regular playing time, but has trended downward since last week, posting a 64 wRC+ in 24 plate appearances this week. Of his five hits, only one went for extra bases, but he did score five runs and is one of the only Mets besides Lindor to steal a base this week.

The other Met to swipe a bag aside from Lindor and Ortega this week is Jeff McNeil, who continues to quietly turn his season around, raising his wRC+ from 59 in June to 80 in July to 129 in August. This week, he posted a 118 wRC+ in 31 plate appearances. He collected nine hits, three of them extra-base hits, including a home run. His seven RBIs this week match Alonso and Stewart for the team lead. McNeil also walked once and scored five runs.

Francisco Alvarez is unfortunately in the red for the second straight week with an unsightly 32 wRC+ in 26 plate appearances. He had just three hits—all singles— in 26 plate appearances this week and struck out seven times, which is the second-most on the team. He did, however, also walk four times, score two runs, and drive in two runs. He continues to provide value with his defense behind the plate, but as the Mets play out the season, they are easing off on catching him every day. Omar Narváez, meanwhile, notched one hit—a double—walked once, and scored a run in seven plate appearances across two games this week.