Mets Player Performance Meter: Position players, September 11-17

The Mets played two contending teams last week, beating the Diamondbacks three out of four before losing two out of three to the Reds over the weekend. The offense fattened up against Arizona’s pitching, scoring seven runs or more in all three victories. As a result, the Mets’ 131 wRC+ as a team is by far the best in baseball over this weeklong span. The Mets only had two players who were below average for the week overall and there’s only one player in the red on the whole meter.

That one player in the red is Omar Narváez, who had just one hit—a double—and a walk in eleven plate appearances this week. But that has a lot less of an impact since Francisco Alvarez has turned things around of late. He didn’t quite achieve the fireball status of last week, but he still put up a 162 wRC+ in 18 plate appearances this week. Four of his five hits this week went for extra bases, including a home run in Tuesday’s victory. He drove in five runs in total this week and even stole a base.

Tuesday’s victory also was notable because Ronny Mauricio hit his first major league home run. It was one of six hits for Mauricio this week—good for a .316 batting average and a 151 wRC+. Mauricio’s six RBIs this week are the second-most on the team; he also walked twice and stole two bases. He also saw his first action at third base this week.

It was a good week for the Baby Mets in general, as Mark Vientos and Brett Baty both turned things around from last week. Vientos’ eight hits this week are second-most on the team and he put up a 110 wRC+ in 27 plate appearances this week. He scored four runs, drove in three runs, and stole a base. Vientos had a big day on Sunday, going 3-for-4 with an RBI, a run scored, and a stolen base. Meanwhile, Baty collected two hits, two run scored, and two walks in eleven plate appearances this week.

The Mets hit leader this week is Brandon Nimmo, who collected ten hits—four of them for extra bases, including a triple. He posted a 148 wRC+ in 30 plate appearances this week, scoring four runs and driving in two runs. He continues to get days off from playing center field to keep him fresh, even logging a start as the designated hitter this week.

Rafael Ortega had himself a nice week this week, leading the team among players with ten or more plate appearances with a .583 on-base percentage. That’s mostly thanks to his team-leading six walks, but he also hit a double and scored two runs.

Francisco Lindor walked six times this week as well to match Ortega for the team lead, which redeemed his wRC+ to a respectable 83, despite hitting just .208. Still, because the Mets had such a good week offensively, that’s the worst mark on the team aside from Narváez. The highlight of Lindor’s week was Wednesday’s victory, in which he went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two runs scored.

Despite an even 100 wRC+ over 33 plate appearances, Pete Alonso leads the team with nine RBIs this week. Four of his six hits this week went for extra bases, including two home runs—one in Tuesday’s victory and a game-tying three-run shot in Friday night’s game. Alonso and Lindor also share the team lead in runs scored with six apiece, but Alonso does also lead the team in strikeouts this week with seven.

Jeff McNeil is the only Met besides Alonso to go deep multiple times this week, hitting a home run in Monday’s loss and in Thursday’s lopsided win. Overall, he posted a 118 wRC+ in 30 plate appearances this week. McNeil scored five runs, walked once, and drove in three runs. With Nimmo serving as the DH on Sunday, McNeil even got to play a little center field.

Speaking of fielding, DJ Stewart continues to impress in the field as well as with the bat. In addition to making a diving catch in the field, Stewart put up a 108 wRC+ in 30 plate appearances this week. He may not be quite as hot as he was before, but he still had a productive week at the plate. He collected seven hits, scored five runs, and drove in two runs.

It was a good week for the Mets’ bench overall. Jonathan Araúz got in on the fun in Thursday’s raucous victory; his three-run homer completely blew the doors off the game for the Mets. That was his one hit in three plate appearances this week, but it was a big one. Tim Locastro had a big week as well, collecting four hits—two singles and two doubles—in his seven plate appearances. He also scored three runs and stole a base. Daniel Vogelbach collected three hits and a walk in his seven plate appearances this week. He scored a run and drove in three runs.