There’s no tonic for an ailing offense like facing the White Sox and the Rockies in back-to-back series. The Mets did what they needed to do against the dregs of the league this week, going 5-1. There is a lot more green on this meter, but perhaps the most important thing is that the Mets’ biggest hitters (Lindor, Soto, and Alonso) all turned it around this week. In fact, yesterday marked the first time all three players homered in the same game as teammates and hopefully it will not be the last. Lindor is now raging hot and as we’ve seen, how Francisco Lindor goes is often how the Mets go.
Francisco Lindor leads the Mets with a 213 wRC+ in 28 plate appearances. Lindor didn’t only go deep yesterday; he homered three times this week with the other two long balls coming in Friday’s victory. The Mets have now won 26 consecutive games in which Lindor has homered, dating back to last season. Lindor led the team in hits (9) and runs scored (6) this week. He also walked twice and racked up five RBIs—the second-highest mark on the team. One of those was a walk-off sacrifice fly in Monday’s come-from-behind victory.
The RBI leader this week is Pete Alonso, whose three-run homer put the Mets in front yesterday. He drove in six runs this week in total and scored two runs, putting up a 149 wRC+ in 25 plate appearances. Alonso also went deep in Tuesday’s game—a two-run shot that tied the game. After a long drought, it is nice to see Alonso hitting home runs again.
Juan Soto provided key contributions to multiple Mets wins this week and is finally starting to see some of his hard-hit balls go for hits. His solo shot in the eighth yesterday provided a key insurance run and he had a clutch two-hit performance on Friday. He also hit a 350-foot gapper on Tuesday that didn’t end up being a hit because of some weird base running confusion, but nonetheless these are all encouraging signs. Overall, Soto posted a 156 wRC+ for the week, scoring four runs and driving in four runs. He also led the team with four walks.
That weird base running confusion involved Brandon Nimmo, who had a very good week outside of that blunder, posting a 200 wRC+ in 22 plate appearances this week. Nimmo pulls off the poop emoji to fireball turnaround by amassing eight hits this week, which are second only to Lindor for the team lead. Nimmo scored five runs and drove in two runs this week. Nimmo had a big day in Wednesday’s loss, going 2-for-3 with a pair of walks and two runs scored.
Unfortunately because Wednesday was the only game this week that the Mets lost, Mark Vientos probably won’t get enough credit for his three-run homer that at the time brought the Mets within two runs and made the game close again before the White Sox put some more distance between themselves and the Mets in the later innings. That three-run shot represented the extent of Vientos’ run production this week, but he did have three hits. Overall, Vientos put up a 95 wRC+ this week in 14 plate appearances.
With Soto hitting third lately, Starling Marte has often been batting second when he plays and he had a strong week, hitting a solo home run in Friday’s win. He also walked once, got hit by a pitch, and stole a base, thus reaching base in over a third of his nine plate appearances this week.
Though Lindor delivered the game winning hit on Monday, it was the bottom of the order that started the rallies in the eighth and ninth innings. Tyrone Taylor led off the ninth inning with a double and came around to score the winning run. It was one of three hits for Taylor this week and his only extra base hit in 17 plate appearances. Taylor also walked twice—good for an unremarkable 66 wRC+ for the week.
Luis Torrens singled to keep the rally going in the ninth inning on Monday. That was his only hit this week, but he also drew three walks in his eight plate appearances. Francisco Alvarez, who had been struggling mightily of late, got a much-needed knock to kick off the eighth inning rally that tied the game on Monday. It was one of three hits for Alvarez this week—all singles. Though an 88 wRC+ is nothing to write home about, it is an improvement on where Alvarez has been lately, but he is still very much lacking in the power department and is hitting pretty much everything on the ground.
Which brings me to Luisangel Acuña, who isn’t hitting very much at all, let alone for power. He went 0-for-7 this week, which doesn’t get a poop emoji because it isn’t a large enough sample, but he is heading right for poop emoji territory if this continues. Acuña has seen much of his playing time evaporate and has been reduced to mostly a pinch runner and sometimes late-inning defensive replacement. Acuña scored two runs this week serving in that role.
Jared Young has been seeing regular DH at-bats since being called up and racked up three hits in 11 plate appearances this week, including a home run and a double in Tuesday’s game.
Jeff McNeil had a solid week with a 153 wRC+ in 16 plate appearances. He hit a home run in the eighth inning of Saturday’s victory—his third of the season. He collected four hits in total, drove in two runs, walked twice, and stole a base this week. Meanwhile, Brett Baty has cooled off some. He put up a 65 wRC+ in 22 plate appearances, also collecting four hits. Baty scored four runs and drove in three runs this week, but he also struck out seven times.