Well, if last week’s meter represented an improvement from the week before, this week’s meter is certainly a massive change from what we’ve been seeing lately. Despite having a .500 week overall against the NL East’s two weakest teams, the offense broke out this week in a big way. The Mets opened the Nationals series with a lopsided win and then had two run-scoring bonanzas on Friday and Saturday as well, which produces a nice looking meter, despite the win-loss record. Mark Vientos’ renaissance
remains an encouraging development, but the bad news is that Pete Alonso is slumping and the Mets lost a newly-productive Francisco Alvarez to injury.
| Player | Last week | This week |
|---|---|---|
| Francisco Alvarez, C |  |
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| Pete Alonso, 1B |  |
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| Brett Baty, 2B/3B | |
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| Francisco Lindor, SS | |
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| Starling Marte, OF/DH | |
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| Ronny Mauricio, SS/3B | |
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| Jeff McNeil, 2B/OF |  |
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| Cedric Mullins, OF | |
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| Brandon Nimmo, OF | |
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| Hayden Senger, C | — | |
| Juan Soto, OF | |
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| Tyrone Taylor, OF | — | |
| Luis Torrens, C | |
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| Mark Vientos, 3B | |
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There are really only two bad things on this meter to discuss, which I alluded to above. We’ll get them out of the way early. Francisco Alvarez went down with a UCL injury in his thumb. This ligament tear will eventually require surgery, but Alvarez is going to attempt to play through it and was seen taking BP before the game today as he works his way toward a rehab assignment in the immediate future. It’s a shame because Alvarez was red hot prior to the injury and the Mets’ catchers are otherwise…not hitting much. Luis Torrens has two hits in 11 plate appearances this week. Similarly, Hayden Senger, recalled when Alvarez went on the injured list, hit .167 this week, but both of his hits came in Friday’s game, which was a huge game for him in which he drove in three runs. Senger drove in four runs in total this week and also scored a run.
The only truly poorly performing regular in the lineup this week was Pete Alonso, who put up a 20 wRC+ in 29 plate appearances. Much like Senger, Alonso had only three hits, but he did make them count, driving in three runs and scoring three runs this week. But because the Mets hit so much this week overall, Alonso also made several outs in big spots too with runners on. His RBI double in Wednesday’s game got a rally started that brought the Mets back within a run of a full comeback which they were unable to complete. His two-run homer in Saturday’s game was part of a four-run seventh inning that helped the Mets pad their lead en route to victory.
Ronny Mauricio is the only other player to earn poor marks for the week, but because Mark Vientos and Brett Baty are both hitting, Mauricio has seen his playing time decrease dramatically. Mauricio had one hit in five plate appearances this week. Vientos, on the other hand, earns a fireball for a 240 wRC+ in 27 plate appearances this week. He kicked off his week by going deep in Tuesday’s big win against the Nationals, opening up a five-run lead for the Mets. That was one of a whopping four long balls for Vientos this week, representing half of his overall hit total. Vientos hit two bombs in Saturday’s win in which the Mets slugged six home runs in total. Vientos’ seven RBIs for the week are the second most on the team. It has been encouraging to see the Mark Vientos of 2024 reemerge and hopefully it is for good. Baty also had a good week, putting up a 167 wRC+ in 27 plate appearances and playing good defense at third base. Baty joined the power surge, hitting two home runs this week. Overall, he collected seven hits and drove in two runs. Baty’s six runs scored are tied for second-most on the team this week.
The team leader this week in runs scored in Juan Soto with seven. He also walked eight times, which unsurprisingly leads the team as well and buoys him to a 170 wRC+ despite amassing just five hits in 30 plate appearances this week. Of those five hits, two were home runs—one in Tuesday’s game and one in Friday’s game. Soto drove in six runs in total this week.
But the RBI leader this week is not Soto or even Vientos. It’s Jeff McNeil with nine rib eye steaks. McNeil’s been hitting the ball hard for awhile now and it was only a matter of time before that translated to results. And this week it has in a big way. In 20 plate appearances, McNeil put up a team-leading 288 wRC+. McNeil is perhaps the most surprising addition to the Mets’ home run bonanza; a player who had just nine home runs on the season went deep three times this week. One of those came in Tuesday’s game, which was McNeil’s best day this week; he went 3-for-4, driving in three of the Mets’ eight runs and scoring twice. In the sixth inning the next day, McNeil’s RBI double followed Alonso’s to help build the rally that got the Mets close to coming back in Wednesday’s game. McNeil’s week ended on a sour note when he popped up to end yesterday’s game with the tying run in scoring position, but that can’t erase the incredible week he had leading up to that moment.
It is positively raining fireballs this week. Cedric Mullins had his best week as a Met offensively, posting a 230 wRC+ in 22 plate appearances. Mullins had a huge day on Friday, logging two extra-base hits in a 3-for-4 effort in which he drove in two. That represented the extent of his run production and extra-base hits for the week. Otherwise, Mullins hit six singles, walked three times, and stole three bases. Mullins has been a liability defensively in center field, unfortunately. The Mets won’t care though if he continues to hit like this.
Brandon Nimmo has been battling a chronic neck issue this week, which means he logged just seven plate appearances in which he amassed two hits and a walk. He also scored a run and drove in a run. This has meant some playing time for Tyrone Taylor, who took advantage of it on both sides of the ball. Taylor continued to flash his patented strong defense in the outfield, but also racked up four hits in 13 plate appearances, including a double. He also walked once, drove in a run, and scored a run.
Nimmo being sidelined has also meant that even Starling Marte has seen some playing time in the field this week. Marte is red hot with the bat and joins our quartet of fireball recipients with a 267 wRC+ in 17 plate appearances. Like nearly everybody else in the lineup, Marte homered multiple times this week and represented the third bomb in a back-to-back-to-back sequence in the seventh inning of Saturday’s game (Alonso and Vientos were the others).
The team hits leader this week is none other than Francisco Lindor, who stays raging hot. Lindor racked up ten hits and walked four times in 30 plate appearances this week—good for a 198 wRC+. Of those ten hits, three went for extra bases, including a leadoff home run in Thursday’s game that represents his only RBI for the week. Lindor did score six runs, however, which matches Baty for the second-most on the team. Lindor also stole three bases, making him one of only three Mets along with Marte and Mullins to swipe multiple bags this week.
