Mets Player Performance Meter: Position players, September 8-14

This meter covers seven games of the eight-game losing streak that the Mets recently endured, so this is not going to be pretty. The Mets had a 69 wRC+ as a team over this span, which tells you just about everything you need to know.

Player	Last week	This week
Luisangel Acuña, INF
Pete Alonso, 1B
Francisco Alvarez, C
Brett Baty, 2B/3B
Francisco Lindor, SS
Starling Marte, OF/DH
Ronny Mauricio, SS/3B
Jeff McNeil, 2B/OF
Cedric Mullins, OF
Brandon Nimmo, OF
Hayden Senger, C
Jose Siri, OF
Juan Soto, OF
Luis Torrens, C
Mark Vientos, 3B

Even the players in the green are not lighting the world on fire; you’ll notice there are no fireballs this week. Juan Soto, for example, after many weeks in a row of well above average performance, put up just a 107 wRC+ this week. But he still led the team in hits (7),

runs scored (5), and RBIs (5), so even in his “worst” week, he was the best run producer in the lineup. He also reached a milestone when he hit his 40th home run of the season in what would have been a crucial spot if the Mets hadn’t gone on to cough up the lead on Saturday. Oh, and he also stole three bases too.

Pete Alonso matched Soto’s hit total and drove in four runs—the second-most on the team. Of course his most important hit came in right under the wire: a walk-off three-run homer that finally snapped the Mets’ losing streak. Still, despite his heroics on Sunday, Alonso posted a pedestrian 80 wRC+ for the week.

Meanwhile, Francisco Lindor, who had been hitting well, had a pretty bad week with a dismal 25 wRC+ in 30 plate appearances. He had just four hits—three of them singles—but he did also walk three times, so he scored four runs this week. However, it was a rare week when he didn’t drive in any runs. He did steal two bases though.

Things were even worse for Jeff McNeil, who earns a poop emoji with a 14 wRC+ in 21 plate appearances. McNeil had just two hits, both of them singles. He didn’t score any runs and drove in just one. He walked three times and struck out five times.

McNeil is not alone in the doldrums, but neither Jose Siri nor Luisangel Acuña amassed enough plate appearances to get slapped with a poop emoji. After a very lengthy IL stint, Siri is back with the club occupying the role once held by Tyrone Taylor, but he has just one hit in nine plate appearances with a whopping seven strikeouts, which is very much on brand. Acuña has been mostly coming in for defense and pinch running; he went hitless in six plate appearances this week. Ronny Mauricio has also not been playing much; he has a hit and a walk in four plate appearances this week.

With Luis Torrens on the injured list (he was just activated today and will receive a grade in next week’s meter), Hayden Senger was fulfilling the role of backup catcher and appeared in two games, notching one hit in three plate appearances. Francisco Alvarez had a good week after initially struggling in his return from his hand injuries. Alvarez posted a 139 wRC+ in 23 plate appearances, which leads the team among the players with five plate appearances or more, which says something about how the offense performed this week. Three of his five hits went for extra bases, including a home run. That home run represented his only RBI for the week, but he also walked twice and scored two runs.

With Mark Vientos swinging a hot bat, Brett Baty had not been playing quite as much, but Vientos cooled off this week, putting up an 85 wRC+ in 28 plate appearances. He did rack up five hits—including a home run—and three walks, but he also struck out nine times. He scored two runs and drove in two runs this week. Baty, meanwhile, had three hits (all singles) in ten plate appearances this week. He also walked once and drove in a run.

Cedric Mullins may have escaped another poop emoji, but he’s still not exactly tearing the cover off the ball. He had three hits—all singles—and a walk in 12 plate appearances, good for a 79 wRC+ for the week. Mullins scored a run, but did not drive in any runs and struck out three times.

By contrast, after a poop emoji last week, Starling Marte pulled himself out of the doldrums with a 117 wRC+ in 17 plate appearances this week. His six hits this week are just one off the team lead despite way fewer plate appearances than Alonso and Soto. Only one of those hits went for extra bases, but Marte drove in three runs and scored a run.