Mets Player Performance Meter: Position players, May 4-17

The Mets’ offense continued to struggle during the beginning of this meter period on their West Coast road trip with the notable exception of the one ten-run game the Mets put together at Coors Field. But the Mets righted the ship at Citi Field last week, taking series from both the Tigers and their crosstown rival Yankees. There is still a lot of red on this meter to be sure; the Mets are very banged up (and have a new injury to add to the tally this week) and there are a few players on the roster

who are depth guys who shouldn’t be seeing regular big league at-bats. However, with the notable exception of Bo Bichette, the regulars that remain in the lineup have mostly turned things around and Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing are providing a much-needed injection of youth and energy.

Player	Last week	This week
Francisco Alvarez, C
Brett Baty, UTIL
Carson Benge, OF
Bo Bichette, 3B
Vidal Bruján, INF	—
A.J. Ewing, OF	—
Andy Ibáñez, INF
MJ Melendez, OF
Marcus Semien, 2B
Hayden Senger, C	—
Austin Slater, OF
Juan Soto, OF
Tyrone Taylor, OF
Luis Torrens, C
Mark Vientos, 1B/3B

We’ll start with the new injury since it seems like we can’t have a meter without an injury report these days. Francisco Alvarez became the third Met this season to tear his meniscus and he will be out for quite awhile. He was replaced on the roster with Hayden Senger who is hitless in his first six plate appearances but does have an RBI. Luis Torrens, fresh off a brand new contract extension with the Mets, now finds himself assuming the role of starting catcher once again and has done better with the bat lately, putting up a 95 wRC+ in 31 plate appearances over the past two weeks, which is a number you certainly put up with given his defense. He’s been getting most of his hitting done with men on base and has six RBIs, which is the same number as Juan Soto over this stretch despite far fewer at-bats.

We’ll also peel Band Aid off early and address the glaring poop emoji next to Bo Bichette’s name. For awhile when the whole offense was struggling, his shortcomings did not stick out as much. But with so many regulars sidelined with injuries, especially the starting shortstop Francisco Lindor, the Mets need Bichette’s bat to heat up and it just…hasn’t. He has just five hits—all singles—in 52 plate appearances over the past two weeks, good for an abysmal 2 wRC+, which is the lowest on the team among players with double-digit plate appearances. The one thing you can say about Bichette is that he is taking his walks. His six walks are tied with Juan Soto for the second-most on the team. But walks and the occasional single is not good enough from Bichette, who was brought here to be one of the commanding presences in the Mets lineup and has thus far failed to be that.

The team leader in walks is rookie A.J. Ewing, who has been a revelation. With the bats floundering, Ewing was the one card the Mets had left to pull. They did so and he has rewarded them for it with a 1.088 OPS in his first six games. Because he came up in the middle of this meter period, he has far fewer plate appearances than the other regulars and yet leads the team in walks, as I mentioned, with seven, and has already racked up five hits, five runs scored, and three RBIs. He has also been solid in center field and shown off his speed on the base paths to boot, with two stolen bases in three attempts.

When Ewing was promoted, Andy Ibáñez was designated for assignment. Ibáñez was hitless with an RBI and a couple of errors in five plate appearances across two games. Ibáñez’s departure leaves Vidal Bruján as the sole backup infielder, retaining his roster spot because of his ability to play shortstop with both Francisco Lindor and Ronny Mauricio still out. Bruján is hitless in four plate appearances since joining the team and is mostly a “break glass in case of emergency” player who is serving as a pinch runner and potential defensive replacement.

The reason for this turnaround over the past week is that the rookies are getting it done. Carson Benge has been great of late as well, putting up a 157 wRC+ in 50 plate appearances over the past 12 games. He’s also had a walk-off hit and a walk-off fielder’s choice in the past five days alone. He leads the team in hits with 17 and is tied for the team lead in runs scored with nine. Of course, despite being Mr. Pulchritudinous, he has made a couple of miscues in the field, but has made up for them with his bat.

Marcus Semien is second to Benge in the hits department with 12 hits in the past 12 games and also matches Benge’s team-leading nine runs scored over that span. Semien isn’t hitting for much power; eight of the 12 hits were singles, though he did go deep twice in the past two weeks. But the Mets will certainly take a 130 wRC+ from Semien, who had been struggling mightily at the plate and is now contributing consistently of late. In addition to the nine runs scored, Semien drove in four runs, walked five times, and stole a base in the past two weeks.

Brett Baty has quietly turned his season around as well, posting a 131 wRC+ over his last 44 plate appearances and keeping himself in the green for the second meter in a row. Baty, now playing third base pretty much every day, racked up 11 hits—7 singles, 3 doubles, and a home run—five runs scored, five walks, and five RBIs. Unfortunately, Baty also leads the team in strikeouts with 11 in the past 12 games.

Unfortunately MJ Melendez struck out as many times as Baty did in 15 fewer plate appearances and it seems like the lightning in a bottle the Mets captured with Melendez is finally running out with a little overexposure. In 29 plate appearances since our last meter, Melendez holds a 51 wRC+ with just three hits. With Jared Young the only injured Met due back any time soon, Melendez is likely the first in line to lose his roster spot when he returns, especially given the fact that he has options. Austin Slater isn’t doing much better with his two singles in 12 plate appearances over the past 12 games, but Slater is right-handed and Young, like Melendez, is a lefty.

Juan Soto is back to playing the outfield despite his various minor ailments he is playing through. He had been struggling at the plate, but has gotten hot just in the past week or so, pushing his wRC+ up to 116 for this two-week period, which isn’t normal Soto production, but still positive. Soto has gone deep three times over the past 12 games, including against his former team. Those long balls were three of his ten total hits. He also walked six times, drove in six runs, and scored eight runs. It looks like the three hole has been kind to him.

Mark Vientos has been hitting behind Soto most days and the RBIs have been pouring in; he leads the team with ten runs batted in over the past 12 games, despite a mediocre 81 wRC+. Of his 11 hits, four went for extra bases, including two home runs. He also walked once and scored five runs.

Tyrone Taylor was heading straight for a poop emoji, but then he logged the single biggest hit the Mets have had all season yesterday in the form of a game-tying three-run homer against the Yankees in the ninth that helped break the Mets’ long streak of losses when losing after eight innings. Still, I couldn’t in good conscience give him a good grade for a 33 wRC+ overall over the past two weeks. But with Luis Robert lacking a timetable for his return and Juan Soto needing regular DH at-bats to keep him healthy, Taylor should continue to see plenty of playing time in the outfield.