Mets need to be bold and take chances to climb back into playoff race
Mets' Carson Benge watches his two-run home run during the third inning against the Mariners at T-Mobile Park on Tuesday in Seattle, Washington. Credit: Getty Images/Steph Chambers
SEATTLE — It was something the Mets hadn’t managed since Francisco Lindor did it in 2023:
With Juan Soto on first and Carson Benge on third in the fourth inning of their 7-1 win over the Mariners on Wednesday, Soto, who stole a career-high 38 bases last year, took off for second.
Benge waited a beat — long enough for Jhonny Pereda to commit to his throw to the bag — and then went for broke.
It was the type of high-stakes larceny you don’t see much of in baseball, but Benge stealing home for the Mets’ fourth run of the game illustrated exactly how his speed changes the tenor of this offense.
It also underlined something equally important: The Mets are going to have to get creative, even if it comes at a risk.
Soto isn’t a fast man, but last year he showed that instincts outweigh speed when it comes to stealing bases. Benge is a rookie who already has been caught stealing home once this season. But sometimes that’s what it takes.
The Mets entered Thursday’s off day toward the bottom of MLB in nearly every major offensive category. They were 28th in batting average (.228), 29th in on-base percentage (.293) and 30th in slugging percentage (.359). They were one of the best base-stealing teams in MLB last year, but that facet of their game has all but disappeared (their 33 stolen bases this year ranked 23rd entering Thursday).
Early on, it seemed as if this could be an aberration. An offense with Soto, Lindor, Luis Robert Jr., Jorge Polanco and Bo Bichette certainly couldn’t be this stagnant. But Lindor, Robert and Polanco are on the injured list and, Wednesday’s 4-for-4 game notwithstanding, Bichette simply hasn’t produced to his career levels. Soto’s 13 homers are almost double anyone else’s (Mark Vientos has seven), and he’s managed that despite missing 17 games.
So though Polanco may be activated as soon as Friday, and though Bichette could feasibly break out of his slump, there’s no magic bullet here that’s going to save this team from its offensive malaise.
Which brings us back to Soto, Benge and A.J. Ewing, too.
“That’s part of his game,” manager Carlos Mendoza said of Benge’s steal Wednesday. “When he’s on base, him or A.J., they’re going to put pressure on the defense, they’re going to try to create runs, and it was good that we were able to execute.”
Benge and Ewing are fast — Ewing, in fact, clocks as one of the fastest players in the majors. Both have been lauded for playing with youthful fearlessness. Soto is such a gifted player that fear doesn’t ever seem to be a factor.
“They call each other psychopaths,” Soto said this past weekend, alluding to the rookie duo’s penchant for running into walls and careening into the grass like moptopped pinballs. “It’s really fun to watch.”
But this isn’t just about their personalities; it’s more about the potential they represent. Put the ball in play, try to cause a little chaos if you can, and maybe, just maybe, good things will happen.
A caveat: Bad things can happen, too, but it doesn’t have to be a net negative. Benge had to fail first to succeed later. On May 13, he attempted to swipe home on a similar play against the Tigers but hesitated just a hair too long and got thrown out. On Wednesday, there wasn’t a breath of hesitation, and he took the base easily.
That, in itself, is a microcosm of what it takes to dig yourself out of the hole the Mets put themselves in. They’re eight games under .500 at 27-35 and need to be a nearly exceptional team to even squeak into the postseason in an era in which almost half of the league makes the playoffs.
They no longer have the luxury of fearing failure, because guess what? They already have failed.
The best they can do is learn from it, and there are signs that they’re trending in that direction. Marcus Semien, who was off to a woefully slow start, has worked on shortening his swing to catch up to velocity. Bichette on Wednesday proved to be the sort of menace that typified his tenure with the Blue Jays — a compact coil of kinetic energy, followed by a flat, powerful swing that allowed him to spray hard-hit singles all over the field.
Beyond that, they were able to successfully execute small-ball tactics against one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. Sure, George Kirby was hittable, but they also were swinging at fastballs in the strike zone — something that, when the offense scuffles, they struggle to do.
They can continue to use the speed of Benge and Ewing to their advantage, but they also can take more calculated risks with the rest of the lineup — one that has seemed almost tentative early in at-bats before falling behind and falling victim to desperation and chase.
“Every win is important, especially where we’re at,” Mendoza said Wednesday. “It was good to bounce back when it was a quick turnaround [after] a tough game [Tuesday]. It was good to see it . . . Every win right now is important. You enjoy it, off day [Thursday] and then you’re back at it against a good team in San Diego.”
The Padres (32-29), whom the Mets will visit this weekend, indeed are a good team, but they also are a flawed one that does not hit. They’re beatable, if you’re opportunistic enough, and that’s what the Mets will have to be from here on out.
Playing scared has done the Mets no favors. Eradicating that hesitance is easier said than done, but they already have lost 35 games by the first week of June. What else is there to lose?
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
