Mets seem capable of slugging their way into the postseason
Mets' Juan Soto, left, celebrates with centerfielder Starling Marte in the dugout after hitting a solo home run against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday. Credit: AP/Ryan Sun
Unless the Mets get their rotation and bullpen straightened out, they might have to outslug their opponents for the rest of the season.
Fortunately for them, it looks as if that is possible.
Going into Friday’s series opener in Cincinnati, the Mets have been putting up runs in bunches while holding on to a wild-card spot and trying to challenge the Phillies for NL East supremacy.
The Mets scored at least eight runs and as many as 19 in four of five games before Wednesday’s 6-2 loss in Detroit.
A trend that started in August has continued in the early days of September. In August, the Mets went 11-17 despite putting up full-month highs in batting average (.285), OPS (.866) and home runs (53).
In three September games — two of them wins at Detroit — the Mets hit .308 with five home runs and a .906 OPS.
Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Mark Vientos and Jeff McNeil are proving to be a formidable top six, just as the Mets drew it up in spring training.
They also are getting contributions from Brett Baty and Luis Torrens, among others, at the bottom of the order.
Francisco Alvarez, who caught back-to-back nine-inning games for Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday and Wednesday despite a fractured pinkie on his left hand and a sprained UCL in his right thumb, might return on Friday if he can play through the pain. Alvarez hit a grand slam on Wednesday.
“I think it’s just a lot of guys playing with confidence now, trusting each other one through nine,” manager Carlos Mendoza said after the Mets supported rookie Nolan McLean with 12 runs and 17 hits on Tuesday. “It feels like, yeah, we’ve got the big guys — the top of the lineup — but especially guys at the bottom . . . So I think it’s just one through nine. It’s a pretty good offense. Guys controlling the strike zone and then doing damage.”
“I’m glad they’re on my team,” said McLean, who has been backed by 8.25 runs per game in his four victorious outings. “It’s a lot of fun to watch. I mean, it’s nine really tough outs for the opposing pitchers.”
Even in Wednesday’s defeat, Alonso kept raking. A day after hitting a pair of home runs, he went 3-for-4. Overall, he is batting .271 with 33 homers, 113 RBIs and an .873 OPS.
Soto, who had a quiet 1-for-4 series finale in Detroit, hit a grand slam and a go-ahead two-run triple in the Mets’ 10-8 victory on Labor Day and another homer the next night.
Remember when Soto was supposed to be having a down first season in Flushing? Well, he has entered the fringes of the MVP conversation because of these numbers: .259, 37 homers, 91 RBIs, .920 OPS, 27 stolen bases.
Stealin’ Soto seems hellbent on having a 40-40 season, though he was picked off/ caught stealing twice in Detroit and has to be careful not to let his desire wreck his current stolen base rate of 90%.
The Mets are creeping up the team offensive leaderboards in the NL. Going into Thursday, they were second in OPS (.761), third in homers (193) and stolen bases (125) and fifth in runs per game (4.81)
Why the improvement? No batting coaches were fired. No super hitting prospects came up from the minors. Only Cedric Mullins was acquired as an offensive player at the trade deadline, and he hasn’t been good.
The improvement probably is just because the Mets have good hitters who weren’t playing up to their baseball cards for the first four months of the season. Sometimes it’s that simple.
“I think we’re doing a really good job of capitalizing on pitches in the zone,” Alonso said. “I think we’re recognizing hanging breaking balls really well, doing damage on heaters really well. I just think we’re doing a really good job of letting those borderline pitches go and making pitchers pay when they come over the heart of the plate.”
It could be that. Whatever it is, the Mets might have to keep raking to hold off the Giants and Reds for the wild card or catch the Phillies for the division, given that their team ERA has gone from a likely over-their-heads 2.64 in March/April to a can-they-really-be-this-bad 5.09 in August and September. That’s even with rookies McLean and Jonah Tong (combined 1.44 ERA in five starts).
If the staff as a whole is that bad? Keep sluggin’ away, boys.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
