NEW YORK — As a flurry of roster reshuffling on Friday morning demonstrated, the Mets have been trying to improve as much as they can, but more than anything they need their stars to step up.
Entering Friday’s games, Francisco Lindor (.687), Pete Alonso (.771) and Jeff McNeil (.618) all had career-low OPS. Brandon Nimmo (.721) hadn’t had a lower OPS since his rookie year, and excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, J.D. Martinez (.762) hadn’t had an OPS this low since he was released by the Astros in 2013. The Mets needed more from all of them.
The Mets are starting to figure it out. Lindor extended his hitting streak to 10, Martinez homered for the second straight game, Alonso had a run with a double, Nimmo scored two runs and Starling Marte had two hits and four RBIs in a 10-9 win over the Diamondbacks on Friday night at Citi Field. It was the Mets’ second-best offense of the season (16 runs against Atlanta on April 11), and they won despite an imperfect performance from starter Luis Severino and continuing issues with their relief pitchers.
Asked about the offense, Marte said through a translator, “Everybody is starting to get into rhythm.”
Added manager Carlos Mendoza: “At some point, this is something we expected and envisioned. … We know what we’re capable of. We have a lot of good players here, a lot of good hitters, and we’re seeing really good signs right now.”
Here’s a closer look at some of the work that went into getting there.
Now, leading the way is…
When Mendoza used Lindor as the leadoff hitter on May 18, he was 1-for-21 at-bats and his batting average had dropped to .195. He was 0-for-5 that day, which was his lowest batting average. Since then, in 12 games as an everyday leadoff hitter, Lindor has batted .365/.411/.577 with seven home runs. He was 4-for-4 in Thursday’s win (the night after he called a players-only meeting to discuss team process) and had two hits on Friday.
When asked if his approach has changed since he moved to leadoff hitter, Lindor joked, “I have to hurry up to the plate.”
In other words, that’s not the case.
“His routine might be a little different, but other than that his at-bats have been great,” Mendoza said.
Of course, Lindor batting leadoff means someone needs to shift down the order. That someone, Nimmo, is enjoying adapting to hitting third. Though he hasn’t thrived as much as Lindor has batted leadoff, Nimmo said he’s learned a lot from watching Lindor and Alonso attack pitchers early in games, just as the two have been watching Nimmo. On Friday, Nimmo recorded his first multi-hit game of the year as New York’s third batter, going 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored.
Iron Man
Only two players have appeared in all 57 Mets games this season. Lindor is the first, and he takes great pride in doing so. (One of his best games came earlier this month, when he was removed from the starting lineup because of illness and came in as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning, smashing two two-run doubles.)
The other is Alonso, who left Wednesday’s game after being hit in the right hand by a 93 mph fastball. The slugger sustained no broken bones and recovered enough to pinch-hit for a double the following night. On Friday, he returned to the starting lineup and recorded his only hit — a one-RBI double that capped a three-run win in the fourth inning.
Among the Mets’ stars, Alonso has been the most consistent despite his overall decline, hitting .773 with 10 extra-base hits in April and .732 with 14 extra-base hits in May.
Just a dinger? It’s getting closer.
Every afternoon, Martinez would take a tripod and a camera to the batting cage to film his technique and make sure everything was OK, but something was definitely not right early on in his Mets tenure: Martinez, who had made a career out of launching the ball into the air, simply wasn’t doing it well enough.
So Martinez tweaked his mechanics to avoid dropping the bat behind his shoulder as he went from his stance to his swing. He’s launched the ball into the air in four of his last five attempts, including two over the fence.
“I’m good at hitting the ball in the air,” Martinez said, “but hitting low liners, rolling the ball or making it a grounder is not my forte. I’m just happy when I hit the ball and the ball goes up in the air.”
