Eduardo Escobar
While not specifically called as such, Will Sammon and Tim Britton of The Athletic wrote an autopsy of the 2023 New York Mets season. It was an excellent article with players being more open and honest than usual. It should be noted no one was attacking other players or throwing anyone under the bus.
Keeping that in mind, while reading the article, it became glaringly obvious Buck Showalter was the wrong manager for this 2023 Mets team.
The key quote out of the whole article was Tommy Pham saying, “Out of all the teams I played on, this is the least-hardest working group of position players I’ve ever played with.”
People will run a million different directions on this, but Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo were at least receptive and took it to heart and improved. Notably, we have seen Lindor and Nimmo have big second halves. Putting player reaction aside, this is an indictment on Showalter.
This was the sort of theme with why the season failed. The players weren’t working hard enough. There were miscues. The play was sloppy. The team was doubting themselves. They had a manager who didn’t have the pulse of the team.
When the team was holding player meetings pushing better play and accountability, Showalter had a rah-rah meeting the following day. His players were too comfortable with some being too complacent. There were mistakes, miscues, and as we would see with Max Scherzer unnecessary suspensions.
As noted by one unnamed player in the article, this is the sort of thing that comes into question when you don’t win. However, the Mets didn’t win, which allows these issues to be investigated.
For sure, Showalter isn’t the only reason the season failed. There was blame on the World Baseball Classic not allowing the team to adapt to new rules, but that also wasn’t the reason for the losing. There were the injuries, which were a major reason for the losing early on, and based on Adam Ottavino‘s comments, we saw the Edwin Díaz injury damaged the Mets psyche more than we ever appreciated (again, this is on the manager).
Again, we can point to injuries, but Showalter’s managing was an issue all season. Currently, we are seeing Mark Vientos mashing, but we had to watch Daniel Vogelbach flounder all season long. He was hands-off and being a rah-rah guy when players are talking about needing more accountability from one another.
If you wanted the reasons to look in another direction (Craig Counsell), it was detailed in that article. Keep in mind, this article was not a hit job or even directed at Showalter. However, when you have all that evidence, it is hard to ignore.
OTHER TAKEAWAYS
Francisco Álavarez‘s presence at the meeting with Pham, Lindor, and Eduardo Escobar about how to turn around the season speaks volumes to how he is viewed by his teammates. We heard stuff like this when he was in the minors, but it was interesting to see him quickly become not just a part of the fabric of the team, but to be a part of these leadership moments.
Fans have long pushed for Pete Alonso to be named captain, but Lindor and Nimmo are the unquestioned leaders of this team.
Alonso really cares, and he puts pressure on himself to succeed. If anything, his going into Showalter’s office is another reason why the Mets should be pushing for an extension.
Pham was great for the Mets, It wasn’t just his production, but it was seeking to hold everyone across the board more accountable. The Mets will be better for years to come because of Pham’s time spent with the team.
It would see Showalter leaned heavily on having Mark Canha, Escobar, and Starling Marte last year on a team full of leaders. With Canha pushed down the depth chart, Escobar traded, and Marte injured all year, Showalter was missing something he needed to have the team run as smoothly as it did last year.
The injuries and struggling to adapt to the new rules was certainly a factor (albeit probably small) in the need to pivot and move to younger players.
It was interesting Pham specifically said he had respect for Lindor and Nimmo and their work ethic with the article immediately going to Jeff McNeil saying “everyone comes ready to play and does what they need to do.” Immediately after that Nimmo says, “Ultimately, a lot of this comes down to individuals and what they’re willing to do.”
This was as interesting an juxtaposition as you can have, and you do have to wonder how purposeful the presentation was.
Mostly, it was injuries that hampered the Mets with the team not having the pitching depth it did in 2022. It will now be incumbent on Billy Eppler to work with David Stearns to make sure a season like 2023 does not happen again.
When discussing Joey Cora, we need to remember this was a coach who was terminated in-season by a last place Pittsburgh Pirates team. At the time of his firing, he was the worst third base coach in the game.
That really has been no different with the Mets. We’ve seen a number of occasions where Cora has made dumb sends and bad reads. However, you could live with it if Cora was helping the Mets in other areas.
With the demotion of Brett Baty to Triple-A, we see Cora has not been helping the Mets either as a third base or infield coach.
One of the reasons Baty was called up to the majors was his glove was significantly better than Eduardo Escobar‘s. When he first was called up, he was hitting and playing the field well. At one point, Baty was up to a 2 OAA at third.
However, after working with Cora nearly all season long, he dropped to a -6 OAA. Baty went from a very good defender to one of the three worst defensive third baseman in the majors. If this was just a Baty issue, we could move along. However, it goes far deeper than Baty.
When J.D. Davis was with the Mets, he was a horrendous defender with part of that being his outfield play. Cora worked with Davis, and he did not improve in the slightest. However, Davis went to the San Francisco Giants where he has been a very good defensive third baseman.
The year before Buck Showalter took over and brought along Cora, Pete Alonso had made terrific strides at first base. He went from a poor defender to an 8 OAA, which was outstanding growth. Since working with Cora, Alonso has been a -8 OAA.
We did seen Luis Guillorme and Jeff McNeil have very good defensive seasons in what was the last year of the shift. This year, both players have regressed defensively, which is one of many issues which has plagued the Mets this season.
What’s funny is with Baty now in Triple-A, it looks like the Mets aren’t even going to try with Mark Vientos. After Baty was demoted, Vientos was in the lineup as the DH with the Mets putting Danny Mendick at third.
Now, Vientos has long had a reputation as a poor defensive third baseman. The assumption is he will have to wind up at first or DH in the long run (partially because of the presence of Alonso). When Baty was up, it made sense to work on Vientos as a DH.
However, Baty struggled to the point where he had to be demoted in a lost season for the Mets. If we’re being honest, he at least puts into question whether he is truly the third baseman of the future, which should permit the Mets to look in different directions.
That could include Ronny Mauricio, who is stuck in the minors and drowning while he looks for a position other than short. However, that should also include Vientos. You would think having a coach with as much experience as Cora would lead the team to have the duo work very closely between now and the end of the season.
You’d much rather two options at third than potentially none.
Unfortunately, it seems the Mets don’t trust Vientos at third, which is understandable. A corollary to that is the Mets don’t trust Cora making Vientos into a capable third baseman. That, too, is understandable. It’s also another reason why the Mets need to get rid of Cora.
The New York Mets recognized they were not going to win in 2023. As a result, they had a fire sale (even if they don’t want to call it one) trading away Mark Canha, Eduardo Escobar, Dominic Leone, Tommy Pham, Max Scherzer, and Justin Verlander. That was then followed by reports the Mets are not going to try to win a World Series in 2024, but promised to put out a team which could contend for the Wild Card.
With that the rest of the 2023 season is about the future. To some degree, we have already seen that with Francisco Álvarez surpassing Omar Narváez as the Mets primary catcher, and Brett Baty continuing to work through a tough rookie season. The Mets took it a step further with Buck Showalter actually allowing Mark Vientos to DH against Zack Greinke instead of turning to Daniel Vogelbach.
With the trades, Starling Marte on the IL, and Brandon Nimmo having a quad issue during batting practice, we saw DJ Stewart, Danny Mendick, and Rafael Ortega in the lineup. Putting aside the Mets now trying to finish in the bottom six to preserve their draft position, those players being in the lineup, let alone on the roster, does not fortify the Mets plans to build for the future.
Seeing those players in the lineup and the Mets fire sale, it is now time to call up Ronny Mauricio.
Now, is Mauricio ready for the majors? Well, in all honesty, the answer is probably not. He still only has a 5.7 BB%, which is an improvement over what he posted in Doube-A Binghamton last season. His strikeout rate is down as well. Meanwhile, he is struggling to find a defensive home away from shortstop.
To a certain degree, we can argue Mauricio has gotten as far as he could in Triple-A. He is still very much the aggressive hitter now that he was to start the season. In fact, he’s very much the same player he was all of last season. At this point, it may just be that Mauricio needs to see Major League pitching to see what he needs to do to become a Major Leaguer.
Put another way, maybe it is time to let Mauricio fail. Let him go struggle against Major League pitching and see he needs to be more patient and/or more selective at the plate. Let him start to learn the lesson it took Jose Reyes nearly four seasons to learn. Get him on the right path and don’t let him go down the same path Amed Rosario did.
If the Mets were contenders, there is no room for learning on the job. However, they’re not contending. Quite the opposite.
For the moment, the Mets have to determine how to better use the final months of the season. Should they completely waste the playing time on players like Stewart, Mendick, and/or Ortega, or do they give Mauricio a shot? Do they let him learn what it takes to be a Major League player while getting the benefit of Major League coaching as he tries to continue to adapt as a hitter while learning new positions,.
The Mets are now looking to win in 2025, which means their young players need to start taking leaps in 2024. The best way to help that process is to get Mauricio learning how to be a Major Leaguer now. He’s done all he is going to do in Triple-A, and now, it is time for him to start learning what he can only learn in the majors.
Even by New York Mets standards, this June Swoon was miserable. 7-19. Didn’t win a series. Not a one.
Went from two games over to 10 games under. In the NL East fight being down 3.5 games. Now completely out of it down 18.5 games.
One game up in the Wild Card standings. Now, 10 games back. Already sold off Eduardo Escobar. Multiple press conferences, and who knows what else to come.
Fortunately, June is over. It’s July, and the Mets have their last chance to turn things around. Being a team in that position, Justin Verlander was a great choice to have on the mound.
Justin Verlander, 95mph ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/oGRHBZIUJS
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 1, 2023
Verlander’s slider was working. As a really, the San Francisco Giants’ bats were not.
The Giants couldn’t do anything against Verlander in the seventh, and they needed a Pete Alonso error to do it. The only run they scored was off a double play, and Verlander made sure that was it.
Offensively, the Mets did what they needed. It started with Francisco Álvarez homering in the third. Suddenly, it looks like his slump is over, and he will be an offensive force again.
It wasn’t just him. Brandon Nimmo continued his recent power surge hitting his fourth homer over the last six games. Francisco Lindor continued hitting well with his own homer.
The Mets have homered 3 times in the 3rd 😳
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 1, 2023
Francisco Alvarez, Brandon Nimmo & Francisco Lindor!
(via @SNYtv) pic.twitter.com/h5s4wvIyVp
The defense was improved as we saw with Luis Guillorme quick on the game ending double play. There was a lot to like, and it started with great starting pitching.
You can complain about things. Daniel Vogelbach is now in a 2-for-23 stretch. Jeff McNeil was hitless like he has been in seven out of his last 10 games. At least Starling Marte wasn’t in the lineup.
At this point, you can dwell on the negative all you want. There’s plenty there not to like. However, on a day like this, there’s a win and finally reason to be happy.
Who knows? Maybe, the Mets go on a run, and it all started with Verlander. Chances are it’s not, but stranger things have happened.
At this point, let’s enjoy this one. There was a lot to like. Maybe 50 years later, history will repeat itself again. As Tug McGraw said then, “Ya Gotta Believe!”
Out of nowhere, Steve Cohen announced he was going to have a press conference before the series finale against the Milwaukee Brewers. What Cohen will say is a mystery, but we can pretty much rule out any changes to the organization based upon the events of the day.
I will be doing a press conference tomorrow before the game. You will get it from me straight.
— Steven Cohen (@StevenACohen2) June 27, 2023
After Cohen announced he was doing a press conference, we got to hear impromptu press conference from Billy Eppler. That press conference all but confirmed Eppler and the Mets were sticking by Buck Showalter. Basically, Eppler said the Mets were sticking by everyone and everything they have been doing this season.
Does Billy Eppler still feel the Mets are a playoff team?
"I believe in the talent of this team. I believe they can play at that win percentage" pic.twitter.com/R4P7jdPKBa
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 27, 2023
Eppler told us some of the obvious. The pitching is underachieving, and they need to find ways to fix it. He seemed alright with the offense but not the overall execution. Mostly, Eppler was there giving a vote of confidence in Showalter as the Mets manager. In fact, he came just short of the job Showalter has done this season.
Notably, Eppler has never fired a manager in season in his career. You could argue Eppler doesn’t have it in him to fire a manager.
He inherited Mike Scioscia as the Los Angeles Angels manager. Scioscia would walk away from the team on his own terms (partially due to his frustrations with how Eppler ran the organization). Yes, Brad Ausmus was fired so the Angels could hire Joe Maddon. That was really a decision by Arte Moreno and not Eppler.
You can draw a number of conclusions from this including Eppler does not have what it takes to fire a manager. He doesn’t have the ability to make the call that needs to be made. You can even argue it’s all just a coincidence. Who knows?
What we do know is Eppler is supporting a manager flaunting the analytics. He’s even flaunting Eppler’s decision making. For example, Eppler called up Mark Vientos only for Showalter not to play him.
In the end, this is all semantics and guesswork. The only thing we know at the moment is the Mets are falling well out of the postseason picture, and they may soon need to sell off more than just Eduardo Escobar.
The reason we are here is Eppler built a poorly constructed roster, and it looks like the team will not be alive in the race for Eppler to try to fix it at the trade deadline. Then again, based on his work last year, you don’t exactly want him making trades.
You can’t trust the combination of Eppler and Showalter at the moment. That was clear from what we have seen from their collective body of work. In terms of Eppler, that includes his support of Showalter.
Eppler will get to continue to support Showalter and this failing Mets team as we can anticipate Cohen will support Eppler and Showalter. Make of it what you will, but in the end, staying the course with Eppler and Showalter leaves you even more pessimistic the Mets can fight their way back into the race.
And no, not even a shocking David Peterson start could make us believe otherwise.
When looking at the numbers, it didn’t make much sense for the New York Mets to jump the gun and sign Eduardo Escobar early in the 2021-2022 offseason. However, the Mets did, and they wound up with a player who brought a lot of intanglibes to the franchise.
Right off the bat, he gave a famed and impassioned speech to the Mets minor leaugers about what it takes to make it. It was just the tip of the iceberg on the impact a person of Escobar’s caliber can have on a franchise.
Escobar was brought in for those intangibles. After a season where the Mets fell apart and were booing the fans, they needed to address the chemistry. They needed real clubhouse guys. Escobar was every bit that and more. We got that sense of hearing Francisco Lindor talking about him in the moments after Escobar was traded:
Francisco Lindor was interviewed minutes after Eduardo Escobar was traded to the Angels.
“He's one of the best teammates I've ever had. We're going to miss him a lot."
— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) June 24, 2023
Lindor hit in on the head when he said Escobar was one of the best teammates he ever had. He was also one of those players fans wanted to see succeed. That was no more evident than when Escobar told the fans he was going to give them reason to root for him.
We had that reason when Escobar had a great end to the 2022 season. We also had that reason throughout his tenure with how he comported himself and was always a team first player.
In 2022, when he struggled, Escobar lost his starting job to Luis Guillorme. Actually, it was a platoon, but when you’re the right-handed bat in the platoon, you lost your job. Escobar responded by being a great teammate and having a phenomenal end to the 2022 season to reclaim his job and doing all he could to prevent a collapse.
During that 2022 season, Brett Baty was called up. If not for Baty’s thumb injury, we have no idea if Escobar would ever get the opportunity to start again. Despite knowing that, he worked with Baty and Mark Vientos during spring training to help them improve as ballplayers. He actively helped prepare two prospect who were likely to take his job during the 2023 season.
With Escobar’s early season struggles, that happened much sooner than later. Escobar responded to that by being a great teammate and helping Baty anyway he could. He also responded by rebounding and starting to put together a much better season.
When you are having a lost season like the Mets are having, you are eventually going to have to sell. When the Los Angeles Angels offer the package of Coleman Crow and Landon Marceaux, you pretty much have to pull the trigger on that because you’re not really going to do much better for a utility player.
That said, as you look to get younger and go through difficult stretches, Escobar is exactly who you want on your team. You want him as a mentor and to be a positive force in the clubhouse. Trading him was necessary, but you don’t do it enthusiastically.
Escobar was very good for the Mets since they signed him. He had big moments, but the biggest moments of all was when he was a great teammate and true leader in the Mets clubhouse. He is going to be sorely missed.
Right now, the New York Mets are 34-40. They’ve recently lost a home series to the St. Louis Cardinals. Good luck finding hope for this season.
The Mets are 13.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East. They’re seven games back in the Wild Card.
Only the St. Louis Cardinals, Washington Nationals, and Colorado Rockies have a worse record than the Mets. The Mets have lost a series to all three of those teams.
There’s no point in pretending anymore. Lord knows I’ve tried and tried and tried again. It’s time to admit defeat. After all, defeat and the Mets are growing synonymous of late.
There are pieces here with value. Despite being a bad bullpen, there’s David Robertson and Brooks Raley.
Teams will line up for Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. Now, you may not want to trade them if you’re looking to contend next year, and the Mets will be, but you have to at least listen.
Mark Canha and Tommy Pham are playing well lately. They give a team a veteran bat and presence. Daniel Vogelbach is hot of late, so you can hope he can keep it going until another GM is dumb enough to trade for him.
Maybe you can move Eduardo Escobar. Maybe someone entices you to move Drew Smith. There should be a team interested in Omar Narváez and/or Luis Guillorme. Mets are likely stuck with Starling Marte.
Point is there are assets, and there could be teams looking to trade sooner rather than later. After all, teams like San Diego and Seattle are always desperate to make a trade.
For various reasons, the Mets just shouldn’t expect much in return. We’re not talking about game changing players, and Billy Eppler is the Mets GM. Maybe if Steve Cohen eats some money, they can maximize the returns.
In reality, you’re not doing this for the lottery ticket prospect. Mostly, you’re doing it for the prospects and young players who are here.
Mark Vientos should at least be the DH. Ronny Mauricio should now get the call-up to play whatever position he is going to play. You need them to get acclimated to the majors and be ready to take on a big role in 2024.
You need to let David Peterson finish the season in the rotation. It’s time to see if he can be a fifth starter, reliever, or look to cut bait. After all, they’re effectively doing that already with Tylor Megill (he’s really a reliever).
Give José Butto a run. Clear a path for Mike Vasil for later in the season.
Maybe take a glance at Luke Ritter. Sure, he’s an older prospect with very little Triple-A experience, but he’s breaking out this season. After all, what do you have to lose? Games? They’re doing that already.
Mets have to find out about these young players. They need to make it beyond impossible for Buck Showalter to sit them.
Maybe they surprise you like the Cincinnati Reds are surprising everyone. Likely, they won’t, and the Mets will falter. However, it’s better to falter with young players getting experience than watching this.
It’s time to start selling.
Everywhere you look, the sky is falling for the New York Mets. They lost seven in a row before winning a game, and then they promptly lost again making them losers in seven of eight.
They’ve lost 11 series this season after losing 11 all of last season. They are four games under .500. Pete Alonso is on the IL. Who knows what to believe with Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander anymore. Buck Showalter has been bad and completely out of touch.
Guess what? Despite all of that, the Mets are only three games out in the Wild Card race. That’s not remotely insurmountable for this team. While we’re understandably focused on the negatives, there are plenty of positives happening with the team right now.
Mark Canha has completely turned his season around. Since May 14, he is hitting .300/.400/.467 with four doubles, two homers, and 11 RBI.
Tommy Pham has done the same. Since May 17 he is hitting .333/.392/.711 with six doubles, one triple, three homers, and 13 RBI.
Eduardo Escobar‘s resurgence has been oft discussed. Since May 12, he is hitting .378/.425/.487 with a double, homer, and five RBI.
Of course, all of this pales in comparison to what Francisco Álvarez is doing. He’s playing like an All-Star and Rookie of the Year candidate. On the season, he has a 128 wRC+. He’s sixth among all rookies in fWAR, and he is a top five catcher in all of baseball.
Francisco Lindor is a second-half player, and he seems primed to be just that for the Mets again this season. Since June 4, he is hitting .250/.357/.542 with a double, two homers, and three RBI while playing Gold Glove defense.
Kodai Senga has been figuring it out, and Carlos Carrasco has again become a dependable starting pitcher. On the back-end, David Robertson has been an excellent closer.
Overall, when looking at the Mets, the pieces are there. They will be closer if Brett Baty can figure things out, and if Showalter can play Mark Vientos to let him mash.
The Mets are in this race even with them faltering of late. They have an owner able to take on payroll to make a run. Mostly, you can argue, the Mets have everything right where they want them seeing how the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies were in similar situations in recent years only to make a charge to the World Series.
The Mets dreams of winning a World Series isn’t over. They are very much alive and in postseason contention. They just need to hang in there.
Entering the 2023 season, the consensus was Brett Baty was the New York Mets best third base option. When the season began, Baty was unstoppable with Triple-A Syracuse, and Eduardo Escobar could not have struggled more. As a result, very early on in the season, Baty was called up to take over the third base job.
For a time, Baty seemed to claim that job as his for the present and future. On May 5, he was hitting .319/.385/.511. Defensively, he was a 2 OAA. He was making everyone look good. His play was so good Buck Showalter even began playing him against left-handed pitchers and batting him fifth in the lineup.
Well, since that point, things have not gone well for Baty. Over his ensuing 24 games, Baty is hitting .173/.253/.284. He’s near an automatic out, and he’s down to a 90 wRC+.
There are a number of reasons for that. The ground ball rate is again an issue for Baty with a 1.84 GB/FB. He’s not barreling up the baseball, and while the strike out rate isn’t bad, he swings and misses a lot. That includes a 39% whiff rate against breaking balls.
Baty’s fielding has also slipped a bit with his OAA dropping from two to one. He’s been struggling on balls to his left. That’s not to say he’s been bad, but rather, his glove is not at the level to justify keeping an anemic bat in the lineup. Again, he has slipped from where he was a month ago.
While Baty is struggling, Escobar has come alive. Since May 1, Escobar is hitting .394/.444/.606. That’s a whopping 1.051 OPS. A large part of that is he has predominantly played against left-handed pitching.
Defensively, Escobar has been adept playing to a 0 OAA at second and third. Certainly, he has earned more playing time and more chances to prove himself.
In addition to Escobar, the Mets have a Mark Vientos problem. Since he has been called up, he has only started in nine out of a possible 15 games. By and large, Showalter is treating him as a platoon option for Daniel Vogelbach.
With Baty at third, and Showalter’s predilection towards playing veterans like Vogelbach, there’s not enough at-bats to give Vientos. That’s not to say Vientos shouldn’t be in the everyday lineup. Rather, the reality is the manager won’t do it.
Now., if Baty is sent to Triple-A, there is suddenly more at-bats available for Vientos. We can see him a little more comfortable, and we can get a better look at what Vientos can do with some regular playing time. Keep in mind, while Vientos struggles defensively, the Mets can and should call up Luis Guillorme as a defensive replacement.
Freeing up this playing time for Vientos is a consequence of who is managing. That in and of iteslf is not the reason to demote Baty. The reason behind that is Baty has been struggling for a while now, and we are starting to see some troubling trends like a dip in his defense and an increase in his ground ball rate.
It appears Baty needs to go back to Triple-A to work things out. When he does, the Mets should look to call him right back up because when he is going well, he is the Mets best option at third.
The New York Mets did what they did all season. They followed inexplicably dropping consecutive series to the Chicago Cubs and Colorado Rockies by sweeping the Philadelphia Phillies at home. At this point, the unexpected has become the expected.
Putting the consistent inconsistency aside, we are starting to see some very positive signs emerge. More than anything, we should be focusing on that rather than the day-to-day results. After all, if certain things are working well for the Mets, the wins are going to come.
First and foremost, the rotation is starting to look like what we hoped it would be. Over his last four starts, Max Scherzer is 4-0 with a 1.08 ERA while striking out 28 and walking just four over 25 innings.
Kodai Senga has become unhittable at home. In his five Citi Field starts, he is 3-1 with a 1.20 ERA, 0.933 WHIP, 4.2 BB/9, and an incredible 11.4 K/9. As we saw with Noah Syndergaard‘s rookie year, the home/road splits will eventually translate to Senga being able to be a great pitcher on the road. It just takes a little time.
With the exception of his Coors Field start and the start against the Tampa Bay Rays, Justin Verlander has largely been good. We also see José Quintana is on a path to get back on the mound. Overall, that’s four strong starters that becomes five with Carlos Carrasco pitching 6+ innings while allowing just one earned in each of his last two starts.
Offensively, Pete Alonso is chasing 60 and looks primed to be the first non-steroid National League player to hit that mark. Francisco Álvarez has been great at the plate and may be better defensively. Brandon Nimmo is having an All-Star caliber season (again).
Francisco Lindor is playing Gold Glove defense and has been hitting for power. We also have to remember with his struggles he’s a second half hitter. Jeff McNeil has struggled, but he too is at a point in the season where he usually takes off.
Where things are really promising is the older core from last season finding their games again. Since May 9, Starling Marte is hitting .288/.342/.356 and has stolen 16 bases this season. Since May 14, Mark Canha is hitting 333/.442/.556. Eduardo Escobar has thrived in a part-time role hitting .400/.442/.700 since April 20.
That’s not to say there hasn’t been any issues. Brett Baty is struggling at the plate hitting .200/.286/.400 since May 14, but he continues to play good defense with a 1 OAA. Since May 1, Daniel Vogelbach is hitting .170/.310/.254. With both to those players struggling, it is strange to see how infrequently Mark Vientos plays.
The bullpen doesn’t go that deep, but David Robertson has been a great anchor. You can rely on Drew Smith to be a bridge. However, Brooks Raley and Adam Ottavino are too important to be as shaky as they are.
That brings us to the Mets biggest issue – Buck Showalter. He’s managing like it’s 1988, and he does bizarre things like ignoring the numbers, batting Álvarez ninth, and shoe-horning Vogelbach into the lineup. He’s just never playing Vientos at this point treating him as a strict platoon player.
However, despite Buck (yes, despite him), the Mets are 30-27 just 3.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves. The Braves are 9-13 over their last 22 games. It’s allowed the Mets to get back into the NL East race.
The Mets are also currently the second Wild Card. They’re trailing the Arizona Diamondbacks/Los Angeles Dodgers by four games, but they have a one game lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates and Miami Marlins, who are currently tied for the last Wild Card spot.
Of course, the standings right now don’t mean anything. We can just pinpoint the Mets last two seasons to illustrate that point. Rather, it just shows the Mets are in a great position to make a run. With the starting pitching emerging, their top hitters slugging, and the rest of the roster ready to break out, the Mets are poised to have a great summer, and hopefully, an even better October.