WASHINGTON — Contrary to speculation last week that Buckingham Palace had called the Mets and told them they weren’t welcome in London, it turns out that what appears to be a major league team was planning to leave one nation’s capital for another on Wednesday night.
The Mets have obvious flaws, but their lineup’s recent performance is something to consider, and Francisco Alvarez appears poised to come off the disabled list after the Mets return to the U.S. next week.
Meanwhile, Alvarez can take it easy, as Luis Torrens has suddenly become Mike Piazza, the veteran catcher hitting two home runs in the Mets’ 9-1 victory over the Nationals on Wednesday for their third straight win.
One stat stands out: The Mets have averaged 4.9 runs per game in the 18 games since May 18, compared to 4.2 in the 44 games prior to that. By comparison, the Phillies lead the MLB with an average of 5.1 runs per game.
Two events happened on May 18th that are worth noting when discussing offensive improvement (which has not been linear, as evidenced by the Mets’ only four runs scored in three straight games against the Dodgers at Citi Field last week).
First, manager Carlos Mendoza swapped Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor in the batting order. Lindor benefited from being a leadoff hitter and saw his OPS rise significantly. His batting average dropped to .190, but suddenly it’s a more acceptable .235. Nimmo’s numbers have dipped slightly overall since being moved to third in the order, but over the last week he’s started to look more like the player the Mets expect him to be.
What else happened on May 18? At the direction of J.D. Martinez, players were held accountable for their at-bats in daily pregame batter meetings. Each player was asked to speak up and state his approach for the upcoming game. If that approach was not followed, the player had to give an explanation after the game.
example:
“I might say, ‘Today I’m going to aim outside home plate and I’m going to hit the ball the other way in the air,'” Nimmo said. “And if I pull the ball on the ground, the other guy’s going to say, ‘What did you do there?’ And I might say, ‘I was just fooled — I thought the ball was there.'”
Martinez and Alvarez have yet to play in the same lineup, and the addition of Pete Alonso and rising star Mark Vientos gives the Mets a formidable quartet on the right side of the plate.
The question is whether Alvarez will be ready to contribute immediately or whether he will need a readjustment period following rehabilitation from surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb.
Not everyone has had the same kind of luck offensively lately. Jeff McNeil has not been in Mendoza’s lineup in three straight games against left-handed starters. The Mets are hoping McNeil, who struggled for much of last season after winning the NL batting title last year, will hit fewer fly balls and more line drives.
Jose Iglesias was solid as a part-time player in his first week, but it remains to be seen whether that will continue. Is McNeil still a full-time player? The Mets hope so, but as Iglesias’ recent inclusion in the lineup shows, he’ll have to earn it.
The Mets also may have gotten more offensive power than expected from Harrison Bader and Starling Marte, two players who were question marks at the start of the season, primarily for health reasons.
“Guys are becoming more consistent,” Lindor said. “They’re becoming more consistent in how they approach an at-bat, how they go from at-bat to at-bat. That’s usually what leads to good results. It’s a result-based sport, but most of the time it’s the process that matters most. And I feel like the process that most of our guys have right now is working.”
The Mets still need to figure out how to protect leads late in the game, but getting long innings from their starting pitchers is key. Their defense has been shaky.
But if there’s any ray of hope for this team going into this crucial month when the Mets decide whether to keep or sell players before the trade deadline, there’s optimism in a lineup that began to improve on May 18 and can only hope for more momentum from Alvarez.
