I would be more concerned if Soto wasn’t in the WBC (and raking), Lindor wasn’t recovering from hand surgery and Robert Jr hadn’t just made his first appearance in a game a couple days ago. Bichette will get it together, the Semien concerns are very valid (worst case scenario, he ends up hitting 8th and Robert Jr is hitting 4th or 5th).
Benge is the one I’d like to touch on most. I’m not as worried about the power as you are. I see a kid with barely any pro ball experience whose GM put an ungodly amount of pressure on him in the biggest media market in the country and he’s thriving. He’s making sure that every at bat counts, that he’s doing the little things and getting on base as often as possible. Realistically, that’s going to be the overall profile of this new Mets lineup - where power is secondary and moving the runner along is the goal. When Benge is batting 6th or 7th with Soto, Lindor, Bichette, Robert Jr, Polanco, and Alvarez all ahead of him, he’ll have the chance to settle in and let the big dog eat every once in a while. For now, let him be an on base machine and just keep getting comfortable hitting major league pitching - even if it’s just for singles. Now, could you argue the Mets might be best served letting Benge find his power at AAA and having Tauchman as the starting RF? Sure, but I think we’ve seen enough to know that barring something really bad, Benge is making this team. It’s a matter of whether how Stearns wants to fill out the bench - carrying 5 OF’s or a different mix.
Totally. Like I said, we haven’t seen it at full strength yet, and there’s a *lot* of baseball to be played, so there’s a perfectly reasonable chance today’s entire post looks super dramatic and reactionary in mere months’ time. Very excited to see Lindor and Robert in today’s lineup.
On Benge, I also agree that the most important thing is for him to focus on getting on base and adjusting to big league pitching. Reiterating here that I have zero doubt that he’s an MLB hitter; I’m mostly just curious to see how a litany of singles near the bottom of the lineup will scale across the season if he’s being followed by a Semien or someone else who isn’t adding run scoring potential before the lineup turns over.
100% - you’ve got to write the articles based on what you’ve seen, and your analysis is factual.
I saw Benge in person last weekend and he really impressed with his on-field demeanor, instincts on the bases and on defense, and ability to come up with a hit with runners on (even if they were all singles). He went the other way on a couple of occasions and it was nice to see him just taking what the pitching gave him.
The way he attacks the opposite field is unbelievable - 52% oppo rate if I remember correctly, with a 33% line-drive rate to boot. I wish I had the exact hard hit numbers in front of me, but I know it's been quite a few. He's a baller, and I'm curious to see if they try to tap into some extra stolen base potential with him this season — even without Richardson, that's been an organizational focus across all levels, and he's absolutely got the speed to enhance that side of his game.
I have a feeling once the full roster is back post-WBC and they can get a sense of how the matchups and various lineups will work, the running game will be part of it. I’d Bruján makes the team, expect to see him cause some havoc on the bases too. I’d love to see Ronny focus on getting on base and work some steals in there too.
My guess is that there was some posturing because he didn't want to overpay for Tucker or Bellinger and also wanted to appease the fan base because Nimmo was traded.
Brother Buskirk, thanks for taking on the endlessly repeated "spring training performance doesn't matter" mantra. There's something in between "reliably predicting the regular season" and "...doesn't matter". It matters some. Some people try to have it both ways: getting enthused about Senga's and Peralta's pitching and dismissing Semien's inability to get on base.
Bear in mind your concerned are for a team without Soto or Lindor, two of the major cogs in the offense. Soto is raking in the WBC and while we don’t know how healthy Lindor is going to be batting wise I suspect he will hit his stride in the next month or to
Absolutely — it goes without saying that if Soto and Lindor were present at camp the overall numbers would look better. Just a few weeks ago I wrote very optimistically about Lindor returning by Opening Day and getting back to form fairly quickly, and Soto is Soto; those two are sure things in my book.
But the lineup goes beyond them, and though we've seen solid contributions throughout camp, it's amounted to relatively little in terms of displayed power potential and run production. Given those were specific question marks coming into camp, it's worth briefly investigating where the team stands in the slugging department with a handful of Grapefruit games left.
Age and experience mostly; Benge is two years older and has faced/been successful against more advanced pitching talent. Ewing was drafted straight out of high school and only really started surging last year. He saw just 28 games of Double-A action last season, and at age 21 with backup options already in place at the big league level, there’s no reason to rush his development. He’s making his case for himself; if he continues on this pace, a call up isn’t far away, but he was never going to be on the Opening Day roster
It's Spring Training. The regulars aren't even playing full games yet. Once the WBC concludes and Soto returns, I'm sure you're going to see the regulars getting the bulk of the playing time before they break camp.
Excellent points about the hitting. Hopefully it picks up when the season starts. Also, keep in mind that Soto has not been with the team because of the WBC and Lindor has been out. Baty and Alvarez have looked good. I’d be worried about Vientos.
Absolutely — it's a pretty even split among the anticipated regulars we've seen taking the bulk of the ABs so far, and the overall numbers definitely would get a big boost from Soto and a healthy Lindor. The concerns I'm laying out here are more about overall hitting philosophy and how it extends throughout the lineup. There's been a general lack of power output from the guys who've been on display so far, so it'll be interesting to see how that develops over the final days of camp and into the season with the final group.
I would be more concerned if Soto wasn’t in the WBC (and raking), Lindor wasn’t recovering from hand surgery and Robert Jr hadn’t just made his first appearance in a game a couple days ago. Bichette will get it together, the Semien concerns are very valid (worst case scenario, he ends up hitting 8th and Robert Jr is hitting 4th or 5th).
Benge is the one I’d like to touch on most. I’m not as worried about the power as you are. I see a kid with barely any pro ball experience whose GM put an ungodly amount of pressure on him in the biggest media market in the country and he’s thriving. He’s making sure that every at bat counts, that he’s doing the little things and getting on base as often as possible. Realistically, that’s going to be the overall profile of this new Mets lineup - where power is secondary and moving the runner along is the goal. When Benge is batting 6th or 7th with Soto, Lindor, Bichette, Robert Jr, Polanco, and Alvarez all ahead of him, he’ll have the chance to settle in and let the big dog eat every once in a while. For now, let him be an on base machine and just keep getting comfortable hitting major league pitching - even if it’s just for singles. Now, could you argue the Mets might be best served letting Benge find his power at AAA and having Tauchman as the starting RF? Sure, but I think we’ve seen enough to know that barring something really bad, Benge is making this team. It’s a matter of whether how Stearns wants to fill out the bench - carrying 5 OF’s or a different mix.
Totally. Like I said, we haven’t seen it at full strength yet, and there’s a *lot* of baseball to be played, so there’s a perfectly reasonable chance today’s entire post looks super dramatic and reactionary in mere months’ time. Very excited to see Lindor and Robert in today’s lineup.
On Benge, I also agree that the most important thing is for him to focus on getting on base and adjusting to big league pitching. Reiterating here that I have zero doubt that he’s an MLB hitter; I’m mostly just curious to see how a litany of singles near the bottom of the lineup will scale across the season if he’s being followed by a Semien or someone else who isn’t adding run scoring potential before the lineup turns over.
100% - you’ve got to write the articles based on what you’ve seen, and your analysis is factual.
I saw Benge in person last weekend and he really impressed with his on-field demeanor, instincts on the bases and on defense, and ability to come up with a hit with runners on (even if they were all singles). He went the other way on a couple of occasions and it was nice to see him just taking what the pitching gave him.
The way he attacks the opposite field is unbelievable - 52% oppo rate if I remember correctly, with a 33% line-drive rate to boot. I wish I had the exact hard hit numbers in front of me, but I know it's been quite a few. He's a baller, and I'm curious to see if they try to tap into some extra stolen base potential with him this season — even without Richardson, that's been an organizational focus across all levels, and he's absolutely got the speed to enhance that side of his game.
I have a feeling once the full roster is back post-WBC and they can get a sense of how the matchups and various lineups will work, the running game will be part of it. I’d Bruján makes the team, expect to see him cause some havoc on the bases too. I’d love to see Ronny focus on getting on base and work some steals in there too.
Agreed, but I don't blame Stearns for talking up Benge this offseason.
Not a blame thing as much as a very high risk he took…which so far seems to be paying off. But if it backfired? We’d be killing him for it.
My guess is that there was some posturing because he didn't want to overpay for Tucker or Bellinger and also wanted to appease the fan base because Nimmo was traded.
Brother Buskirk, thanks for taking on the endlessly repeated "spring training performance doesn't matter" mantra. There's something in between "reliably predicting the regular season" and "...doesn't matter". It matters some. Some people try to have it both ways: getting enthused about Senga's and Peralta's pitching and dismissing Semien's inability to get on base.
Bear in mind your concerned are for a team without Soto or Lindor, two of the major cogs in the offense. Soto is raking in the WBC and while we don’t know how healthy Lindor is going to be batting wise I suspect he will hit his stride in the next month or to
Absolutely — it goes without saying that if Soto and Lindor were present at camp the overall numbers would look better. Just a few weeks ago I wrote very optimistically about Lindor returning by Opening Day and getting back to form fairly quickly, and Soto is Soto; those two are sure things in my book.
But the lineup goes beyond them, and though we've seen solid contributions throughout camp, it's amounted to relatively little in terms of displayed power potential and run production. Given those were specific question marks coming into camp, it's worth briefly investigating where the team stands in the slugging department with a handful of Grapefruit games left.
Ewing’s numbers even better than Benge but no one thinks he should be on the team. Why?
Age and experience mostly; Benge is two years older and has faced/been successful against more advanced pitching talent. Ewing was drafted straight out of high school and only really started surging last year. He saw just 28 games of Double-A action last season, and at age 21 with backup options already in place at the big league level, there’s no reason to rush his development. He’s making his case for himself; if he continues on this pace, a call up isn’t far away, but he was never going to be on the Opening Day roster
It's Spring Training. The regulars aren't even playing full games yet. Once the WBC concludes and Soto returns, I'm sure you're going to see the regulars getting the bulk of the playing time before they break camp.
Excellent points about the hitting. Hopefully it picks up when the season starts. Also, keep in mind that Soto has not been with the team because of the WBC and Lindor has been out. Baty and Alvarez have looked good. I’d be worried about Vientos.
Absolutely — it's a pretty even split among the anticipated regulars we've seen taking the bulk of the ABs so far, and the overall numbers definitely would get a big boost from Soto and a healthy Lindor. The concerns I'm laying out here are more about overall hitting philosophy and how it extends throughout the lineup. There's been a general lack of power output from the guys who've been on display so far, so it'll be interesting to see how that develops over the final days of camp and into the season with the final group.
If the guys batting in front of or behind Soto can't hit....how many hittable pitches will he see ?? Opposing pitchers will pitch around him, no??