Mets show off their power in rout of the Giants as their homegrown stars are shining bright
Mets show off their power in rout of the Giants as their homegrown stars are shining bright
The Mets slugged three home runs at Oracle Park Monday night
What’s Up with the Mets? 🌁
The Mets blew out the Giants 13-3 in San Francisco Monday night (box)
New York slugged three home runs in the contest - Pete Alonso hit a three-run homer in the third inning and both Jeff McNeil and Mark Canha hit homers in the eighth inning
JD Davis and Eduardo Escobar broke out of their funks - Escobar singled, doubled and drove in two runs while Davis posted a four-hit night, drove in two and scored two runs
LHP David Peterson allowed just two runs on three hits over six innings
RHP Colin Holderman continued his impressive start with two innings of one-hit ball in relief
The Mets are now 16-7 on the road and have nine comeback wins on the season
Roster Moves 📰
LHP David Peterson recalled from Triple-A Syracuse
RHP Jake Reed optioned to Triple-A Syracuse
Who’s Hot 🔥
1B Pete Alonso is tied for the league lead in home runs (11) and RBI (40), and seventh in the league in hits (46). He is hitting .462/.500/.846 over his last six games with five multi-hit games, three home runs and 11 RBI during that span
LF Mark Canha has reached base at least once in each of his last six games and has a .935 OPS during that span
RHP Colin Holderman has been unsecured upon in each of his first five career outings, allowing just four hits while striking out five in five innings since making his debut on May 15
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (29-15) at Giants (22-19)
Where: Oracle Park — San Francisco, CA
Starters: RHP Chris Bassitt (4-2, 2.77 ERA) vs. RHP Logan Webb (5-1, 3.54 ERA)
When: 9:45 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
The homegrown stars are shining bright…📝
The Mets appear to be finding some traction with their offense, and it couldn’t come at a better time as the club navigates around serious questions in their starting rotation.
Of course, it helps this make-shift starting rotation is continuing to excel in this next-man up approach the Mets are employing.
Still, after struggling in the power department and to find fluidity up and down their lineup over the first month of the season, the Mets offense has ticked up considerably over their last ten games. During that span, they’re averaging 5.9 runs per game, 9.7 hits per game and have hit ten home runs, sporting a .279/.331/.448 line.
Contrast that to their first 34 games of the season, and while the Mets were scoring a respectable 4.4 runs per game, their power was missing from the equation, hitting just 27 home runs over the first month-plus of the season with a .374 team slugging percentage.
They’re now hitting the ball harder and they’re hitting the ball further.
Of course, it seemed inevitable this group of players - if healthy - would see an uptick in the offense and hit to expectation, even with deader balls clearly in-use. And with the contraction of rosters and fewer pitching options available for specific matchups, it stands to reason their offense (and offense around the game) has ticked up this month.
Make no mistake - there are still some misfires in the Mets’ lineup. For instance, Eduardo Escobar is still searching for it despite a strong night in San Francisco on Monday and Francisco Lindor of course needs to find his way again after a strong start to the year. But they’re featuring a pass-the-baton offense in large measure and supporting a pitching staff badly in need of cushioning with so much uncertainty in the short and long-term.
And in the middle of all of this offense is Pete Alonso, who is indisputably making an early case for MVP honors in the National League.
The basic numbers don’t even offer enough merit to demonstrate Alonso’s value to this roster. Yes, he is tied for the league lead in home runs and RBI, he’s in the top 10 in hits, he’s worth 1.4 fWAR through the season’s first 44 games with 152 wRC+.
That’s just simply what Alonso’s bat is capable of - the numbers could merely be a footnote in his case for MVP.
The MVP to me is different than being the league’s best player, or the league’s most prolific hitter. The MVP is defined by what a player means to a team and in the case of Alonso, he has single-handedly set a tone for and carried this lineup pretty much since day one in 2022. Whether it’s a long three-run homer like he hit on Monday night in San Francisco, a long bomb for a game winner like he smoked last week against the Cardinals, or a simple poke job the other way to beat the shift to get on-base and start a rally, he’s the pace car for this offense to follow.
Where would the Mets be without Alonso right now? That’s why this MVP conversation is being had early on.
By the way, 30 of Alonso’s 49 hits and five of his 11 homers are to the opposite field. He has grown into a complete, selfless hitter.
And it would seem Buck Showalter has found the perfect recipe for success for Alonso, strategically sprinkling in Dominic Smith at first base to get Alonso some stress relief on the field.
Thank you, designated hitter.
But let’s not forget the likes of Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo, both of which are having great seasons of their own and have unquestionably contributed to Alonso’s ability to be in this conversation.
Simply put - when Nimmo is healthy, he is elite. He is an on-base machine, he scores runs, he creates run scoring opportunities for others. He has scored a run 38 percent of the time he has reached base this season, and has reached base in all but two games he’s played in 2022. Nobody can say Nimmo is a fourth outfielder or Nimmo is expendable - he is neither. He is a vital part of this roster, and he should be retained with a long-term contract. Period.
As for McNeil (1.5 fWAR, 128 wRC+ by the way), he has found the form which made him a .319 hitter through his first three seasons. McNeil is making contact, spraying the ball all over the field with a line drive approach, and well, looking like Jeff McNeil again. His hard hit rate isn’t great but that’s probably not a bad thing for McNeil. Yes, he hit one last night but you know McNeil is going well when he’s not hitting home runs consistently - he has just two through his first 165 plate appearances. He’s at his best when he’s pesky, recording infield hits, and just being this nuisance .300-type hitter which he trademarked himself as when he was first called up.
Case-in-point - nine of McNeil’s 47 hits have been infield hits in 2022. He had 20 all of last season.
It’s been fun watching McNeil and Alonso charge forward in the manner in which they have so far this season. Last night in particular, their on-field chemistry reminded me a lot of the 2019 season when they both defined and transformed the Mets offense in different ways as a pair.
Of course, it’s early. That’s my line for the first two months of every season. But these three stars together are shining bright together again as happier days have arrived for the Mets in 2022.
Down on the Farm 🌾
Francisco Álvarez (C, No. 1 Prospect, AA): .734 OPS, 8 2B, 4 HR, 19 RBI
Brett Baty (3B, No. 2 Prospect, Double-A): .780 OPS, 12 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBI
Ronny Mauricio (SS, No. 3 Prospect, Double-A): .798 OPS, 12 2B, 3B, 6 HR, 24 RBI
Mark Vientos (3B, No. 4 Prospect, Triple-A): .732 OPS, 6 2B, 3B, 5 HR, 15 RBI
Alex Ramirez (OF, No. 6 Prospect, Single-A): .916 OPS, 10 2B, 4 3B, 3 HR, 22 RBI
All Mets affiliates were off on Monday
Around the League 🚩
The first-place Twins walked-off the Tigers at Target Field on Monday to extend their winning streak to five games
Aaron Judge hit two more home runs to extend his MLB lead to 17, but the Yankees lost to the Orioles 6-4 in the Bronx
Yankees 3B Josh Donaldson was suspended for his comments/exchange with White Sox SS Tim Anderson this past weekend
Brewers RHP Freddy Peralta will miss an extended period of time with a capsule strain in his right shoulder
Patrick Wisdom homered in his fourth straight game as the Cubs defeated the Reds 7-4 in Cincinnati