NEW YORK — For all their work to improve at the margins, as evidenced by a flurry of roster moves Friday morning, what the Mets needed more than anything was production from their stars.
Entering Friday’s game, Francisco Lindor (.687), Pete Alonso (.771) and Jeff McNeil (.618) were posting the lowest OPS numbers of their careers. Brandon Nimmo (.721) hadn’t had a low since his cup of coffee as a rookie. With the exception of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, JD Martinez (.762) hadn’t posted an OPS this low since 2013, the year the Astros cut him. From each of them, the Mets needed more.
They are starting to understand. Lindor extended his hitting streak to 10 games, Martinez hit a second straight home run, Alonso doubled in a run, Nimmo scored twice and Starling Marte had two hits and four RBIs in a 10-9 win against the Diamondbacks Friday night at Citi Field. . It was the Mets’ second-best offensive performance of the season (16 points at Atlanta on April 11), allowing them to win despite an imperfect performance from starter Luis Severino and some lingering problems in the bullpen.
“Everyone is starting to get their rhythm,” Marte said through an interpreter when asked about the infraction.
Manager Carlos Mendoza added: “At one point it was what we expected, what we envisioned. …We know what we are capable of. We have a lot of good players here, a lot of good hitters, and we’re seeing some really good signs right now.
Here’s a closer look at some of the work that led to it.
Now, on the way…
When Mendoza put him in first place on May 18, Lindor was in a 1-for-21 funk that had dropped his average to .195. He went 0 for 5 that day only to fall even lower, but that proved to be his nadir. In the dozen games since then, starting each day, Lindor has hit .365/.411/.577 with seven extra-base hits. He went 4-for-4 in Thursday’s win (the night after personally calling a players-only meeting to discuss team processes), and followed that up with a two-hit performance on Friday.
Asked if he had changed anything in his approach since taking the lead, Lindor joked: “I have to rush to get to the surface.”
In other words, no, not really.
“Maybe his routine could be a little different,” Mendoza said, “but other than that, his at-bats are great.”
Of course, Lindor batting leadoff means someone else has to move further down the lineup. That someone, Nimmo, enjoyed adapting to the three-hole. Although he didn’t thrive there in the same way as Lindor, Nimmo says he learned a lot from watching Lindor and Alonso attack pitchers early in games — just like those two watched him. On Friday, Nimmo produced his first multi-hit game as New York’s third hitter this year, finishing 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored.
Iron Man
Only two players have appeared in all 57 games for the Mets this season. The first is Lindor, who takes great pride in this sort of thing. (One of his best games came earlier this month, when he stayed out of the starting lineup due to illness, entered as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning, and finished with a pair doubles of two points.)
The other is Alonso, despite leaving Wednesday’s game after taking a 93 mph fastball to his right hand. The slugger left without a fracture and felt well enough to hit a double the next night. On Friday, he was back in the starting lineup, where he had his only hit: an RBI double in the fourth that set up a three-run inning.
Among the Mets’ stars, Alonso — despite an overall decline in production — has been the most consistent. He produced a .773 OPS with 10 extra-base hits in April and a .732 OPS with 14 extra-base hits in May.
Just Dingers? It’s happening
Every afternoon, Martinez brings a tripod and camera to the batting cage, using them to film his mechanics and make sure everything is okay. But early in his Mets tenure, something was indeed wrong. Martinez, who made a career out of hitting the ball in the air, just wasn’t doing it enough for his liking.
So Martinez made a mechanical change to stop “emptying” his barrel or letting it drag behind his shoulder when transitioning from setup to swing. He hit the ball in the air on four of his last five balls in play, two of which cleared the fence.
“Hitting the ball in the air is good for me,” Martinez said. “Drawing low line drives and rolling balls over the top and down the floor is really not my thing. I’m just happy when I hit it, it goes up in the air.
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