To begin the season in June, the New York Mets were 24-35, and they were a joke. Suddenly, the Mets exploded, especially the offense. Along the way back to .500, the Mets defeated the defending champion, the Texas Rangers, and even more significantly, the Mets clobbered the New York Yankees. The offense has been the key for New York as their lineup has finally come together. Last season and this season, the Mets owned the biggest payroll in the MLB, and finally, the fans have seen why that’s an important stat.
The Offense Of The Mets Continues to Hit, Here’s Why
Boosted By Its Power
Now, having a big payroll does not mean that a team is automatically good, but that means that the team has plenty of good players. In 2023, the Mets would hit well and pitch poorly, and then pitch poorly and hit well, but finally, as the halfway point of Baseball nears, the Met’s offense has gotten so powerful that even if New York pitches poorly that day, they could still when the day. The number of home runs has spiked because of old and new stars; Pete Alonso leads the team with Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo trailing behind him like last year, but this year, these old stars have been helped by Mark Vientos and J.D Martinez, who both have 9 homers. The difference is that Mark Vientos has hit 9 homers in just 35 games, while Martinez has done so in 52 games.
One still cannot forget Francisco Alvarez, who has been a massive help to New York. In the last 24 games when Alvarez is the starter, the Mets are 21-3. He has 4 home runs this season but is hitting with a higher average than last year, and the power is starting to come as he has 3 home runs in his last 5 games. Alvarez’s average is also at .313 in 30 games this season.
Success Against Aces
Aces are usually what they are: aces, excellent pitchers that are hard to come by for a team’s offense. However, the Mets have destroyed aces over and over again. To review some of the recent performances against the Mets, Shota Imanaga allowed 10 ER while striking out 3 hitters and walking 1 in just 3 innings pitched. His ERA was raised to 2.96 after it had been around 1.80 for several weeks. Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil allowed 5 ER runs or more in the Subway series, while Javier Assad, Jon Gray, and Dylan Cease all had poor performances against the Mets. Not one of these pitcher’s ERA is below 3 after taking on New York. Aces has been no problem for New York lately, a recipe for success.
Situational When Needed
Even if a player does not have good power, which is hard to find on New York’s roster, the players still perform well in other aspects. Only Jeff McNeil continues to slump for New York, but Tyrone Taylor, Harrison Bader, and Jose Iglesias have been helpful at any time this season for New York. Bader has presented the Mets with surprising power, while Iglesias and Taylor have been clutch for New York at many moments. These hitters that don’t present New York with much power have still lifted New York higher than many may have thought.
Overall, the Mets’ offense is the highlight of their success this season. If their offense keeps rolling, so will the Mets’ Success Express.
Main Photo Credits: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
