So leaving spring training with half of your pitching staff injured is not ideal. Not knowing who will be available to start a game and having to call up starters from Triple-A just before games and sending them back afterwards is suboptimal.
That being said, the Mets offense has been part of the problem during an uneven start. New York is in the middle of the pack in home runs (34), but that's largely due to Pete Alonso crushing 11 already. The team is 12th in the league in runs (141), which is making it nearly impossible for the Mets to overcome massive injury problems in the early part of the campaign.
One of the most alarming early-season trends has been the falloff of outfielder Sterling Marte. A key catalyst last season, the 34-year-old Marte had multiple groin surgeries (ouch) in the offseason and appears to be aging quickly. In almost 100 at-bats this year, he is hitting .227 with only five extra-base hits and is also struggling in the field.
To give Marte more team to heal in hopes of helping him find his stride, New York may need to start platooning him and adjusting his role in the batting order. Moving him out of the two-hole may take some pressure off of him and give other, hotter bats a chance to jumpstart the Mets attack.
Here's how a couple of options might look:
AGAINST RIGHTHANDERS
Brandon Nimmo, CF
Jeff McNeill, RF
Pete Alonso, 1B
Francisco Lindor, SS
Brett Baty, 3B
Daniel Vogelbach, DH
Mark Canha, LF
Francisco Alvarez, C
Luis Guillorme, 2B
Moving McNeill from second base to right field gets Guillorme on the field more and allows New York to start six lefties. Switching the order of Alonso and Lindor could give the former extra at-bats with men on and alleviate some pressure off Lindor, who has been prone to extended slumps. Baty is starting to hit like a witch, so putting him in the fifth spot moves down Vogelbach -- who, let's face it, just tries to walk these days -- and strengthens the bottom third of the order by pushing down Canha and Alvarez.
AGAINST LEFTHANDERS
Brandon Nimmo, CF
Mark Canha, LF
Pete Alonso, 1B
Francisco Lindor, SS
Sterling Marte, RF
Jeff McNeill, 2B
Eduardo Escobar, DH
Francisco Alvarez, C
Brett Baty, 3B
I'm of the mind that Baty needs to be an everyday player at this point, so this configuration still allows Escobar to play a significant role. I could also see Escobar and Tommy Pham rotating as the DH against righties based on who has the hot bat. I'm less inclined to insist that Alvarez catches every day, as I feel Tomas Nido brings a lot to the team as well. I'm not sold on Canha in the second spot, but I believe his ability to draw walks and get drilled by pitches pairs nicely with Nimmo at the top of the order. In this scenario, Marte hits fifth, but could move down the order a bit more if his slump is indicative of a longer-term concern.
There are no easy answers here. The Mets consciously ignored the offense while restructuring its pitching staff in the offseason, and the team is still feeling the effects of not finalizing the Carlos Correa deal. However, I do think tinkering with the batting order could be enough to jolt the offense back to life.
Obviously, Buck Showalter knows best. But hovering near .500 as we sneak into May is an indication that experimentation should be on the table.
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