How Mets' New-Look Offense Is Paying Early Dividends
WASHINGTON -- After a rough year offensively in 2021, the Mets had a chance to add a big bat in free agency.
But instead of splurging on some of the sexier names on the market, they brought in a trio of quality veteran position players in Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha.
And with the help of their new friends, the Mets' new-look offense is already paying early dividends, resulting in a 2-0 start to the regular-season. In two games, the Mets' bats have racked up 12 runs on 25 hits.
Marte, 33, who the Mets signed for four-years, $78 million in the offseason, has a total of four RBIs with his best performance to date being his latest. Marte drove in three runs on a double and two-run single in back-to-back innings on Friday night. This proved to be the difference in a tie game that finished with the Mets topping the Nationals, 7-3.
The Mets struggled with runners in scoring position a season ago, but have produced a 9-for-24 clip through two games to start the year. New York also ranked No. 28 in baseball last year when hitting with runners in scoring position and two outs (.204 batting average).
Marte broke a tie game by driving home Brandon Nimmo with a double in the fourth inning on Friday. He followed this up in the next inning with a key two-out two-run single to put the Mets ahead 6-3.
Canha, who is one of the top players in the league at getting on-base, has gone 4-for-7 with an RBI and two walks in the first half of the Mets' four-game set with the Nationals. Canha reached base four times in the second game of this series and seven times in his first nine at-bats overall.
“It’s what every team tries to do in baseball — grind every at-bat,” manager Buck Showalter said prior to the Mets’ 7-3 win over the Nationals on Friday. “Sometimes you don’t score a run, but you can win the inning.”
As for Escobar, the third baseman is 2-for-7 with three walks and a run scored. Both of Escobar's hits have been doubles.
Among the names, who aren't new, Jeff McNeil has five hits through two contests with a home run and three RBI. In search of a bounce-back season at the plate, McNeil, who turned 30-years-old on Friday, homered for the second-straight year on his birthday and reached base safely four times with three hits, a walk and two RBIs in this matchup.
“I feel really good out there (and) super confident," McNeil said after Friday's win. " (I) feel like I should be feeling out there like in past years.
"(I'm) just trying to not do too much and get on-base and get a bunch of singles. When you do that you run into a ball here-and-there. (I'm) just trying to put good swings on it and the hits will fall.”
So what has it been like for McNeil to be apart of this new-look Mets' lineup?
“It’s been a lot of fun," McNeil added. "This team has been great so far. Two games in, but we’re swinging the bat well and getting a bunch of big RBIs in clutch situations, so hopefully we can keep that going. We just need to keep taking good at-bats, which we are right now.”
Following a year-long suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs, Robinson Cano has returned and is making an impact in the Mets' lineup with his baseball IQ and patient approach.
Cano is 3-for-7 with two runs scored in two games. He delivered an important two-run single with two outs on Friday. He also provided a spark the night before when he laid down a bunt single with the third base line open due to the shift.
According to manager Buck Showalter, Cano's heads up play changed everything for the Mets on Opening Day.
“One of the biggest parts of the game was Robby’s leadoff bunt,” Showalter said. “Isn’t it funny how good things seem to follow things like that?”
The Mets proceeded to score two runs in a tie game before ultimately beating the Nationals 5-1 on opening night.
To this point, the Mets have only scored 1 out of 12 runs via the long ball through their first two games. But they're showcasing an improved approach early-on under new hitting coach Eric Chavez.
“(We just) grinded them out, made them throw strikes and just put the ball in play," J.D. Davis told Inside the Mets before Friday's contest. "We weren’t necessarily going for that big hit or hit that goes over 400 feet. We were just looking to go up the middle, stay short and play good baseball.”
Davis was in the Mets' Opening Day lineup as the designated hitter and recorded a double, before coming around to score a late-inning insurance run on Francisco Lindor's RBI single in Game 1.
Although It's early, the Mets' new-and-improved offense is already paying dividends for a team carrying lofty expectations this season. The club will be hoping this timely hitting becomes a consistency as the year progresses.
