Mets’ Offensive in Crisis: Cold Batting and Fall in the Standings
The Mets’ offense has been a headache for nearly two weeks, with few exceptions. This worrying trend continued on Monday night against the Atlanta Braves. On a sweltering night at Citi Field, with a temperature of 87 degrees at the start of the game, the Mets’ bats remained cold, resulting in a 3-2 loss. The team has lost nine out of ten games, scoring only 19 runs in those nine losses. The only exception was an 11-run effort driven by seven home runs in their victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday. What was a 5.5-game lead in the National League East has turned into a 1.5-game deficit behind the Phillies in a short period.Manager Carlos Mendoza attributed this offensive slump to two main problems: early deficits that have produced bad at-bats and the low performance of the bottom of the lineup. The statistics support Mendoza’s claim. Since June 11, a period in which the Mets have been limited to five or fewer runs in 12 of 13 games, New York’s fifth through ninth place hitters have combined for the lowest batting average in the Major Leagues (.183) and the second-lowest OPS (.534).We are depending a lot on our best players.
Carlos Mendoza, Mets Manager
On Monday, New York’s top three hitters – Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, and Juan Soto – combined for four of the team’s six hits and their only walk. Brett Baty, the number 9 hitter, hit the other two hits. The hitters from the fourth to the eighth position went a combined 0-18 with five strikeouts.
Soto has been an exception. After a relatively slow start to the season, the star right fielder has been one of baseball’s best hitters in June, batting .324, with a 1.188 OPS and eight home runs in 21 games. On Monday, after the Mets fell behind 3-0 in the first three innings, he hit a two-run homer in the sixth against Braves starter Spencer Schwellenbach, who pitched seven innings against the Mets for the second time in a week, for New York’s only score. However, Soto couldn’t come through with runners on the corners and two outs in the eighth inning, striking out on a 3-2 slider from lefty Dylan Lee below the strike zone on the eighth pitch of the at-bat. Lee then retired the side in order in the ninth inning for the final three outs of the game, sending the Mets to another defeat.We need to keep supporting the guys. Keep working. But it’s about results, right? So yes, we still have all the confidence in these guys, but we have to improve.
Carlos Mendoza, Mets Manager
He made a great pitch. He made very good pitches on the corners and I just couldn’t respond in the end. He threw a very good one. He got me right there.
Juan Soto, Mets Player
