Pete Alonso has been on fire here recently. In his last 17 games he has a .349/.429/.762 line in 76 PA, with 8 HR and 24 RBIs in that span. It’s brought his season-long OPS+ to 160, which is tops on the club among the 15 hitters to have amassed at least 15 PA this season. But how does it rate among all Mets players in history?
If we look at splits by half and only look at players with at least 200 PA – Alonso currently has 240 – there have been 51 instances where a Met has produced an OPS+ of 150 or greater. We all remember the impact Yoenis Cespedes had when the Mets acquired him in 2015. In 249 PA for the Mets in the second half of 2015, Cespedes had a 151 OPS+, which tied him with three other players, including mighty Joe Christopher, who turned the trick in the second half of 1964.
John Olerud and Mike Piazza hold the all-time Mets record for highest OPS+ in a half with a 184 mark, both accomplished in the second half of 1998, with Olerud doing it in 326 PA and Piazza in 298.
Alonso’s 160 OPS+ is almost exactly what he did in the first half of 2019, when he cracked 30 HR in 376 PA and had a 162 OPS+. Alonso had a .298 BABIP in the first half of ’19 and finished the year with a .280 mark in the category. Today, he has a .299 BABIP. Alonso’s been every bit as impressive so far in the first half of 2022 as he was in his rookie season.
ROUGH SLEDDING FOR A 2021 ALL-STAR – Chris Bassitt started off his Mets career with back-to-back outings of 6 IP and in those 12 innings, he allowed just 1 ER against the Nationals and Diamondbacks. Since that time, he’s faced some better teams and he’s found things much more difficult. In his last nine starts since that great beginning, Bassitt has gone 2-3 with a 4.42 ERA. He’s been done in by the gopher ball, as he’s allowed 10 HR in 53 IP. LHB in particular are giving him trouble in this span. In 101 PA versus lefties, Bassitt has allowed a .256/.337/.511 triple-slash line. He’s given up 23 hits to LHB, with 11 of those going for extra-bases, including six homers.
THE PROMOTED BACKUP – Neither Mets catcher started off the season all that impressively at the plate. Tomas Nido began the season as the backup to James McCann but has become the starter with McCann on the IL with a fractured left hamate. McCann’s last game was on May 10. Since that time, Nido has stepped up with the bat with more consistent playing time, even if this hot streak of his hasn’t really been that impressive. Before the McCann injury, Nido had a .471 OPS in 44 PA. Since then, Nido has a .279/.340/.302 line for a .642 OPS. Unfortunately, it’s taken him a .400 BABIP to produce that number. It’s nice that catcher hasn’t been the black hole offensively that it was in April. But how long can the hits fall in at this rate for Nido?
RELIEF FROM UNEXPECTED PLACES – Before the season started, chances are most Mets fans had little or no idea who Colin Holderman and Stephen Nogosek were. But that duo has came up from the minors and given the pen terrific performances. The two have combined for 21 IP, 2 ER, 5 BB and 22 Ks. The announcers have specifically noted how Holderman has been given more prominent roles lately, including last night when he was brought on mid-AB to face the dangerous Mookie Betts. Holderman got his man and ended up credited with the win, upping his record to 3-0.
At some point, injured pitchers will return to the team and the Mets will have some decisions to make. One thing they’ll have to address is if they really need two mediocre lefty specialists in the pen. While Holderman and Nogosek have combined for a 0.86 ERA, Joely Rodriguez and Chasen Shreve have combined for 18 ER in 37.2 IP for a 4.30 ERA. Both Rodriguez and Shreve have appeared in higher-leverage spots but it’s not like they’ve faced tough outings, with both lefties entering games with Leverage Indexes beneath 1.0, which is considered average. Shreve is barely above Holderman, holding a 0.74 to 0.70 edge. The real outlier is Nogosek, who clearly hasn’t earned Buck Showalter’s trust yet, despite allowing just 1 ER in 10 IP. Nogosek has a 0.20 Leverage Index when entering games, the 14th-lowest mark among the 15 relievers used by the club this season.
While Nogosek should probably get some higher-leverage outings, perhaps Showalter can ease back some with Adam Ottavino, who leads the club with a 1.69 Leverage Index at the start of his appearances. Both Seth Lugo and Drew Smith should be used when available in higher-leverage spots. Since Showalter stopped bringing him in mid-inning so often, Lugo has a 2.00 ERA and a 0.889 WHIP in his last 17 games and 18 IP.
METS STILL STRUGGLE VERSUS SOUTHPAWS – The past few seasons, the Mets have featured a lefty-hitting lineup the majority of the time. They’ve tried to rebalance the lineup, with all five of the major imports the team has brought in the past two offseasons being either RHB or switch-hitters. But this emphasis on players capable of hitting from the right side of the plate has not resulted in great numbers versus LHP.
In this season where so many things have gone right, the Mets are just middle of the pack against southpaws, with a .697 OPS against LHP. League average so far this season is .690 and the Mets are 13th in MLB.
For most of the year, lefty Brandon Nimmo was the club’s top performer against southpaws. But recent hot streaks by Alonso and Eduardo Escobar have dropped Nimmo to third place. Escobar leads the club with a .933 OPS versus LHP, with Alonso at .912 and Nimmo at .894 against lefties.
Outside of Escobar, the additions made to balance the lineup have been underwhelming. Here’s how the other four imports since Steve Cohen took over have performed against southpaws here in 2022:
.695 – Mark Canha
.653 – Francisco Lindor
.639 – Starling Marte
.338 – McCann
Hopefully over the rest of the season, Canha, Lindor and Marte move further away from McCann and closer to Escobar versus LHP.
Alonso is red-hot in carrying the team but he has a helper in Lindor. Lindor has an OPS of .985 in the last 15 games. It is a nice one two punch. Joe Christopher the name of the past who had a career year in 1964.
Nido has the BABIP gods smiling for him and he only has an OPS of .642 ! Well, he has experience.
I thought that the Mets obtained Escobar because his splits against left-handed pitching. In 2021 he had a OPS of .877. He has improved this year with a .933. Good job, Eduardo!
Bassit talked abt this problem with lefties in an article on the athletic. He said the AL had great right handed hitters so he tailored his pitching and sequemecing to get righties out primarily. Coming to the NL he discovered the NL had the best lefty hitters and he s had to make the adjustment. I suspect he will improve in this area over the coming weeks.
There were 54 players in MLB to bat either left or as a switch-hitter in 2021 and amass at least 500 PA. Of those, 26 were in the AL all year long and one more who split time between the AL and NL. Additionally, three of the top five and 11 of the top 19 in OPS+ played in the AL. I’m having a hard time believing that the AL was significantly weaker in the quality of LH hitters.
Lots of great stuff in this article, Brian… you are a marvel.
I feel the team is actually coming together better than it might appear.
Escobar’s return from the horror of his cold stretch means a lot to the lineup, and Lindor is staying more solid than I can remember him being. Canha is the real deal, consistently producing excellent ABs if not always the best results. And Marte still seems to be rounding out his entry to his new surroundings. The good news is that these guys should avoid the Mets having prolonged cold streaks.
Meanwhile Alonso is clearly the best he has ever been. While in the last two weeks he has begun to show some cracks along the edges, flailing at sliders off the plate like Alonso of the past, he has maintained his discipline in not getting down, getting great swings the next time up. He seems more relaxed at the plate, more sure of his strike zone and pitch reading, and more confident than ever. He is the Mets bigboy bat, and I am reminded of Jack Clark, who was the only power hitter on the fantastic Cardinal teams of the eighties… Alonso is leading the team, and not with personality or enthusiasm, but with production.
Thanks for the kind words!
Alonso was a hair better in the first half of 2019 than he’s been so far. And so much of Pete’s production this year has come in the last three weeks. It will be interesting to compare his numbers in 2022 to 2019 when we reach the AS break.
Can anyone explain the rationale behind the position player pitching limitation?
Just what is protected or prevented?
I’ll take a whack at it:
I believe the rule is to protect the integrity of the game. The last thing MLB wants is to see a Beer League Softball game break out at ML games. Sure the fans love to see non-pitchers throw an inning here and there, but it does damage the “gravitational atmosphere” of teams trying to win games at all costs. The last thing baseball wants is to become is a circus, turning off the diehard fans who still form the base of support.
This same thing goes for trick plays. Balk rules are specifically designed to allow the fans at the games to be able to follow the action without confusion. If pitchers could fake and fool baserunners and hitters, many fans would be left to wonder “what just happened?”… not good for pure enjoyment from spectators.
Thank goodness the offense has been putting up some runs. Hopefully by the end of the season both Alonso and Lindor are in contention for the MVP. Alonso hits much better when he lays off of the out of strike zone slider.