Starling Marte has hit safely in 12 of his last 16 games and you hear about how he’s back. The problem is that it’s almost all singles and what happens when the hits stop falling in? Marte has 65 PA in these 16 games and he has 2 BB and 3 XBH. He’s got a .383 BABIP, which is a high number, and a .754 OPS, which isn’t much for a hot streak. For a comparison, Mark Canha is also working on a 16-game hot streak. In that span, he has a .333 BABIP – 50 points lower than Marte – but with a .929 OPS – .175 points higher than Marte.
It’s time to be honest about what Marte is this year – a hitter with as much power as a reserve middle infielder. In 238 PA, Marte has an .073 ISO. Last year, Luis Guillorme had an .067 ISO in 335 PA. You wouldn’t bat Guillorme in a power position nor should you bat Marte in one this year, either.
Marte does bring one very nice thing to the table and that’s his ability to swipe a bag at almost any time. He’s been successful on 19 of 22 SB attempts this year, for a tremendous 86% success rate. Buck Showalter needs to put Marte in the lineup where he feels free to steal each and every time he gets on base. He began the year batting second but was careful not to run too much to distract either Francisco Lindor or Pete Alonso.
So, both his OBP and his deference to middle of the order hitters prevent him from being a good option in the first two slots of the order. His lack of power keeps him from being good in the 3-6 power spots of the lineup. He should be batting seventh and look to run each time he gets on base.
Thats an interesting observation about Marte – anything to give the Mets more spark in the offense.
Buck has serious lineup issues as neither Marte nor Lindor belong in the top
5 spots based on an extended period of data. Marte is actually shaping up as a decent Larussa style #9. Lindor’s downward trend is the franchise’s biggest long term issue at this point.
Buck has more serious pitching issues, now complicated by Smitty sticky issues to go with the collapse of Scherzer. Maybe Buck needs to employ more of a Tampa approach.
I’m not sure what they are doing with Lucchesi. Peterson doesn’t appear to be an option.
Right now, the Mets have six players that have an 0PS+ above 94. Those players, Nimmo, Alvarez, McNeil, Pham, Lindor and Canha and they should be their everyday players and bat in the first six positions in the batting order. Escobar and Baty should be a platoon and Escobar could see some at bats as second when McNeil is in the outfield. *When* Marte starts in RF or DH then he should bat 6th follow by Cahna because the six position, according to The Book by Tom Tango, reasons that the base stealer generated more runs when followed by the singles type players . Marte then Canha is a nice fit.
Keith Law did a re-draft of the 2013 MLB Draft, the one the Mets took Dominic Smith at #11, partly because he would sign an under-slot deal. Law’s #11 pick is Danny Jansen, who went to the Blue Jays on the 16th round. But what’s really interesting is where a lower-round pick of the Mets rates. Here’s what Law has:
6. Jeff McNeil
Career WAR to date: 18.0
Actual pick: 12th round, 356th pick, New York Mets
Only two players drafted after the 10 round in 2013 have accumulated at least 10 WAR in the majors, both of whom appear on this list, with McNeil, the 356th overall selection, the leader among all players drafted after round four. McNeil was on the showcase circuit in high school but went undrafted, then spent three years at Long Beach State where he hit a total of zero homers, never walked more than 5 percent of the time, and didn’t even hit for average until his junior year. He spent a few years in the Mets’ system doing the same stuff, making contact without power, dealing with some injuries, before he suddenly got much stronger, hitting 19 homers at age 26 in Double and Triple A, more than double his career total prior to that. That added contact quality has stuck, as his swing really isn’t that different, but he’s consistently hit the ball harder ever since that breakout year, with one season in the majors of real power (23 homers in 2019) but mostly just a ton of hard-hit singles and doubles with very low strikeout rates. He’s showing some modest signs of decline in his age-31 season, which is concerning because if his contact quality stays lower, he doesn’t have a second skill to fall back on (power, patience, defense). I do think the contact skill will keep him around at least another five years, even if by the end of that time he’s a bench player.
https://theathletic.com/4606257/2023/06/15/mlb-redraft-2013-aaron-judge/
Hi everyone! I was pretty surprised to not have seen an article of how yesterday was the 30th year anniversary of the Keith Hernandez trade, the trade that I feel started the Mets rebound. Neil and Allen and Rick Ownbey. Wow, what a steal!
How about Heyman’s article on Cohen breaking records to sign David Stearns?
Long time no see Tex,hope everything is well. Our beloved Mets are a huge disappointment and I’m no longer sure they’re playoff bound. DFA Vogelbach, play Vientos,call up Mauriicioand cross your fingers that Scherzer and Verlander are Aces.
Gus!