Andres Chavez

Image courtesy of © Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images The New York Mets were expected to be a World Series contender before the start of the season. That can still be the case eventually, but saying that they look the part would be a lie of laughable proportions. They are, heading into May, last in the NL East with a 10-21 record. That’s the worst in baseball, in case you were wondering. If they have won 10 games to this point, it’s certainly not because of their woeful lineup, ranked dead last in baseball with an 80 wRC+. It’s because of their pitching, which has actually been pretty decent with a 4.17 ERA that ranks 15th among 30 teams. There have been a few standout performers from the mound, both in the bullpen and starting five. So, let's try and hide our shame while rewarding the three that stood out above the rest. Ranking New York Mets' Top 3 Pitchers in April 2026 #3: Tobias Myers 9 G (1 GS), 2.33 ERA, 19.1 IP, 3 BB, 16 K We could have gone with Huascar Brazoban or Brooks Raley here, but let’s stick with the newcomer Myers, who has been an asset in a multi-inning role from the bullpen. The ‘secondary piece’ of the Freddy Peralta deal has a 2.33 ERA and a 3.29 Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) in 19.1 innings, spread over nine games. Myers has shown he can thrive in any role, and that versatility has been excellent for the Mets’ pitching staff during these tough times. The best part of his statistical profile is that he doesn’t give away any walks, with a beautiful 4.2 percent free-pass rate. #2: Clay Holmes 6 GS, 1.75 ERA, 36 IP, 11 BB, 25 K Many fans and members of the media will probably consider Holmes the best pitcher of the Mets in April, and it’s hard to blame them. The guy, after all, has a 1.75 ERA, the fifth-best mark among qualified MLB starters before Friday’s games. Holmes hasn’t struck out that many hitters, with his 17.6 percent rate ranking in the 24th percentile, but has thrived with an elite groundball rate (58.1 percent, in the 93rd percentile). He has ditched his slider to bring back a curveball to his arsenal for the first time since 2021, and it’s paying dividends. #1: Nolan McLean 6 GS, 2.55 ERA, 35.1 IP, 10 BB, 45 K Despite having a higher ERA than Holmes, McLean has been the more impressive of the two and takes the unofficial crown given to the Mets’ pitcher of the month. Simply put, the young right-hander has blossomed into an ace, and nobody can dispute it anymore. He boasts an elite 2.55 ERA with an even-better 2.26 FIP, suggesting that the best may be yet to come for the rookie sensation. McLean has struck out 33.3 percent of the hitters he has faced this year, against just a 7.4 percent walk rate, an unequivocal proof of his dominance. He is tied for fifth in MLB with 1.3 fWAR among all qualified pitchers. Peralta is excellent, and Holmes has made an amazing transition to starting pitching. However, there’s no question that the Mets want McLean on the mound in a do-or-die game... should they ever get that far this year. Honorable Mentions: Freddy Peralta, Brooks Raley, Huascar Brazoban View full article

Image courtesy of © Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images Last year, Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong, and Brandon Sproat took the baseball world by storm with their summer promotions. They were universally seen as the best pitching prospects in the organization, and they all shared the spotlight in the stretch run even though the team couldn’t make it to October. McLean developed into an ace, while Sproat was traded to Milwaukee to give the team a chance to bring in Freddy Peralta. Tong continues to develop in Triple-A. And yet, there’s a forgotten guy in the system that deserves some hype, too. Christian Scott, 2024 Mets Sensation, Returns to the Spotlight We are talking about Christian Scott, who was the McLean, Sproat, or Tong of 2024 for the Mets. He was that exciting young arm that came up to the majors with the hype of a top prospect, and mostly delivered with a 4.56 ERA in 47.1 innings. Unfortunately, he underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2024 and missed the entire 2025 campaign rehabbing. Now back to full health and after a few starts in Triple-A and a rocky 2026 debut last week, Scott is getting another chance to prove he belongs in the majors when he faces a middling Los Angeles Angels lineup on Friday. That game last week, on April 23, was a disaster. Scott couldn’t find the zone and walked five of the ten batters he faced, allowing one earned run in 1.1 innings, with no hits and one strikeout. It was, without a doubt, one of the weirdest stat lines you will see all year. Maybe it was the nerves getting the best of him after returning to the highest level after such a long layoff, but on Friday, Scott will get the opportunity of a lifetime. He gets a chance to prove he can be a viable MLB starter after having his elbow reconstructed. He gets to prove that jitters won’t be a recurring issue. His 5.27 ERA in 13.1 innings in Triple-A might seem high, but it’s a little deceitful, as he has a healthy 17/2 K/BB ratio. In his brief outing in the majors last week, Scott’s fastball averaged 95.5 mph, higher than the 94.2 mph he had in 2024. The velocity is fully back. Now, he will have to prove the command is, too. Christian Scott's Splits Issue Besides his mid-90s fastball, Scott will use a cutter/gyro slider mostly against lefties, and a sweeper to neutralize righties. Additionally, he will use a sinker and a splitter. Keeping lefties at bay will be one of his biggest challenges. In 2024, they hit .333 off him, while righties had a batting average of .167. It’s certainly something to keep in mind, although it helps that most of the Angels’ best hitters are right-handed. If the fastball command returns, Scott could be a nice mid-rotation arm for the Mets in the short and long term, attacking the high part of the zone with the heater with no fear: That will be the key to his success, as it will allow him to get himself in favorable counts and use his solid secondary stuff, or use the fastball itself to go for the kill. A return to form from Scott could be a transformational development for the Mets, both in 2026 and beyond. View full article

Image courtesy of © Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Back on April 15, we took a look at the Mets’ catching tandem and praised Francisco Alvarez for his offensive prowess. Back then, his 179 wRC+ ranked eighth in baseball among players with a minimum of 50 plate appearances. He was on top of the world, leading his team in home runs and showing why he is one of the best up-and-coming talents in the National League. He is, after all, just 24. Since then, however, Alvarez’s offensive numbers have crashed, and his wRC+ is now barely above the league average, at 107. From April 14 until April 29, he hit a rough .139/.238/.167 with no home runs, only one run scored, and a 24 wRC+. Yes, you read that right. It’s not that he has been unlucky during that time, as his .201 wOBA is very close to his .219 xwOBA. What's going on? Francisco Alvarez Has Stopped Hitting the Ball Hard What has happened to Alvarez since the middle of the month? Well, his 21.4 percent strikeout rate over that stretch isn’t alarmingly high, but his 28.6 percent hard-hit rate is alarmingly low, much worse than his 39.1 percent mark for the season and the 54.3 percent he had last season. He hasn’t been squaring up the ball for a couple of weeks now and his numbers have suffered as a result. Alvarez is also expanding the zone a bit more this year. Last season, he had a 27.7 O-Swing%, or percentage of swings on pitches out of the zone. It’s up to 31.3 percent this year, and 32.7 percent since April 14. There are other issues, too. This year, Alvarez has feasted on off-speed pitches (.569 wOBA, .482 xwOBA), much like last season. However, his .183 wOBA vs. breaking pitches has been a problem, and even if his .247 xwOBA against that specific pitch type suggests some positive regression is on the horizon, it’s still bad. He is also slugging just .333 vs. fastballs, down from .488 in 2025. A Stunning Reverse Split Threatens To Sink Alvarez's Season One curious development while looking over Alvarez’s stats and splits is his stunning ineffectiveness against left-handers. He is showing a reverse split, which is incredibly rare: against lefties, he is sporting a horrible 60 wRC+, while he is at 123 against righties. Over the course of his career, he does have a higher wRC+ vs. righties, at 107, than he does while facing southpaws (102). However, this year’s gap is astonishing, and, frankly, puzzling. Perhaps Alvarez has had problems picking up the ball against certain lefties at specific angles this year, or perhaps his approach against such pitchers has gone haywire. However, this smells like small-sample noise, which means his fortunes should change for the better, at least against southpaws. There’s no reason for his performance while facing lefties to fall so calamitously during his prime. All things considered, Alvarez does need to change some recent habits, such as chasing breaking pitches out of the zone. He should be fine over the long haul, though: let’s not forget he is a 24-year-old catcher coming off a highly productive season last year. View full article

Image courtesy of © Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images New York Mets star infielder Bo Bichette has gotten plenty of criticism for failing to produce the numbers that a $126 million player should. Coming over as one of the star offseason signings of the team, he has slumped to a 61 wRC+ in 28 games and 123 plate appearances. That performance is not worthy of a man who hit .311 last year with a 134 wRC+. However, and even though it may not feel like it at times, Bichette has actually improved a bit in recent games. He has hit safely in five of his last six games, and in nine of his last 11. Bichette had just two hits and one walk in his first five games, covering 24 plate appearances, but since the calendar flipped to April, he hasn’t been as bad as you might think, as his .276 batting average, 92 wRC+, and .332 xwOBA (prior to the doubleheader against the Rockies) are all passable. That’s certainly not vintage Bichette, but not the disaster it might seem sometimes. Bo Bichette's Shocking Power Outage There are a few problems with Bichette’s play up to this point, though. The first and most obvious one is that the power hasn’t been there this year, with just one homer in 123 trips to the plate. A career-high 54.8 percent groundball rate might help explain this; it’s hard to hit the ball out of the park if more than half of your batted balls are to the ground. Bichette is not exactly a pull-heavy slugger, but he is running a six percent pull AIR %, one of the lowest figures in the league. That may also be contributing to the power drought. On top of the power outage, Bichette is also striking out significantly more often than last year. His 22.0-percent strikeout rate is not exactly alarming, but for a guy with little power to speak of, it’s definitely noisy. It’s only slightly higher than his career 19.5 percent mark, but considerably worse than last year’s 14.5 percent. Why Bo Bichette Could Be About To Turn His Season Around Even if the totals and the season-long rate stats don’t look good, Bichette might be on the verge of putting together a strong run if the Mets are patient. He is still consistently hitting the ball hard, with a 45.2 percent mark that ranks in the 69th percentile, which is pumping up his expected batting average to .288 (85th percentile). His 76th percentile average exit velocity is also promising. The best thing of all is that the production is starting to match the underlying stats, even if the sample is tiny. Over his last four games prior to Sunday's doubleheader, Bichette slashed a strong .353/.353/.471 with a 133 wRC+. Over that span, he had two doubles, four runs scored, three RBI, and a stolen base. On Thursday, he had this incredibly clutch bases-clearing, go-ahead double that helped the Mets win their second game in a row after their 12-game losing streak. Of course, you could see in the celebration that he cares. To put it simply: Bichette needs to start pulling some balls and hitting them in the air with authority, whether they are line drives or fly balls. He is not fully out of the woods until we see him sustain a nice run over a significant stretch, but he has started to show some signs of life, which is more than we can say about a Mets team that just got swept by the Rockies. Don’t expect him to knock 30 balls out of the park, but this is still a 20-homer, .300-batting average type of hitter in his prime. Expect the numbers to start resembling that player in due time. View full article

Image courtesy of © Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images The countdown is over. After reviewing the best of the New York Mets’ farm system, we now get to analyze the cream of the crop: the top five prospects. If you missed any of the prospects ranked previously, you can find them here (6-10), here (11-15), and here (16-20). Without further ado, here are the best five prospects on the Mets, as voted by our front-page writing staff. No. 5: Ryan Clifford, 1B/OF (Triple-A Syracuse) 2025 stats: .237/.356/.470, 137 wRC+, 29 HR, 7 SB, 25.6 K%, 14.7 BB% Acquired in 2023 in the Justin Verlander trade, the 22-year-old Clifford is a powerful lefty hitter with a ton of swing and miss in his game, but also some relevant power. Last year, he hit 29 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A, and finished the 2025 season with a 137 wRC+ despite a low .237 batting average. So far in 2026, Clifford has used a recent hot streak to bump his season-long numbers up to a respectable 111 wRC+ and .813 OPS. He should continue to rake in the minors, but the way his contact skills (or lack thereof) translate to MLB is in serious question. He hits the ball hard and can certainly work a walk, as last year’s 14.7 percent rate between the two upper minor levels suggests, but he will need to cut his strikeout rate to succeed. Defensively, he can cover first base and the two outfield corners, and has respectable arm strength and range for the latter, even if he’s not a Gold Glover in the making. If given an everyday role, there are 30 home runs in Clifford’s bat in the majors. Will the rest of his offensive game develop enough for him to be an above-average offensive producer at the highest level, especially when pitchers know he struggles with breaking balls down in the zone? No. 4: Jonah Tong, SP (Triple-A Syracuse) 2025 stats: 113 2/3 IP, 1.43 ERA, 1.68 FIP, 40.5 K%, 10.6 BB%, 0.92 WHIP (Minor Leagues) 18 ⅔ IP, 7.71 ERA, 4.31 FIP, 25.3 K%, 10.3 BB%, 1.77 WHIP (MLB) Perhaps you have heard or read about Tong being compared to Tim Lincecum here or there. While it’s an obvious exaggeration and he is a long shot to have such an impactful career, Tong does bear some resemblance to the former Giants ace in pitching style. Tong boasts an explosive delivery with an incredibly high arm angle, but also excellent extension. As a result, his fastball, arguably his best pitch, has that highly sought-after ride effect, with about 20 inches of induced vertical break (IVB). He complements it with a very solid changeup that he throws with a Vulcan grip, a curveball, and a slider he rarely uses. Last year, Tong was a beast in the minors, posting a 1.43 ERA with 179 strikeouts in just 113 ⅔ innings between Double-A and Triple-A. He was then promoted to the majors, perhaps rushed because of the team's circumstances, and posted a 7.71 ERA in 18 ⅔ innings, but with a much more competent 4.31 FIP. Tong is not exactly off to a hot start in Syracuse this year, with a 5.66 ERA in 20 ⅔ innings, but remains very much in the organization’s plans, as they refused to include him in the Freddy Peralta trade. If the curveball or slider can take a step forward to join the heater and the changeup in that plus (or even plus-plus) tier, he could be something special. No. 3: A.J. Ewing, OF (Double-A Binghamton) 2025 stats: .315/.401/.429, 147 wRC+, 3 HR, 70 SB, 18.6 K%, 12.1 BB% Ewing is a 21-year-old outfielder who hasn’t had a single stint of below-average offensive play in the minor leagues since being drafted in 2023. Last year, h posted a brilliant .315/.401/.429 line in 564 plate appearances between Single-A, High-A, and Double-A, with a 147 wRC+ and a whopping 70 stolen bases. After that, he went on to put up a 169 wRC+ in spring training and is off to a blistering start in Double-A, with a 166 wRC+ in 60 trips to the plate. It’s safe to say we will see him in Triple-A soon. Ewing’s swing is not designed to hit a lot of home runs because of its downward attack angle, but he does hit a lot of liners, and ground balls for a plus-plus runner aren’t the worst idea in the world. He has star potential if he can develop 15-homer power, but even five or ten per season would make him a starter with his speed-and-defense skillset. No. 2: Carson Benge, OF (MLB) 2025 stats: .281/.385/.472, 150 wRC+, 15 HR, 22 SB, 17.7 K%, 13.1 BB% We promise you, Benge is much better than this. He can do much more than posting a .136/.219/.197 line with a 25 wRC+. Keep in mind he was probably rushed to the majors and he has just 48 games of experience above Double-A: 24 in Triple-A last year, and 20 in MLB in 2026. At his best, Benge can be a 20-20 club fixture with excellent on-base skills and a high-contact profile. Last year, between High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A, he hit 15 home runs, stole 22 bases, and posted a 150 wRC+ in just 116 games. In time, Benge will be fine. He needs to make some key adjustments, such as lifting the ball more consistently and working on his timing to do some damage on fastballs, but the potential is there for him to be an All-Star. No. 1: Nolan McLean, SP (MLB) 2025 stats: 113 2/3 IP, 2.45 ERA, 3.66 FIP, 27.2 K%, 10.7 BB%, 1.13 WHIP (Minor Leagues) 48 IP, 2.06 ERA, 2.97 FIP, 30.3 K%, 8.5 BB%, 1.04 WHIP (MLB) McLean is already an ace. There, I said it. And I don’t even feel guilty about it. With 13 MLB starts between 2025 and 2026 and a pristine 2.30 ERA in 78 ⅓ innings, I’ve seen enough. Excellent fastball velocity (95.6 mph on average this year, in the 68th percentile), a six-pitch repertoire, and a bulldog demeanor on the mound are the primary elements in his profile. His pitch-movement profile is gross (in the best way), with a sweeper that generates 20+ inches of glove-side movement and a sinker with 18 inches of arm-side movement: There isn’t much to say about McLean other than the fact that he looks ready to dominate MLB hitters for years to come. Once a two-way player, the Mets did well to get him to focus on the mound exclusively, because he is already in the top tier of young pitchers in MLB. View full article

Image courtesy of © D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images The New York Mets are 7-15 as of the week of April 20, good for a .318 winning percentage. That’s the worst record in the league, tied with the Kansas City Royals. To think that they were 7-4 on April 7 and have lost 11 games in a row is particularly painful for fans. New York is already eight games out of first place in the NL East, and we haven’t even played one month of baseball. It’s truly baffling how difficult it has been for this team to win ball games in the last couple of weeks. The Mets have been in a total free fall since then. There’s no other way around it: this has been a brutal stretch, one that could potentially prove costly in late September. You can’t win a division or secure a postseason spot in March and April, but you can certainly lose them. Losing Juan Soto Hurt, But The Mets' Offensive Issues Don’t End There What exactly has happened? Well, many things, as you probably can expect. Since April 8, the day on which the 11-game losing streak started, they have had the worst offense in the league with a horrific 51 wRC+. In contrast, the best unit, the Atlanta Braves, is sporting a 138 mark. It’s hard to consistently win games when the entire offense is so incompetent. This is where the loss of Juan Soto to a calf injury hurts a lot. People were prematurely celebrating the fact that the Mets were 4-0 since the superstar’s injury, but now that the sample is bigger, they are 4-11, and the losses keep coming. Carson Benge is sporting a 31 wRC+ throughout the full season to this point, the same as Brett Baty. Two newcomers, Bo Bichette and Jorge Polanco, both have a 54 mark. Marcus Semien is at 76, and Mark Vientos came crashing back down to earth after a hot start and is now at 71. Only four players with regular or semi-regular playing time have been above-average offensively, and two of them are injured: Francisco Alvarez (152 wRC+), Luis Robert Jr. (118), Soto (160), and Jared Young (137), who recently suffered a meniscus tear. Yes, the Mets have faced some particularly difficult pitchers, but that shouldn’t be an excuse. Since April 8, they rank 28th out of 30 teams with seven home runs, but that’s not even the most concerning part. They are next-to-last in walk percentage with a ghastly 4.7-percent mark. You may win some games without hitting home runs, but you at least have to get people on base failing that. The (not so) Amazins are doing neither right now. Mets' Pitching Has Been Subpar If you thought the pitching outlook over the course of the streak would be better, think again. Since that fateful April 8, the Mets have the second-highest ERA in the league at 5.70. Only the Houston Astros have a worse mark. Nolan McLean and Clay Holmes have been rock-solid as starters, but the rest of the rotation has fallen short of expectations. The Mets’ main problem has been Kodai Senga and his 8.83 ERA for the season. Basically, Senga was excellent in his first two starts and horrible in the last two, so it might be just a blip. It’s worth noting that his average fastball and sinker velocity has been fluctuating a bit, and that might have something to do with his recent struggles. Since the Mets’ skid started, their bullpen boasts a 6.05 ERA, the fourth-worst in the major leagues. Devin Williams and Luke Weaver, the new faces and anchors of the unit, have been inconsistent in recent outings. The Mets have been fairly average in defensive stats across the board during their stunning collapse, but other factors have come into play, such as bad managerial decisions, baserunning gaffes, and mounting pressure. Is There Hope For The Mets? Soto is expected to return during the upcoming homestand, which is excellent news. The Mets, however, need to get their offense going beyond their superstar. Some of these struggling hitters could be on the verge of enjoying better outcomes, such as Bichette (.245 wOBA vs. .313 xwOBA) and Francisco Lindor (.279 vs. .323), but others, such as Benge, Vientos, and Baty, might need a serious overhaul in their mechanics and/or plate approach. Likewise, the Mets’ pitching minds and available talent suggest things should be better moving forward, but the Senga situation should be closely monitored with so many viable rotation options waiting in the wings in Triple-A. This is a team with enough talent to overcome most of its recent issues, and there’s also a strong farm system that could offer short-term solutions and ammunition for potential trades. Some roster construction decisions, however, are starting to be questioned, such as the infield corners and the lack of better and more reliable outfield depth. The Mets aren’t as bad as their 7-15 record indicates. But when you lose 11 straight games at any point, there are going to be serious doubts about your ability to contend for the World Series title as currently constructed. View full article

Image courtesy of © John Jones-Imagn Images If you're a New York Mets fan, you probably don’t need us to tell you how long it took infielder/outfielder Brett Baty to become a reliable, above-average hitter in the major leagues. From 2022 to 2024, he racked up 602 plate appearances, in which he posted a rough 71 wRC+. Just when the Mets were about to give up, though, Baty put up incredible numbers in the 2025 spring training, earning an everyday role. After he yielded a 66 wRC+ in his first 58 trips to the plate that season, he found himself in Triple-A again. But Baty returned a couple of weeks later and was so good over the rest of the season that he finished with a 111 wRC+ and 18 home runs last year. With first-round pedigree and having seemingly turned a corner in 2025, the 26-year-old was set to star in a multi-position role for the Mets this year. Things, however, haven’t gone the way he probably imagined. Brett Baty's Plate Discipline Has Evaporated Heading into the weekend series against the Cubs, Baty is slashing a brutal .203/.197/.288. Yes, that’s right, his batting average is higher than his OBP, which can happen when sac flies or sac bunts enter the equation. In short, his plate discipline has completely disappeared. He is the only qualified hitter in baseball without a walk and has struck out 32.8 percent of the time, roughly one-third of his plate appearances. That’s not ideal. He had made strides with his chase rate last year, as it sat in the 70th percentile at 24.9 percent. This year, he is swinging at pitches outside of the strike zone 38.5 percent of the time, which ranks him in the 11th percentile. Yikes. So, as you probably suspect, a lot of Baty’s issues have to do with horrible plate discipline. The quality of contact, however, has also been subpar, as his 2nd-percentile xwOBA (.216) suggests. Baty is well below the league average in metrics such as hard-hit rate (23rd percentile), expected batting average (19th percentile), and expected slugging (18th percentile). Additionally, Baty feasted on fastballs last year, hitting .278 off them and slugging .495. The 2026 sample is still ridiculously small, but he is at .257 and .343, respectively. The difference in xwOBA against heaters is night and day: it was .383 in 2025, and has collapsed all the way to .205 in 2026. So, to sum up, Baty is not just swinging at everything, but also can’t catch up to fastballs this year. It might be a timing issue because his average bat speed is still solid at 74.8 mph — good enough to rank him in the 84th percentile and exactly the same as last year’s. Brett Baty Can't Turn To Luck To Fix His Velocity and Swinging Issues We can’t even say that Baty has been unlucky: his .210 wOBA is right on par with his .216 xwOBA. He has just been terrible. Can he improve? Well, of course he can. Will he? That’s the million-dollar question. Any bounce-back bids will have to start by not chasing so much. Believe us when we tell you that it’s much easier said than done, but he has done it before. He has rapidly improved his feel for the strike zone in the not-so-distant past. It happened last year! He’s not hopeless. He will have to regain his stroke and his rhythm, especially against fastballs. And he will have to put the barrel on the ball more consistently. That sounds simple, but it's a lot of work to do in the middle of the season. He just seems late on high-velocity stuff, which in turn is making him susceptible to the more-difficult-to-hit breakers outside the zone: With his timing still way off, the Mets’ utility man is pulling fewer balls in the air than ever before in his career, at 7.3 percent. His career mark is 14.1 percent, and the league-wide average is 16.7 percent. Getting Baty going should be a priority for the Mets at the moment. They are the second-worst offense by wRC+ in the entire league, so anything that the talented but inconsistent hitter can provide will be greatly appreciated. View full article

Image courtesy of © Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images Things aren’t going particularly well for the New York Mets right now. Before taking the field against the Dodgers in their three-games series finale, they have lost seven straight games and are in last place in the NL East with a 7-11 record. You can say a lot of things about the Mets' struggles thus far, but their catching tandem has been a no-doubt-about-it net positive in 2026. Starter Francisco Alvarez is among the hottest hitters in the league, and backup Luis Torrens offers the kind of defensive reliability that managers relish. Francisco Alvarez Is Breaking Out Let’s start with the one who is behind the plate most of the days, Alvarez. He leads the Mets with four home runs, and his 179 wRC+ ranked eighth among National League hitters with at least 50 plate appearances before Tuesday’s games. That’s not too shabby, seeing as it’s also the best mark in baseball among full-time catchers. Alvarez’s offensive potential has always been enormous. He hit 25 home runs as a rookie in 2023, posted a 101 wRC+ a year later, and finished 2025 with a 124 wRC+ even after nursing a hamate bone injury, broken fingers, and other ailments. He entered 2026 fully healthy and ready to take off, and that’s what he’s doing. Alvarez is basically walking a bit more than ever before while cutting his strikeout rate from 26.4 percent last year to 18.2 percent in 2026. That major improvement, plus his amazing contact metrics, have allowed him to increase his batting average to a solid .283. The backstop is also hitting the ball with authority, so it’s not just empty contact. His 50 percent hard-hit rate ranks in the 79th percentile, and his 23.5 percent barrel rate is absolutely elite, in the 97th percentile. His expected slugging percentage is a jaw-dropping .722, significantly better than his .605 actual mark. So, if you think he has been magnificent, well, he has actually been a bit unlucky, too. Alvarez has managed to grow at the plate every year and against every pitch, as his xwOBA chart indicates that he is one of the most dangerous hitters in the National League: Luis Torrens Has Been An Asset Behind The Plate Torrens is not much of a hitter, with a career 80 wRC+ and a 63 mark this year, in 19 trips to the plate. He justifies his spot on the roster with excellent skills behind the plate, though. Besides being a solid game-caller, Torrens is above-average to excellent in virtually every facet of his craft: blocking, throwing, and framing. In fact, he racked up 10 FRV (Fielding Run Value, a Statcast metric that considers contributions in all those departments) last year, good enough to rank fifth among MLB catchers with at least 600 innings. This year, Torrens already has +2 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and +1 FRV. He is a net positive in the ever-important framing department, and pitchers completely trust him. Torrens’ lack of offense caps his ceiling to a very solid backup, but the Mets are extremely happy with his work. He is the perfect complement to Alvarez. The Whole Package: Alvarez Can Be An Above-Average Defensive Catcher While Torrens’ limited bat prevents him from being an All-Star catcher, it’s fair to say that Alvarez can be a solid defensive backstop. In fact, he has been one in the past, but we would have to go to 2023 to find some of his best work. That season, a 21-year-old Alvarez ranked in the 95th percentile in Fielding Run Value, with 11. He was also in the 97th percentile in framing, so yes: if injuries don’t get in the way, we are talking about a potential two-way contributor at one of baseball’s most important positions. Alvarez regressed to a -5 DRS and -6 FRV last year, but it was also a rough campaign for him health-wise. He is still only 24, though, so a return to his 2023 form or at least close to it is not entirely out of the question. In any case, the Mets have plenty of things to worry about right now, but their catchers definitely aren’t one of them. View full article

Image courtesy of © Kevin R. Wexler-NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Carson Benge is one of the best prospects in baseball, owner of consensus top-20 status in the league. With 15 home runs, 22 stolen bases, and a 150 wRC+ last year in the minors across three levels, he seemed ready for stardom. Until he wasn’t. Before taking the field on Wednesday, Benge was slashing a paltry .091/.211/.182 with a 24 wRC+ and a 28.9 percent strikeout rate. That’s certainly not what the New York Mets would have wanted for his first few weeks as a major leaguer, but truth be told, this outcome was always within the realm of possibilities. It’s important to note that it hasn’t been all negative, though. The dynamic outfielder has stolen four bases in four tries and boasts a solid 13.2 percent walk rate, which ranks him in the 76th percentile among all qualified hitters. The pieces are there, but the puzzle has yet to be put together. Carson Benge Requires Patience After Just 24 Triple-A Games Last Year Yes, Benge won a spot on the Mets’ Opening Day roster fair and square with a strong spring that saw him post a 140 wRC+ in 46 trips to the plate. Yet. some people conveniently forget that he struggled to the tune of a 53 wRC+ in a short Triple-A cameo in 2025 that lasted 24 games. There’s a non-zero chance that Benge is not ready for the majors as of this moment, but there is also an even bigger likelihood that his current struggles are part of an adjustment period that could end relatively soon. Which one is it? Well, we are going to need more data, but with young players like him, every day represents an opportunity to learn. Unfortunately, the Mets need him after losing Juan Soto to a calf strain that sent him to the injured list. Their current outfield picture is comprised of Benge, Luis Robert Jr., Tyrone Taylor, Jared Young, and Brett Baty. That’s not ideal, even though some of them are actually producing, and the team won four in a row after losing Soto. The Mets have no choice but to be very patient with Benge. He does need to start showing something, though. The 23-year-old will swing at pitches out of the zone, but his 49th percentile chase rate is not a huge problem. Additionally, his 52nd percentile whiff rate is merely average, but also not a huge concern. What's the problem, then? Basically, three specific, separate situations: Making contact at pitches inside the zone, an excessive amount of ground balls, and issues against the fastball. Benge ranks 147th out of 188 qualified hitters with his 80.4 percent Z-contact%, which means that he hasn't been able to do much with pitches in the zone to this point. Pitchers will keep challenging him until he can, and if he can't adjust, his walk rate may start plummeting as a result, depriving him off his most useful attribute so far (getting on base). Carson Benge Must Adjust To MLB Fastballs His issues against fastballs are perhaps more worrisome. Benge has managed a meager hit in 17 plate appearances that finished with a four-seamer, with a .256 xwOBA that ranked him 153rd among 195 players with a minimum of 10 plate appearances ending with the pitch. He is, however, slowly making strides in that department. Here's a nicely hit batted ball that should have gone for extra-bases in the series opener against the Diamondbacks: In that game, he had two hard-hit balls, including the one in the video above. One of them left his bat at 95.2 mph, and the other one at 99.8 mph. Perhaps a bit of patience will do the trick, because the tools are definitely there. That being said, only 14 of 188 qualified hitters had a higher ground ball rate than Benge's 59.1 percent. By now, we all know that hitting the ball on the ground so often doesn't lead to desirable outcomes. He was never billed as a 30-homer threat, but getting the ball in the air more frequently will alleviate longer-term concerns about his slugging impact. In totality, Benge definitely has things to work on as he develops into a reliable major-league producer. Consider, however, that he probably needed more time in Triple-A before declaring him a bust. Benge remains a highly promising player despite struggling right out of the gate, and ten early games of subpar production won't change that. Can he help the Mets in the short term, though? That's something he'll have to prove in the coming weeks. View full article

Image courtesy of © Robert Edwards-Imagn Images Earlier this week, it was revealed that New York Mets star Juan Soto will visit the injured list for the next two to three weeks as he recovers from a low-grade calf strain suffered last Friday. Considering the wide array of potentially worse outcomes, you can firmly say that both the team and the player dodged a bullet with the diagnosis. However, that doesn’t change the fact that the Mets will be without their best hitter for a while, anywhere from a couple of weeks to close to a month depending on how the injury evolves. Simply put, there’s no replacing Soto, not even if you are the manager of the NL All-Star team. He offers a unique offensive profile that’s almost impossible to replicate. The superstar outfielder had hit ‘just’ one home run before going down with his injury, yet was off to another incredible start this year; Soto was hitting .355 with three extra-base hits, five RBI, a 164 wRC+, three walks, an six strikeouts in eight games. An Elite Performer Still Finding His Groove Soto’s power and patience numbers weren’t at their best in his first eight games, yet only 14 National League hitters had a higher wRC+ than him as of the morning of his placement on the IL. This is an offensive machine entering his prime and about to post some scary stats in 2026 and the years to come. Last year, Soto became a member of the 40-30 club after homering 43 times and stealing a career-high 38 bases, which is remarkable given his 13th percentile sprint speed. If you want to talk percentiles, however, you should take a look at his offensive profile. In 2025, the Mets outfielder and perennial MVP candidate ranked in the 98th percentile in average exit velocity, 100th percentile in xwOBA, 97th percentile in barrel rate, 97th percentile in hard-hit rate, 100th percentile in chase rate, 96th percentile in expected batting average, and 100th percentile in walk rate. And, if you follow the Mets closely, you surely remember he was being criticized in the early stages of last year’s campaign because of his ‘slow’ start, which was basically a slightly lesser version of these stats. What do all these percentiles mean? Well, the short answer is that Soto is a beast. The more elaborate response is that he is a nightmare matchup for pitchers because he combines elite contact ability, power, and plate discipline. Not even Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani have such an amazing combination of the three, even if their most prolific skill (power) is more noticeable in the box score than the otherworldly all-around contributions Soto offers. Soto is a cheat code because he doesn’t chase, and when he swings, he basically murders the ball. His plate discipline is so legendary that his judgment of the strike zone often conditions umpires to make their calls. A Legend In The Making That’s what the Mets offense will be missing for the next couple of weeks, a guy with a legendary eye at the plate and 245 career long balls before turning 28. A few years ago, he was already flirting with 100 MLB homers at 23 years old, when some of the top prospects in the game weren’t even in Triple-A. It takes a special talent to post a 146-wRC+ season over 494 plate appearances at 19 years old. Soto did it in 2018, and since then, he has only gotten better. This season, his Statcast profile hasn’t been all red like last year, but he only played eight games. That’s a tiny sample for some of these metrics to be stable, yet he still is in the 88th percentile in Statcast’s Batting Run Value. Give him a couple of weeks to return and a few more to find his stride, and let’s re-visit these metrics in the late summer. It's not a stretch to say he's the best pure hitter in the world. As for the Mets, they will probably have to use Brett Baty a lot, at least vs. righties. Tyrone Taylor and Jared Young, who is actually off to a strong start, will also be factors (Ronny Mauricio was called up to take his roster spot, but he won't be starting regularly). Replacing Soto, however, will require more than just a couple of reserve players doing a good job. Even the pitchers will need to step up their game for this injury not to derail New York’s first month. View full article

Image courtesy of © Brad Penner-Imagn Images Freddy Peralta’s first turn in a New York Mets uniform wasn’t exactly a masterpiece if you only glance at the box score. Giving up four runs over five innings, including a pair of homers to Brandon Lowe, usually feels like a rocky start for a new ace. But box scores are a bit like looking at a finished painting from across the room: you see the colors, but you miss the brushwork. If you step a little closer, there was plenty to suggest that Peralta’s outing was far more calculated and promising than it appeared. The most striking part of his afternoon wasn’t the hits he surrendered, but the way he attacked. Peralta didn't walk a single batter while striking out seven, showing a level of aggression that keeps a defense on its toes. He leaned on his four-seam fastball about 49 percent of the time. That’s close to last year’s 53.5 percent mark. The real story, however, lived in his secondary pitches. A New Look for a New Team The slider suddenly became the guest of honor in Peralta’s repertoire. He threw it nearly 29 percent of the time against the Pirates, a massive jump from the 10.2 percent usage we saw in 2025. Last year, the slider was essentially the forgotten tool in his shed, buried behind his changeup and curveball. On Thursday, it was his primary weapon of choice. This shift wasn't a random roll of the dice, either. Statistically, Peralta’s slider is a nightmare for hitters, boasting a .161 xwOBA and a 52.8 percent whiff rate last year, both elite marks. Doubling down on your best pitch is rarely a bad strategy. Furthermore, the Pirates ranked 29th out of 30 teams in 2025 with -53.7 slider runs above average, or, in this case, well below average. Only the Colorado Rockies were worse against that specific pitch type. It was a classic case of a pitcher playing to his strengths while exploiting a known weakness in the opposition. We have established that Peralta did, in fact, favor his slider over his other secondaries in the opener. Was it good, though? Well, that depends on what you're looking for. The Double-Edged Sword When the slider worked, it was like a disappearing act. Peralta generated a 64 percent whiff rate with the pitch on Thursday, bamboozling lefties and righties alike. It was a swing-and-miss machine that looked nearly unhittable at times. However, baseball is a game of inches, and when the slider missed its spot, the Pirates made him pay: Despite the whiffs, the actual results on balls put in play were loud. One of Lowe's home runs and a double came off the slider, leading to a bloated 1.037 wOBA. The underlying numbers, specifically the xwOBA of .235, suggest that Peralta actually pitched much better than the results indicated. The issue wasn't the pitch itself, but the location. He missed his spot high a few too many times, a death sentence for a slider without huge sweeping tendencies. Refinement on the Edges Television broadcasts might have mislabeled the offering of that Lowe home run as a curveball, but the data, in this case Statcast, says it was the slider. The movement was there, the velocity was right, and the intent was clear. If Peralta can move that pitch from the middle of the plate to the edges, it transforms from a liability into a lethal weapon. As he settles into the rhythm of the season and grows more comfortable in New York, the command should follow the stuff. This debut wasn't a red flag; it was a blueprint for how dominant he can be once he stops finding the fat part of the bat with one of his best breaking pitches. View full article

Image courtesy of © Jim Rassol-Imagn Images The story of Francisco Lindor in Queens has been one of high stakes and even higher production. Since arriving in 2021, he has evolved from a player meeting skeptical boos into the heartbeat of the Mets' roster. Over the last three seasons, he has turned into a statistical Swiss Army knife, slashing .265/.342/.479 with 95 home runs and 91 stolen bases. When you pair the resulting 129 wRC+ with his trademark Gold Glove-caliber defense, you aren't just looking at a good shortstop; you are looking at one of the premier anchors in the sport. He is a rare breed of consistency, missing just 15 games over those three years. Usually, predicting a 32-year-old superstar in his prime is a straightforward exercise. However, Lindor’s 2026 outlook hit a snag on February 11 when he underwent surgery for a hamate bone stress reaction in his left hand. It is a race against the clock to make the Opening Day lineup, and while he is already playing spring training games, the real question is how hard he can swing it. Hamate injuries are notorious for being the ultimate power thieves, often sapping a hitter’s ability to drive the ball long after they have been cleared to play. Even as he checks boxes in mid-March, the ghost of this injury tends to haunt the box scores for months. Mets Can Learn From Francisco Alvarez's Injury To understand the potential frustration ahead, we only need to look at the other side of the plate for the Mets; Francisco Alvarez dealt with a similar ordeal in 2025. While Alvarez suffered a clean break and Lindor a stress reaction, both required surgical intervention. Alvarez went under the knife in March and was back in the lineup by late April, even hitting a home run in his second game back. But that early blast was a bit of a mirage. The young catcher soon hit a wall, looking like a shell of himself as he struggled to a .236 average and a meager .333 slugging percentage over 35 games. The lack of pop eventually forced the team to send him to the minors in June just to find his rhythm again without the bright lights of New York magnifying every weak fly ball. It wasn't until July 21 that he earned his way back to the MLB roster. From that point until the end of the season, Alvarez hit a stellar .276/.360/.561 with a 157 wRC+ in 139 plate appearances. He was so good that he managed to be an above-average hitter over the course of the entire season, per his 124 wRC+. However, those early weeks were a stark reminder of how a hand injury can turn a powerhouse into a contact hitter. Think of a hamate recovery like trying to drive a car with a misaligned steering wheel. You can get from point A to point B, but you can’t really open it up on the highway without feeling the vibration. Lindor might be back on the field quickly, but his grip strength—the literal engine of his power—requires time and patience to recalibrate fully. The Mets’ shortstop is a fast healer and famously durable, but biology has its own schedule. History suggests that while these injuries aren't career-enders, they demand a mental toughness to handle the "gap year" in power numbers. Fans should temper their expectations for those first 150 plate appearances or so. If Lindor starts the season with too many singles and just a few extra-base hits, don't spend too much energy fretting over a supposed decline. Let the strength return naturally, and the star who has defined this era of Mets baseball will eventually find his stride again. View full article