NY Mets: 3 players who need to step up and carry the offense

The New York Mets offense has had a wild ride this season. With a lot of the team having seen time on the injured list, it put other players in a position with more pressure to stand up. Unfortortuntly, a lot of the main staple guys have not been able to step up.

As we arrive at the summer months, the Mets are just getting back a lot of injured players that will hopefully bring them their deep feared lineup that has the potential to be one of the best in the league.

Although the Mets are finally getting back key guys and will essentially have a full-strength lineup, there are still players that need to pick up the pace.

The Mets have three guys that really need to step up at the plate and do more to help the struggling offense.

Although the entire offense as a whole has struggled this year, there are people whose struggles stand out more. Once you have a significant amount of time in the league or are an established Major League hitter, certain things are expected from you.

Let’s look at three players that need to step up from an offensive standpoint.

James McCann

I would say James McCann was brought in more for his defense than his offense, but his offense has still disappointed greatly this season.

McCann had a breakout season in 2019, his first of two seasons for the Chicago White Sox. Fast forward to the shortened 2020 season last year, his improved offense stayed with him and earned him a deal with the New York Mets for $40.6 million over 4 years.

Now in his first season in Queens, McCann is hitting similar to his Detroit Tiger days when he was not exactly a threat at the plate.

Although his defense is a severe upgrade to the last Mets catcher Wilson Ramos, his offense is going to need to be picked up. Being paid $10 million a season to play defense with below-average offense numbers is not going to settle well with New York fans.

McCann’s walk rate is actually up from previous years and his hard-hit rate is right on par with his previous two solid years. Part of the problem appears to be that McCann is hitting a career-high in ground balls at 50 percent clip and the lowest line drive percentage in his career around 17-18 percent.

When you do not have blazing speed to beat out ground balls it is going to hurt your numbers and it shows with McCann. If he is able to get behind the ball instead of on top of it, there is a good chance McCann can get back to the offensive numbers we saw the previous two seasons in Chicago and help carry the struggling offense.