How the NY Mets Fab Four has done since Steve Cohen gave them the nickname

On July 8, the New York Mets took a hard-fought 7-6 win in ten innings over the Baltimore Orioles. The Mets’ first four hitters in the line-up, Brandon Nimmo, Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, and Pete Alonso, combined for nine hits, six runs batted in, and two home runs (one from Lindor and one from Alonso) that day. The Mets majority owner Steve Cohen nicknamed these four players “the Fab Four.” It's now been about a month later since Cohen's nickname, so let’s check in on how Cohen’s Fab Four are doing now.

Francisco Lindor

Francisco Lindor got off to arguably the best start of a season since the Mets acquired him prior to the 2021 season. After the game on July 8, Lindor was batting .260/.331/.457 with a .339 wOBA and 122 wRC+. He already had 18 home runs with 14 stolen bases in 16 attempts. With +3.2 fWAR, the only Mets position player with more fWAR was another member of this quartet, but by a margin of just 0.1.

Unfortunately, Lindor hasn’t done very well since this game. His last 113 plate appearances heading into August 10’s contest saw him hitting a meager .190/.238/.324. He has struck out at an abnormally high 25.7% rate with only a 6.2% free pass percentage. A .233 batting average on balls in play isn’t doing him any favors, but he hasn’t hit for power either, with just a trio of home runs. Lindor has also been battling through a broken toe, which has hindered his performance.

Juan Soto

Juan Soto was hitting even better than Lindor after the game on July 8. His first 402 plate appearances of the year saw Soto turn in a .269/.399/.509 triple-slash. His wOBA clocked in at .388, and his wRC+ sat at 155. Up to this point of the season, Soto had the second-best wRC+. The outfielder showed off his trademark power and plate discipline, with 21 home runs, and more walks (72) than K’s (69).

But Soto hasn’t been able to maintain those strong numbers over the last month. He has hit a meager .174/.311/.411 with a 100 wRC+ over his subsequent 103 plate appearances. Soto is still hitting for power, with seven home runs, and is walking at a 15.6% rate. But he has also struck out 28.2% of the time. Like Lindor, Soto has also been burned by bad batted ball luck, with a .160 BABIP. But the rise in strikeouts has been one of the biggest things affecting Soto as of recently. It makes it all the more dissapointing after the mega contract he signed last winter.

Pete Alonso

The most valuable member per fWAR of the Fab Four on July 9, Pete Alonso, looked like he was on his way to a career year. The Polar Bear was batting .290/.383/.551 with 21 home runs through 402 plate appearances. He had a 22.4% K% with a solid 10.2% walk rate. Overall, Alonso had a .397 wOBA, 162 wRC+, and just edged out Lindor in fWAR at +3.3.

Alonso went from the most valuable to the least valuable member of the Fab Four. He has hit just .153/.214/.341 over his next 103 plate appearances. Alonso at least has five home runs, but that’s about the only positive to speak of. He’s walking less (7.8%), striking out more often (24.3%), and has just a 49 wRC+. His -0.5 fWAR is the least among any Mets position player since July 9.

Brandon Nimmo

Brandon Nimmo was doing very similar stuff with the bat compared to Lindor. The long-time Mets outfielder was hitting .260/.318/.473 with a .339 wOBA and a 123 wRC+ after the game that caused Cohen to coin them the Fab Four. He had just a 19.3% strikeout percentage with 18 home runs on the season. He was the ‘least’ valuable of the four in terms of fWAR at +2.2, but that still put him well above-average.

Nimmo hasn’t fared much better than the rest of the Fab Four. He slashed .223/.327/.298 with a .288 wOBA, and 87 wRC+ over his next 110 plate appearances. The outfielder is walking more frequently, with a 10.9% BB%. But his strikeout rate has risen even further than Soto’s has. Nimmo’s K% is above 30%, sitting at 31.8%. He is not hitting for power either, with just a single home run.