Mostly quiet NY Mets offense is due to level up against the Nationals

The New York Mets may have just had a perfect home stand against the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies, but there is one aspect of their performances that needs to step up against the Washington Nationals starting on Friday, April 25. It's their ability on offense to score more runs with runners in scoring position.

Mets offense needs to step up their game at the plate against the Nationals

During the recent home stand, the Mets as a team scored more than five runs once, which was the seven-run game against the Cardinals on Sunday, April 20. In that span, they had plenty of opportunities to score runs with runners in scoring position but weren't able to do so. This is something their offense has struggled with so far this season, as well as recent seasons. They will be heading to Washington, D.C., to play a Nationals team whose pitching staff has been inconsistent so far in 2025 with a current team ERA of 4.69.

A good way that the Mets can improve with runners in scoring position in the Nationals series is by simply having more patience at the plate. They consistently swung at almost every pitch during the Phillies series, especially in Wednesday's extra innings game. For example, Francisco Lindor grounded out with a runner on second base to send the game to extra innings on Wednesday after swinging at every pitch after the at-bat count became 0-2.

Lindor is one of the Mets players who has struggled with runners in scoring position so far. He currently has a .190 batting average in 21 at-bats in that category, as does Juan Soto. Brandon Nimmo and Mark Vientos have also struggled to get runners home, as their OPSs are currently in the .400 range. Additionally, Luisangel Acuña's batting average with runners in scoring position is .100, only recording one RBI hit in 10 at-bats so far.

The last time the Mets played the Nationals was in September 2024. It was a home series in which they swept the Nationals, scoring 10 runs in two of the three games. For the most part during that series, the Mets got their runs via RBI singles and doubles and not a lot of home runs. Just by getting on base will provide more opportunities for this team to get more runners in scoring position and score more runs instead of trying to hit for power all the time.