3) J.D. Martinez
J.D. Martinez has had a strange season where he has come up with some important hits but the numbers aren’t overwhelmingly great. A sub-.250 batting average and a slugging percentage way down from last season and almost 100 points below where he has been in his career, the lack of hitting and stockpile of strikeouts has made him a frustrating member of the Mets lineup.
Martinez’s presence on the Mets as a DH-exclusive player means that if he isn’t producing at the plate, he’s not giving them anything at all. He just hasn’t given the team nearly enough when right now they could use the open DH slot to give a player like Lindor a half day.
The Mets signed Martinez for one purpose and that was to give the offense-only spot in their lineup a boost. A poor July, worse August albeit with an increase in power, and a nearly absent September have Martinez trending in the wrong direction.
Something Martinez can specifically do this week is continue to tear out the hearts of left-handed pitchers. He went into Sunday slashing a terrific .286/.390/.514 against them with 6 of his 16 home runs in 123 plate appearances. More against righties would be welcomed, however, obliterating baseballs thrown by left-handed pitchers would be acceptable.