3 Mets most responsible for measuring stick series win versus the Braves

It's not always easy to remember that the baseball season goes on for a long time, especially when your team goes winless in its first five games. The New York Mets got off to such a horrific start in the season's first week that many fans were already jumping ship, especially after a ho-hum offseason that was bereft of splashy moves did little to drum up excitement.

Don't look now, but the Mets have climbed most of the way out of their self-dug hole, and their latest couple of wins were their most impressive yet. New York has been beaten down so relentlessly by the Atlanta Braves in recent years that no Mets fan in their right mind (are there any of those left at this point?) expected anything but more despair and humiliation from what was supposed to be a four-game set at Truist Park.

Rain wreaked havoc with the series, causing multiple delays and forcing the postponement of one game, but the Mets' bats provided the real deluge, as they rained down 29 runs on the Braves' pitching staff in three games. Thursday's game was shocking in its ferocity, as the Mets hit early and never stopped, pouring it on for 16 (!) runs.

Most players on the roster contributed in one way or another, but there are three that deserve special recognition. Let's take a look at all three before the Mets head home for a 2015 World Series rematch with the Royals.

1) Brandon Nimmo went nuclear after a slow first week

Mets fans spent much of the season's first week being nervous about Brandon Nimmo. The lifelong Met is only a year into an eight-year, $162 million contract, but he was moved to left field after the team added Harrison Bader, a superior defensive center fielder, this offseason. Nimmo also started the season cold at the plate, which is not what you want from your highly-paid leadoff hitter.

Nimmo took any worries about his performance and smashed them to bits this week, because he went absolutely nuts on the Braves. He was the MVP of the first game of this series, going 4-4 with two homers and five RBIs, and he went 3-10 in the next two games, which included a double and a triple on Thursday.

Nimmo isn't known as a power hitter, but he looked so balanced and locked in on Monday that it was no surprise when his second homer sailed over the right field wall. This is the Nimmo the Mets thought they were getting when they signed him to that huge contract, and this is the Nimmo the Mets need if they hope to make a playoff push this year.

2) DJ Stewart is starting to make the most of his time as Mets DH

Most Mets fans are anxiously awaiting the arrival of JD Martinez to fill the designated hitter role, though the veteran slugger's ramp-up since signing with the team three weeks ago has been a painfully slow process. In the meantime, DJ Stewart has spent some time in the role, but before arriving in Atlanta this week, he was hitless in 10 at-bats.

That all changed in this series, and after crushing a homer in each of the Mets' two wins, the left-handed-hitting Stewart is suddenly making a case to continue getting at-bats against righties, even after Martinez joins the team. Mets beat writer Anthony DiComo wrote a story about Stewart's breakthrough, and he quoted the big lefty as saying, "It's a little bit of that weight off your shoulders" to finally come through after his slow start.

Stewart came out of nowhere to become one of the Mets' few bright spots in the second half of 2023, but it's a very real possibility that he could be sent to the minors once Martinez is ready to go. If he keeps hitting like this, he could make it impossible for the Mets to send him down.