2 legitimate and 1 unjustified reason for Mets fans to panic

Unjustified reason to panic: The NY Mets offense will be just fine

I've seen a lot of complaints about the Mets offense, and I get why. It's frustrating to watch how inconsistent this offense has been after watching it be consistently solid last season. I still think the offense is the least of this team's worries.

During this recent 12-game slump, Pete Alonso has seven hits in 42 at-bats (.167 BA) with just one home run. Francisco Lindor has nine hits in 43 at-bats (.209 BA) with one home run. Brandon Nimmo has 11 hits in 46 at-bats (.239 BA) with one home run. Starling Marte has six hits in 37 at-bats (.162) without an extra-base hit, let alone a home run. How exactly are the Mets supposed to score runs when the first four batters in the lineup produce nothing?

Nimmo, Marte, Lindor, and Alonso are all all-star caliber players or better. If you think they'll struggle all season then you're right, the Mets are going nowhere. I personally will bank on the track records of these four individuals and assume they'll bounce back into the players we expect them to be and were last season. Nimmo has been mostly fine this season, but he's a part of this skid.

In addition to projected improvements for those four players, the Mets lineup is a lengthy one, especially if the kids hit. Francisco Alvarez and especially Brett Baty have looked solid at the plate, and have produced of late. Daniel Vogelbach, while he lacks power, does get on base a ton. Mark Canha hasn't been good, but he's also not the most vital piece of this lineup.

The Mets go as their stars go. Scherzer and Verlander must be Scherzer and Verlander. Lindor and Alonso must be the big boppers for this team to go anywhere. Lindor and Alonso getting hot feels a lot more likely than Scherzer and Verlander being the aces we hoped for.