2 parts to love about the Mets starting lineup, 1 part to dread

The New York Mets have given us a variety of lineups this season as any team will over the course of a year. We’ve already seen Tommy Pham bat leadoff. Changes in the lower part have been more frequent as Buck Showalter tries to find the best combination of nine bats on any given day.

A few elements of a typical Mets lineup are consistent. We know where we’ll usually find Pete Alonso. We realize Tomas Nido probably won’t hit higher than eighth as long as there are healthy bodies.

In the early days of the season, what should we love and what should we dread about the lineup cards?

We love the top half of the NY Mets starting lineup

What’s half of nine? It’s 4.5 which in this case means we can love the number one through five hitters half of the time. This is the case even if it’s an imperfect first five in the order.

Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte at the top are chef's kiss worthy. Follow that up with Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso. Add in Jeff McNeil. While McNeil isn’t an ideal number five hitter, his ability to put the bat on the ball makes him a constant threat to drive in runs even if he’s far more likely to single four times in a game than pick up an extra base hit.

There isn’t much messing around to do with these first five. Daniel Vogelbach has been getting frequent starts in the number five spot which is acceptable. He does need to do a little more, though.

So far, what we love most about the Mets starting lineup is how it starts. The complete opposite is what we dread most.

We love that the Mets starting lineup still continually draws walks

It’s early and a part of this may fall on the Miami Marlins pitching staff, but we should give some credit to the Mets hitters for their patience. The Mets had amazing OBP numbers as a team last season. It looks like it could continue into the 2023 season. Even guys who aren’t hitting the ball well are working deep counts and regularly drawing a fourth ball.

The benefits of this are clear. Tiring out the opponent, earning a free pass, and clogging up the bases all come from it. The drawback is the Mets can get a little too caught up in looking for a walk. Vogelbach is one of the guiltier players when it comes to this. We may be more of a .230 hitter this season but at least he does find ways to get on base.

Strangely, the Mets might benefit a lot more from having a freer swinger somewhere in the lineup. This is a team that loves to walk and get plunked. It’s great. Have too many of those guys and your team because of a station-to-station lineup. The Mets were, in many ways, lucky to score as many runs as they did last year with this style of play. One of the reasons was consistency. They rarely lost a series. Steady pitching allowed them to be victorious without a whole lot of offense.

Every Mets fan should appreciate this lineup’s ability to get on base. Before we fall completely in love with it, each hitter should remember their bat can do a lot more damage.