3 under the radar Mets players helping the team win games
The New York Mets sit at 14-9 to begin the season after a 7-3 road trip. They sit just half a game back of first place despite a bevy of injuries and underperforming starting pitching.
The Mets have gotten outstanding production out of their stars as expected. Pete Alonso has 10 home runs already. Brandon Nimmo has a .455 OBP. Francisco Lindor has 13 extra-base hits already. Even with guys like Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha struggling, the Mets offense has been, for the most part, good.
What's really helped this team get off to the good start it's gotten off to has been the help of some players who we did not expect to produce. Here're three examples.
1) NY Mets DH Daniel Vogelbach has been very productive
The 2022 trade deadline got a lot of hate from Mets fans, but Daniel Vogelbach has been quite good as the Mets DH. Last season, he slashed .255/.393/.436 with six home runs and 25 RBI in 55 games as a Met. The power wasn't quite what we had hoped for, but other than that, nothing to complain about. He had a 139 OPS+ which trailed just Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil.
This season has been more of the same from the Designated Hitter. He only has one home run, but Vogelbach has been an on-base machine.
He's slashed .250/.412/.375 with one home run and eight RBI in his 17 games. He has a 123 OPS+ which trails just Nimmo, Alonso, and McNeil on this team. He's drawn 11 walks while striking out just 10 times.
I get the frustration with the lack of power, but there really isn't much more the Mets could ask for from Vogelbach. I will take a .412 OBP even with just one home run three weeks into the season.
2) NY Mets reliever Brooks Raley is the left-handed arm the Mets missed last season
Last season, the Mets opened the season with Joely Rodriguez and Chasen Shreve on the roster. Shreve was DFA'd just a couple of months into the season as he never really got it going. Rodriguez lasted the entire season, but was never really the high-leverage lefty most bullpens have. The Mets often opted to use someone like Seth Lugo against opponent's best lefties.
With that in mind, the Mets traded for Brooks Raley, a reliever coming off of a career year in Tampa Bay. Taking one awful outing away, Raley has been as advertised to begin his Mets career.
In just his third appearance of the season, Raley allowed four runs while recording one out in Milwaukee. Raley was just one of virtually every Met who struggled at American Family Field. Before and after that outing, Raley has been dynamite.
Raley has gone nine straight appearances without allowing a run. He's gone 7.2 innings and has allowed just six hits while walking only one. He has eight strikeouts in those appearances. Raley already has eight holds in his 12 outings.
His 3.60 ERA is misleading. He's had one bad outing. Other than that, he's been dominant. The Mets bullpen has been overused, and Raley is no exception to that as he leads the league with 12 appearances. Even with the heavy workload, I have no complaints about what he's done.
3) NY Mets pitcher Tylor Megill has been the Mets most consistent starting pitcher this season
Mets starting pitchers have really struggled to begin this season. Justin Verlander is hurt. Jose Quintana is hurt. Carlos Carrasco got off to a dreadful start before going on the IL. Even Elieser Hernandez is out.
Because of all of these injuries, the Mets have had to dig deep into their depth. Max Scherzer has been iffy to start the year, and is currently suspended. David Peterson was the Game 2 starter and he has a 7.36 ERA. Kodai Senga has had some great moments, but hasn't quite hit his stride yet. Joey Lucchesi looked great in San Francisco, but he's made one start.
With all of that being said, Tylor Megill has been the Mets most consistent starting pitcher this season. That's mostly due to this rotation being so shaky, but Megill has also been solid in his own right.
Megill's numbers aren't anything extraordinary. He has a 3.96 ERA in five starts, striking out 19 batters in 25 innings of work. Megill hasn't been dominant, but he also hasn't been awful in any of his starts.
Megill has gone at least five innings in four of his five starts. He's allowed three runs or fewer in four of his five starts. Limiting the damage and giving your team the chance to win is a good thing. Would I like more length from Megill? Certainly. But compared to what the rest of the staff has been giving, it's hard to be mad at his output.