The Mets are winning in a way we’ve been waiting to see

The New York Mets scored 21 runs in their two games against the New York Yankees. The home run barrage in the humid and wet late June air actually managed to bring them up to fourth place in all of Major League Baseball. Only the Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, and Los Angeles Dodgers have hit more long balls than the Mets who’ve, by the way, played in fewer games than those three clubs.

The 97 home runs represents a version of the Mets we’ve been waiting to see. Thanks in large part to a quick 9 from Mark Vientos and the growing contribution of power out of Francisco Alvarez, this is now a team that doesn’t need to sweat because they’ve lost their closer to a 10-game suspension.

Are the Mets really this true of a power hitting team?

No one’s home run totals are much of a surprise. Pete Alonso leads with 16. Francisco Lindor has 13. Brandon Nimmo showed us last year that he can challenge for 25-30 regularly. He’s currently at 12.

After them there’s Vientos and J.D. Martinez with 9. Both would already be in or close to the teens if they were on the Opening Day roster. Add in Alvarez whose power bat would be right there with the rest if he didn’t miss two months of the season and we have a Mets offense that includes six hitters with 25+ home run potential. 

The Mets have gotten decent power out of Starling Marte with 7 home runs and some of Harrison Bader’s 14 doubles on the year are beginning to fall a little further. He’s only at 6. With Marte out, the Mets might sit Bader a little less than they have been. They’re certainly in no rush to get Ben Gamel or DJ Stewart into games. Tyrone Taylor started both against the Yankees despite facing a righty both nights.

Home runs have become the main ingredient for Mets wins. Don’t look so surprised. They finished with the tenth most in MLB last season with 215. In 2022 they finished in a tie for 15th place with 171. Oddly, their 176 in 2021 had them falling way down to 25th place in the league. It was a much more home run happy year for sluggers and guys ready for their “Brady Anderson season.”

We’ve seen three stages of the Mets this season. The pitching carried them early. Then came a period where it wasn’t anyone doing the heavy lifting. Now it’s the offense’s turn to throw the load over the shoulder. Mets pitching remains a bit of a mystery, but with double-digit or near run totals becoming a more regular occurrence, it’ll be hard for the Mets to not come away on top.