New York Mets: 20 Telling Stats After the Team’s First 20 Games
The baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint, and a lot will surely change over the next 142 games for the New York Mets. There will undoubtedly be ups and downs (as there have been already). Still, 20 games is enough of a sample size to at least have some observations for how things are going so far. After all, the Mets have now completed 12.345678% of their games (which is a very fun percentage since it’s like counting).
Overall, as far as the eye test goes, the Mets haven’t looked Amazin’ so far this year. New York had one great win, which was the late night victory to open the series against the Dodgers earlier this week, but they’ve largely been mostly unimpressive, while still managing to compile a quality 13-7 record. I’m not so sure this is a team that will keep up with their current 105-win pace, but you never know. So, how are the different facets of the team fairing?
Pitching
Starting pitching wise, things haven’t gone as planned for the Mets. Heading into the weekend, the team is down four of the five starters they expected to make up their rotation, Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, José Quintana, and Carlos Carrasco. Sure, Scherzer will return in 10 days (after his nonsense suspension for sticky stuff), but it’s not like he’s looked elite so far this season (2-1 record, 3.72 ERA, 17 strikeouts in 19.1 innings).
When you consider all of this, it explains a pair of not too surprising stats about the club’s starting pitchers:
1. The Mets starting pitching staff has an ERA of 4.74, 10th in the National League.
2. No starting staff in all of baseball has issued more walks than the Mets starters. They’ve issued 54 free passes in 100.2 innings pitched. In addition, the Mets starters have given up the most home runs of every starting rotation in the National League (21).
Giving up lots of walks and home runs probably isn’t the best plan for success. However –
3. Despite the two facts listed above though, Mets starters have a 9-6 win/loss record.
This is, in part, due to the fact that Mets relievers have picked up the slack in the pitching department, even without Edwin Diaz. When the Mets starters have done well enough to put the team in a position to win, the relievers haven’t blown the opportunity.
4. The Mets have 7 saves in 8 save opportunities. The best percentage of games saved to save opportunities in the National League.
5. Mets relievers have a combined ERA of 3.35, good for 4th in the National League.
The ERA for the Mets relievers is solid, but it’s the fact that they’ve been able to hold onto wins and pitch well when games are on the line that’s had a major impact on the team’s early season success.
Offense
Going back to the eye test, the Mets haven’t looked great hitting-wise this year. The stats definitely back that up, as this is a team that just doesn’t get a lot of hits.
6. The Mets have the third worst batting average in the National League, .234. They have 154 hits in 20 games. When compared to a team like the Phillies, who have 198 hits across the same number of games, that doesn’t look too good.
However, there are other elements that go into having a good offense, and in those areas, New York has actually excelled.
7. The Mets are 2nd in all of baseball in base on balls (96). Despite not hitting as frequently as other teams, these walks, and the fact that the Mets have (of course) been hit by more pitches than other clubs (16), has resulted in a .342 on-base percentage (4th in the NL).
8. The Mets have stolen more bases (21), than every team in the NL besides the Cubs (who have 22 steals).
9. In contrast to previous years, and largely thanks to Pete Alonso, the Mets are also hitting more home runs. As a team, they have 23 on the season (6th in the NL).
10. Speaking of Polar Bear Pete, he’s been an absolute beast this year. If Alonso can keep this up, he’d have to be in conversation for NL MVP. He currently leads the league in home runs (9), with an OPS of 1.024. He’s batting .286 and is second in the NL in RBIs (19).
But, even with how good Alonso has looked, he hasn’t been the best Mets offensive player. That honor, and the winner of current team MVP if such an award existed so early in the season, would likely go to Brandon Nimmo.
11. Nimmo leads all of baseball in wins above replacement (1.5), is batting .368 (3rd in baseball), and has drawn 15 walks (4th most across MLB).
12. Besides Nimmo and Alonso, Jeff McNeil is the only player on the club with a batting average over .250. He’s hitting .275.
13. There’s plenty of room for improvement on the hitting front. Some abysmal batting averages from players who’ve played in 10+ games include:
Starling Marte: .222
Mark Canha: .212
Daniel Vogelbach: .200
Eduardo Escobar: .145
Tomas Nido: .105
(Yikes!)
Defense
It’s not always talked about as much when compared to other sports, but defense is still supremely important in MLB. Let’s take another moment to appreciate the positive development of Brandon Nimmo.
14. Nimmo has turned into an outstanding defensive center fielder. According to FanGraphs DEF stat, which tracks a player’s total defensive value related to league average, Nimmo ranks as the best center fielder in the National League.
15. Nimmo’s not the best defensive player on the Mets though. That honor still goes to Francisco Lindor. Lindor has the best defensive WAR in all of baseball (0.7).
16. As a team, the Mets are excellent at fielding. They have the fewest errors in baseball with 4, or 0.20 errors per game. It’s not a fluke – the Mets also ranked as the MLB team with the fewest errors last season.
Rivals
This is a Mets article, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a few stats pertaining to the Mets two biggest competitors, the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies. It seemed like it would be a three-horse race for the NL East pennant entering 2023, but so far the Phillies haven’t done much to keep up their end of the bargain. Still –
17. The Braves have yet to beat a team that currently has a record above .500. Sure, it’s early and this stat will likely change any day now, but it’s a crazy fact 20 games in nonetheless. The Mets, to compare, are 7-6 against teams .500 or better.
18. For the Braves next three games they host the World Series Champion Houston Astros, then four games against a decent Marlins team, and then a four game road trip to Queens. (After that, we’ll have a better feel for how good they truly are!)
19. The Phillies starting pitching hasn’t been great (4.49 ERA), but their relievers have been absolutely abysmal. Phillies relievers have a cumulative 5.99 ERA (worst in the NL), with 1.66 WHIP (most allowed in NL).
Looking Forward
The Mets might not have looked great this year, but their record is such that they’re on a pace to better their 101-win 2022 season. They actually have a fantastic opportunity to further boost their win percentage over the next several weeks.
20. Of the Mets next 23 games, 19 games (all except for a four-game home series versus the Braves) will be against teams that are worse than .500. Besides the Giants (who the Mets have three more games against on this current road trip) and Braves, the Mets will be playing four teams over this 23-game span: the Washington Nationals (for seven games total, current record: 5-13), and three games apiece against the Detroit Tigers (current record: 7-10), Colorado Rockies (6-14), and Cincinnati Reds (7-12).
There are definitely positives and negatives from the Mets first 20 games, but a solid 13-7 record is a fine start for this team. Plus, despite their pitching woes and struggles at the plate for many key players, if the Mets take care of business against some of the league’s bottom ballclubs, they could find themselves in an even more advantageous position when 20 more games have been completed.