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CINCINNATI – For weeks Mets general manager Zack Scott has categorized the starting pitcher as a more urgent need for the Mets than offensive help. And while that doesn’t necessarily prevent the Mets from acquiring a big hitter like Kris Bryant before the July 30 trade deadline, the Mets would rather spend their limited potential resources elsewhere.
This is only a viable strategy if the club’s starting hitters consistently behave like Scott and his lieutenants always believed they could. To that end, the Mets hit three more home runs – including grand slam Dominic Smith – in their 7-0 win over the Reds on Wednesday, scoring over seven points for the fourth time in their last five games.
“It’s amazing – all the sticks are coming in now,” said infielder Luis Guillorme, who hit a two-run homer in the fifth. “As you’ve seen the last few games here, we did exactly what we were supposed to do.”
Before the all-star break, the Mets were ranked 29th in the Majors with 3.72 points per game. Since then, they are fifth in the league with an average of 6.67 points per game.
This may be too small a sample to draw any meaningful conclusions, considering the hiatus ended less than a week ago. But it’s still revealing, given that Mets officials have long anticipated this type of rebirth. With everyone in their opening day roster healthy outside of Francisco Lindor, the Mets erupted offensively, as evidenced by home runs of Smith, Guillorme and Jonathan Villar on Wednesday.
The explosion was more than enough for Marcus Stroman, who delivered eight white innings with one hit to give a beleaguered pitching staff much needed length.
“As an offense we know it’s a long year,” Smith said. “We’re going to go through our ups and downs. We just tried to stay consistent with our routines and preparation, and we just tried to cut back on each day. We knew we would eventually burst.
When the Mets sacked batting coach Chili Davis earlier this season, team officials were criticized for blaming the roster issues on him, rather than the injuries ravaging the unit. offensive. For nearly two months, the Mets played without Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto and JD Davis. In their absence, other players like Lindor and James McCann fell apart. How much of this was due to a lack of protection in the lineup is not entirely clear, but it went without saying that once the Mets got healthier their attack would improve.
The final piece of the puzzle fell back into place last Friday when Davis returned from IL. And although Lindor suffered an injury soon after, the Mets are at least now operating at something close to full power. Nimmo, who chose to start the Grand Slam rally in the third round, reached base with a clip of 0.417 since returning from his own injury. McNeil, who followed Nimmo’s single with one of his own, leads an 11-game hitting streak. Pete Alonso has crashed since winning the T-Mobile Home Run Derby, while Michael Conforto, who scored twice in the Mets’ win over the Reds, consistently kicks the ball with authority.
In short, the Mets look more and more like an attack that, on paper, was considered one of the best in the National League as the season draws near.
“What we want now is to maintain that consistency,” said manager Luis Rojas.
If the Mets can prove it, it should give the front office a break before the July 30 trade deadline. While the Mets are still unlikely to spend any significant prospective capital on a two-month hire like Bryant, Desperation does fun things for a team during the commercial season – look no further than acquiring it out of. character by the Mets of Yoenis Céspedes in 2015 as proof.
But a few more days of production like this could solidify the Mets’ plans to focus on pitching instead.
For the first time in a long time, the Mets could be comfortable with their offense as is.
“We believe in this line,” Smith said. “We don’t care what our numbers say. We know we can wreak havoc at any time.
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