Just Mets

After what was a successful and quite honestly a surprising month of April, the Mets and a good portion of their fanbase were a confident bunch entering the second month of the season; and there was good reason to be excited. Coming into May the team was 15-8 and lead the National League East by 4.5 games, including a five game lead over the preseason division and World Series winning favorite Washington Nationals.

At a glance, May did not go well for the Mets as they struggled to put runs on the board, had some lackluster pitching performances and wound up falling to second place behind the Nationals midway through the month.

However, when looking at the grander scheme, things may not have been as bad as they seemed, and perhaps the team is even heading towards the right direction as May comes to a close. Here’s what happened this past month…

Offensive blackout.

May, to say the least, was not a good offensive showing for this club. Last month the Mets averaged 3.39 runs per game (27th in MLB), hit 28 home runs (t-13th), 63 extra-base hits (t-last), hit into 28 double plays (t-3rd most), struck out 228 times (10th most), walked 71 times (t-21st) and stole eight bases (t-27th).

But wait, there’s more. In May, the Mets as team also hit .234 (26th) with a .296 on-base percentage (25th), .364 slugging percentage (24th) and a .660 OPS (26th). The team also saw 138.4 pitches per game last month, which was 24th overall in the majors.

Michael Cuddyer, signed in the offseason to add offense to this team, had quite the odd month himself. Cuddyer hit .272/.343./.391 in May while striking out in 21.6 percent of his at-bats and swinging at 34.6 percent of balls out of the zone. Cuddyer did look a little better recently as he hit two of his three home runs in May in the past week–both into the second deck at Citi Field. Overall, I still need to see more production out of Cuddyer as he hit two doubles and three home runs in May with 11 runs scored and 11 RBI.

While Cuddyer has his struggles, there was another outfielder having an even harder time this past month–Juan Lagares. After colliding with Cuddyer in the outfield at the beginning of the month, the Mets gold glove center fielder just hasn’t been the same. In 24 games in May, Lagares hit .211/.268/.244 with just one extra-base hit all month–a 2-run home run on the road in Philadelphia–17 strikeouts, six walks and he swung at 35.1 percent of balls out of the zone as well. You have to wonder if the ailing side and elbow are both affecting Lagares. His numbers have clearly dipped, when he does get hits they’ve only been singles and from a defensive perspective, his throws from the outfield haven’t been the same, either.

The injuries caught up.

Let’s face it, the Mets could only survive without David Wright and Travis d’Arnaud for so long. Two of the Mets best hitters have now both been on the disabled list since April and both have suffered setbacks as well. Their absences have not only directly affected the lineup by not being there, but also because their replacements have not been able to adequately fill in for them in the meantime.

Eric Campbell, who was the third baseman temporarily, is hitting .179 with 19 strikeouts and has since lost his job to Ruben Tejada. It’s hard to complain about a rookie and I didn’t expect him to light it up from the get-go, but from this perspective, catcher Kevin Plawecki has not been able to duplicate or even emulate what d’Arnaud did to start the season. In 28 games this season, Plawecki is hitting .213/.250/.309 with three doubles, two home runs and 10 RBI with walking just four times and striking out 24 times. To make the comparison, in just 11 games prior to going on the disabled list, d’Arnaud hit .317/.356/.537 with a double, triple, two home runs and 10 RBI.

The dawn of Thor.

There were some positives to come out of the last month, and Noah Syndergaard certainly highlights that. Noah, or “Thor” as some people call him, bursted onto the scene in May, pitching to a 2-2 record with a 1.82 ERA in four starts. Syndergaard has looked electric on the mound in each of his starts as his fastball is consistently hitting 98 MPH, while his curveball, known as the “hook from hell,” has been nasty at times. As we’ve seen throughout his minor league control, what makes Thor really special is his control, as he’s struck out 22 batters while walking just four (5.5 K/BB ratio) in 24.2 innings pitched. With the impeccable control he has paired with his sizzling stuff, that’s a pretty lethal combination.

Not only did Thor show off on the mound, but he dropped the hammer at the plate, as well. We knew that Syndergaard could hit, as he even blasted a home run in the minor leagues a week before his call up, but still, at the major league level he’s been pretty damn impressive. In four games, Noah is 4-for-11 (.444) at the plate, including a 3-for-3 game in his last start in which he hit a home run! It was no cheapie, either, as he crushed it 429 feet to dead central.

Lucas Duda’s power stroke is back with a vengeance.

First thing’s first–Lucas Duda was the Mets best hitter in April. In the first month of the season, the Mets first baseman hit .325/.427/.488 with 12 RBI and 13 runs scored. Where Duda did not excel in that first month, however, was his power, as he hit just two home runs. Still though, you expected the power would eventually come after Duda showed what he was capable of when he hit 30 home runs last season.

Well, the power sure came this past month. In May, Duda cracked seven home runs (the most on the team), hit nine doubles (the most on the team), had 13 RBI (2nd most on the team) and scored 18 runs (most on the team). Overall, Duda is now hitting .298/.394/.539 with 16 doubles, nine home runs, 25 RBI and 31 runs scored–he leads the team in all of these categories except RBI, where he trails Daniel Murphy by one run driven in.

Goodbye, Captain Kirk.

The Mets said goodbye to an old friend this past month as the team decided to part ways with outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis. While he always provided terrific defense in all three outfield spots, it just wasn’t working for Kirk at the plate this season, as he went 3-for-38 (.079) at the plate.

While Nieuwenhuis did have some memorable moments over the past few seasons in New York, you can’t win on nostalgia. The Mets traded Nieuwenhuis to the Angels on May 27th for cash.

The pitching.

The Mets are built on their pitching, and it was, for the most part, successful once again in May as the team had a collective ERA of 3.40, good for 5th best in baseball over that time.

On the surface the pitching was very good. Consider Matt Harvey. While the team did go 2-4 with The Dark Knight on the mound and The Dark Knight finished the month with five straight starts without a win, the ace did pitch to a 3.15 ERA in May.

Young guns Noah Syndergaard (2-2, 1.82 ERA) and Jacob deGrom (3-1, 2.16 ERA) were the Mets best pitchers this past month, but it was the older guys, Jon Niese and Bartolo Colon who really struggled.

Colon had the worst month of anyone on the staff, as he pitched to a 6.00 ERA in six starts, but that ERA was inflated largely because of two consecutive starts in which he got roasted. While his ERA was so high, Colon did manage to go 4-2 in May as, aside from the two blowouts, he pitched fairly well, and now leads all National League pitchers in wins with eight.

Despite the statistics, I think the most disappointing player for the Mets last month had to be Jon Niese. The 28-year-old left-hander has been in the starting rotation since the end of the 2008 season, yet has never seemed to pitch to his full potential. Whether it’s been injury keeping him off of the field, or his struggles on it, it’s just never seemed to click for Niese, who’s struggled with inconsistencies for years. Earlier in the month, Niese once had a 1.96 ERA on the season, and yet he finished May with a 3-5 record and a 4.42 ERA overall. Niese went 1-4 with a 5.56 ERA in May, allowing four or more earned runs in four consecutive starts, and leaving the Mets with a potential question mark in their soon-to-be 6-man rotation.

Another interesting note is that despite what people may think, the Mets bullpen was actually better than the starting rotation in May. The team’s relievers pitched to a 2.75 ERA (5th best in MLB) in the month, while the starters had a collective ERA of 3.67 (8th best in MLB).

While a 13-15 record is nothing to brag about, things could have gone a lot worse for the Mets in May. Two of their best players, David Wright and Travis d’Arnaud are among 10 Mets to be on the disabled list, two of their starters struggled mightily, the team couldn’t score runs for the most part and the Nationals looked like they were never going to lose… And yet they’re half a game back of first place in the NL East.