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ANAHEIM, Calif. — Once heralded as the “core four” and seen as the future stars of the Mets, Francisco Alvarez, Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, and Ronny Mauricio now find themselves emblematic of the team’s current struggles.
Entering Saturday, this quartet had a combined -0.8 bWAR, a statistic that highlights their contribution to the Mets’ challenging 11-21 season start.
Originally, Baty and Vientos were expected to play supportive roles, but injuries have thrust them into the spotlight. Juan Soto was sidelined for nearly three weeks in April, and Jorge Polanco has been absent for the past two and a half weeks. Meanwhile, Mauricio took over as the starting shortstop last week following Francisco Lindor’s placement on the injured list due to a left calf strain.
The Mets are in dire need of a turnaround, and these four players might just be the key. Each has shown potential in prior seasons, suggesting they could spark a resurgence. Here’s a closer analysis:
Alvarez
At 24, the catcher who started the season on a high note has recently seen his performance dip both at the plate and behind it.
Though his strikeout percentage has dropped, so has Alvarez’s hard-hit ball rate. The idea that he can help anchor a lineup as a consistent 25-homer-a-season presence might be fading.
Will the Mets ever get the offensive presence from Alvarez that compensates for his difficulty behind the plate?
Most notably, Alvarez ranks only in MLB’s fifth percentile for blocking balls in the dirt. Alvarez has been league average in throwing out base stealers.
Luis Torrens is the superior defensive player — explaining the two-year contract extension he received from the club Saturday — and it might be time, for the third straight season, to consider whether Torrens should play more often than a traditional backup.
Baty
There was so much hope Baty had finally arrived following a strong two-month stretch to conclude last season, but mostly he’s just appeared lost at the plate and frustrated by umpires.
Baty, 26, has bat speed — he ranks in MLB’s 75th percentile in that category — but his strikeout percentage and hard-hit ball rate are problematic.
After spending the last two seasons at third base and second base, he’s playing neither position this year as he receives work in right field and at first base. Has the change been too much for Baty to absorb?
Vientos
Other than the Mets’ first road trip of the season, when he helped carry the lineup, it’s been a slog for the 26-year-old as he adjusts to playing first base on an almost regular basis.
Vientos’ underlying numbers paint an ugly picture, with his average exit velocity, strikeout percentage and walk percentage all ice cold. Ideally, the Mets would just use him against left-handed pitching, but that luxury hasn’t been possible due to the injuries.
Vientos entered Saturday with an .833 OPS in 26 plate appearances against lefties. But in 56 plate appearances against righties, that number dropped to .548.
Defensively, he’s a work in progress at first base. He earned praise early in the season for his glovework, but there have been glaring letdowns. And his baserunning doesn’t earn him bonus points.
Most glaringly, he ran through a stop sign at third base last week and was thrown out by plenty at home plate.
Mauricio
Of the four players, the 25-year-old Mauricio is the least tested. He began Saturday with only 321 major league plate appearances, largely a result of losing the 2024 season rehabbing a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
The Mets received a reminder of his power potential Friday when he crushed a go-ahead, seventh-inning homer. The blast was Mauricio’s first this season. He began the day with 10 strikeouts in 29 at-bats, without a walk.
“It’s been difficult,” Mauricio said. “I think there are moments where maybe you are trying to focus on too many things. In order to kind of make it a little bit easier on myself I kind of have to simplify the game, focus on the things I can control, and the things you can’t control you just let that go and play the game.”