Like the Cardinals, the New York Mets struggled offensively out of the gate this season. They averaged just 2.6 runs in their first seven games.
Unlike the Cardinals, the Mets quickly snapped out of their funk while averaging 5.6 runs over their next 17 games.
And their offense should be even more explosive against the Cardinals this weekend with designated hitter J.D. Martinez stepping in the middle of the batting order.
He has recovered from his back injury and completed his minor league rehabilitation stint.
“This is a guy that, it’s not a secret, he’s had a good career and what he provides from the offensive side and the impact he provides for a ball club,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters. “This is a pretty smart hitter and he’s got his ideas and he’s very impactful. I am really looking forward to having him on this team."
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Last season Martinez produced a .271/.321/.572 clip slash line for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He hit 33 homers and drove in 103 runs.
He will add some muscle to an offense that was already getting into high gear.
“Look -- his presence is going to help, big-time,” Mendoza said. “But I have a lot of good hitters, and guys that have done it before and had success in this league. To be able to [add] somebody like J.D. to a pretty special group that we already have is going to say a lot.”
Martinez will hit either fourth or fifth for a batting order that, unlike the Cardinals, does not feature an obvious weak spot.
“Knowing that anyone in our lineup can beat you at any given time is a huge advantage,” outfielder Brandon Nimmo said.
“I feel like we’re not close to where we want to be and where we should be,” shortstop Francisco Lindor said. “It’s going to continue to grow and get better.”
TALKIN’ BASEBALL
Here is what folks have been writing about Our National Pastime:
Bradford Doolittle, : “As the 2024 season nears its one-month mark, the Kansas City Royals -- the team that matched a franchise record with 106 losses last year -- are not only on the right side of .500, but feature one of the best run differentials in baseball. To better understand where they are, let's try to understand where they were -- merely a few months ago, at the end of a disastrous 2023 season. If Kansas City were in the early stages of a rebuild, it might not be fair to label that as a disaster. But the current rebuild can be traced to at least 2018, as the back-to-back pennant winners of the last decade were gradually dissolved. Six years down the line, you expect a team in rebuild mode to be emerging, not bottoming out. So, yes, that's a disaster . . . If the Royals' strong start turns into a season-long push for the playoffs, the beginning of that quest will be traced to the organization's decision to actually try this past winter. That might seem like a no-brainer, but when you look at the team-by-team behavior in the recent hot stove marketplace, it's not something that fans can take for granted. According to Spotrac, the Royals ranked sixth in free agent spending this offseason, committing more than $110 million to eight free agents: pitchers Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, Chris Stratton and Will Smith, and hitters Adam Frazier, Hunter Renfroe, Garrett Hampson and Austn Nola. It's not a group of stars but, highlighted by veteran starters Lugo and Wacha, it's a group of eight players with recognizable names and a good amount of big league success behind them.”
Ginny Searle, Baseball Prospectus: “The stateside arrival and debut of Yoshinobu Yamamoto was one of the season’s most-anticipated storylines following his agreement with the Dodgers to a record-breaking (in both length and compensation for a pitcher) contract. Yamamoto was one of the world’s most compelling pitching talents, something he especially evinced in the 2023 World Baseball Classic but had long demonstrated; he was also coming to one of the league’s best organizations for pitching development. As much as he had dominated the NPB, the ardor for Yamamoto’s debut was heightened due to a sense that the stuff—an explosive, rising fastball that averages 95 mph and can tickle 100, a dizzying splitter, and a looping curve not unlike that of a new teammate who’ll make his seasonal debut in the summer—would stifle the league as indubitably as someone who used that word constantly a decade ago annoyed everyone. Through five starts, the three-time Pacific League MVP has intermittently dazzled and frustrated, with a 32.3% strikeout rate to go against a 4.50 ERA. An 85 DRA- clearly preferences the first indicator, but isn’t quite as superlative as many had hoped for Yamamoto. One reason for the mild underperformance, and perhaps the route to turn it into unalloyed success, is that much-ballyhooed four-seam fastball. What was extraordinary in NPB appears pedestrian in MLB, at least as his most-selected pitch. If nothing else, the Dodgers would do well to instruct their newest, shiniest ace not to aim the heater right down the middle of the plate.”
Jay Jaffe, FanGraphs: “On Saturday — Aaron Judge Bobblehead Day at Yankee Stadium — he struck out in all four of his plate appearances against the Rays and heard a smattering of boos. Approaching the situation with Jeterian diplomacy and humor, he told reporters afterwards, ‘I’ve heard worse. I’d probably be doing the same thing in their situation.’ His struggles have been somewhat camouflaged by (Juan) Soto’s early success (.319/.432/.538, 187 wRC+ so far) and by the team’s 16-8 start, but the Yankees have little chance of holding onto their slim AL East lead if they can’t get their biggest hitter going. Judge, who will turn 32 on Friday, is batting just .180/.315/.348. He entered Tuesday’s game against the A’s in the midst of a 3-for-28 skid that included just a trio of singles and one walk against 16 strikeouts since April 15 . . . Thanks to his 15.7% walk rate, Judge’s 99 wRC+ is short of a crisis; this isn’t like looking at what’s left of Jose Abreu. But it’s decidedly out of character for a player who set an American League record with 62 homers in 2022 while hitting .311/.425/.686 (209 wRC+) en route to MVP honors, then followed it up by hitting .267/.406/.613 (174 wRC+) last year.”
R.J. Anderson, : The Houston Astros are in a bad way. Their latest loss, a 7-2 drubbing on Tuesday night by the Chicago Cubs, dropped them to 7-17 on the season. They didn't lose their 17th game last year until May 7. The Astros are already in last place in the American League Central, 5 1/2 games behind the Seattle Mariners. There aren't many easy answers to the questions facing them. Their offense has underperformed (they rank fourth in wRC+ but 19th in runs scored) and their pitching staff has scuffled, to the extent that only the Colorado Rockies entered Wednesday with a worse staff ERA. (Coincidentally, those two teams will meet this weekend in Mexico City; expect some crooked numbers.) To be fair, the Astros have a valid reason for fielding an uncharacteristically poor pitching staff: they're without most of their usual starting rotation. Justin Verlander only just returned from injury, but Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier, Lance McCullers Jr, José Urquidy, and Luis Garcia remain sidelined because of this or that malady. The Astros, in turn, are attempting to get by with the likes of J.P. France and Spencer Arrghetti. To make matters worse, high-leverage relievers Josh Hader and Ryan Pressly are sporting airplane ERAs and have combined for more blown than converted saves.”
Will Leitch, : “There is pressure on a young prospect, and then there is “centerpiece-of-a-trade-for-Juan-Soto” pressure on a young prospect. Abrams may not have quite been ready in 2022, when the Padres sent him -- along with a bunch of other young players and prospects -- to the Nationals for Soto. He took a few steps forward last year, hitting 18 homers and stealing 47 bases, but he struck out way too much and didn’t walk nearly enough, and ultimately, was a below-average offensive player. But he has come storming out of the gates in 2024, smashing six homers and hitting a league-leading three triples. Abrams is second in the Majors in slugging percentage, a remarkable stat for a player known far better for speed than power. Don’t worry, though, he’s still stealing bases, too. Fun factoid: Soto may be an early American League MVP favorite, but right now, Abrams has a higher OPS than Soto.”
MEGAPHONE
“I feel warm and fuzzy inside. Kind of like some hot chocolate on a cold day. It was great. I don’t think it will be the last time those two will homer together.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone, after watching Juan Soto and Aaron Judge hit homers in the same game.