On cusp of big addition, Mets' lineup shows all-around promise

SAN FRANCISCO -- Before the Mets played their series finale at Oracle Park on Wednesday, most questions floating around the visiting clubhouse concerned a member of the offense not yet present. The plan is for J.D. Martinez to join the Mets on Friday. Significant excitement surrounds the six-time All-Star’s debut. Yet hitting coach Jeremy Barnes was among those speaking practically when he called Martinez a professional bat, “not a savior.”

For the Mets to achieve the types of things they wish to achieve this season, Barnes knows, they will need more than just Martinez. They will require regular excellence from a core group of hitters including Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Starling Marte and Jeff McNeil -- something they received in part on Wednesday, when Lindor hit two homers and part-time player Tyrone Taylor drove home three runs in an 8-2 win over the Giants.

The victory snapped a three-game losing streak, allowing the Mets to escape California with a .500 record on their trip. It was also, notably, the last game the Mets will play without Martinez on the active roster. As Martinez spent a month nursing a stiff lower back and preparing his body in the Minors, the Mets scored a slightly above-average tally of 4.7 runs per game. (The Major League average entering Wednesday’s play was 4.4.)

Once Martinez joins the lineup?

“I feel like we’re not close to where we want to be and where we should be,” Lindor said. “It’s going to continue to grow and get better.”

Because the season is still so young, New York’s poor early-April production continues to mask what’s generally been a strong offense. Consider the Mets’ season splits:

First seven games: 2.6 runs per game
Next 17 games: 5.6 runs per game

Since that first week of the season ended, the Mets didn’t endure a notable offensive stumble until they faced Tyler Glasnow and Logan Webb out West -- two early contenders for the National League Cy Young Award. Throw out those games, and the 5.6 figure above rises to 6.3. That would lead the Majors by a large margin.

“I’d say [it’s been] more than coming,” Nimmo said, cutting off a question about the club’s recent offensive production. “What I’m really happy with is how the guys responded [to] that first week.”

Eventually, the Mets will need to be able to beat the Glasnows and Webbs of the world. For now, however, it’s more important that they find ways to stay consistent against rank-and-file pitchers. So it was Wednesday morning, when the Mets received word that reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell would be scratched due to an adductor injury. In their hitters’ meeting less than two hours before gametime, the Mets reviewed scouting reports on multiple Giants relievers. Then they bashed several of them around the ballpark.

The ringleader was Lindor, who was 0-for-San Francisco before legging out an infield nubber in the first inning. Using a bat that teammate Omar Narváez picked out for him, Lindor unleashed a much more satisfying two-run homer to give the Mets the lead in the third inning, then another two-run shot with the game mostly in hand in the ninth. In between, Taylor added a solo homer and a two-run double, while McNeil contributed an RBI single as part of a two-hit attack.

For weeks now, this has been a complete offense, with contributions from nearly everyone. In addition to Lindor and Taylor, Alonso, Marte, Brett Baty, DJ Stewart and Harrison Bader have all had their moments. No single player has carried this bunch, which is about to grow stronger with the addition of Martinez.

“Knowing that anyone in our lineup can beat you at any given time is a huge advantage,” Nimmo said.

Baseball is not football. One game cannot tell the story of a season (or even significantly influence it). Instead, a club’s production is best measured over larger swaths of schedule.

In 2022, when the Mets won 101 games, they averaged 4.6 runs per game over their first 24 contests. Last year, when they missed the playoffs, they averaged 4.7 runs per game over their first two dozen games.

This year, the overall picture looks about the same. But this year, the Mets are about to add a significant offensive piece who could tip the equation more fully in their favor.

“Look -- his presence is going to help, big-time,” manager Carlos Mendoza said of Martinez. “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.”