Sleepy September Offense Could Use a Wake-Up Call

Winning cures all ills and the Mets are 7-2 in September. But they have been able to do it without getting much out of the offense. That might have to change if the Mets are going to play ball in October.

The Mets (79-66) are slashing .208/.299/.330/.629 as a team in September. The batting average and slugging percentage are each good for 27th in the majors this month, the on-base percentage is 20th and the OPS comes in at 24.

There is plenty of blame to go around.

Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo are both 5-for-3o this month. Jesse Winker (2-for-22), Starling Marte (4-for-21), J.D. Martinez (3-for-18) and Harrison Bader (3-for-18) are all hitting under .200 as well. Francisco Alvarez is 4-for-17 with no extra-base hits.

Manager Carlos Mendoza talked about Nimmo’s struggles before Tuesday’s 6-2 loss at Toronto, in which the Mets went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left eight men on base.

“I feel like his at-bats, they’ve been better,” he said. “I think maybe a tick off missing pitches. But he continues to control the strike zone. He’s giving us good at-bats. It’s just the results. It’s taking a little bit longer than he would like to, we would like to. But you know every time he’s at the plate we feel good.”

“He’s going to contribute,” Mendoza added. “He’ll get through it.”

“I think it’s a little bit of everything,” the manager said. “You know, when he’s feeling good and he’s hitting balls hard, I think it’s just right at people. This is a guy that impacts the baseball, control the strike zone. You know what you getting every time he goes to the plate, which is going to be a good at-bat. Whether he is feeling good or going through tough stretches you always like your chances with Nimmo doing something good for the team. We anticipating that this turn here quickly because he’s a good player. He’s a good hitter.”

The Mets have scored 10 runs in their last four games.

After Wednesday’s rubber match with the Toronto Blue Jays, New York will face the Phillies (87-58) in seven of their next 10 contests, which might be good news for the offense. While Philadelphia is third in the National League with a 3.72 team ERA this season, it is pitching to a 4.22 ERA in September, eighth in the NL.

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