The New York Mets are off to a 23-13 start and look like the World Series contenders many expected them to be entering the season, but that doesn't mean everything about the team is perfect.
An injury to Jesse Winker has caused manager Carlos Mendoza to make alterations to the team's lineup against right-handed pitching, and let's just say there's one major flaw in the clean-up spot for the second consecutive game.
🌵⚾ #LGM pic.twitter.com/DXzfXGPUSU
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 6, 2025
Yes, that's Starling Marte in the clean-up spot for the second straight contest. If this were 2019 or even 2022, hitting Marte fourth would've been justifiable — if not preferred. In 2025, however, hitting Marte behind arguably the NL MVP favorite is a choice that's really hard to defend.
It goes without saying that Mendoza should make an adjustment to not hit Marte so high in the order sooner rather than later.
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Carlos Mendoza needs to make necessary lineup adjustment for the Mets' offense to thrive
Through 24 games, Marte is slashing .183/.296/.317 with two home runs and 12 RBI. He's hitting just .195 with a .623 OPS against right-handers. He went 0-for-3 in the clean-up spot on Monday. He's gone 0-for-2 against Tuesday's starter, Zac Gallen. Why exactly is he hitting in one of the most important spots in the lineup?
All hitting Marte there will do is give the Diamondbacks an excuse to pitch around Pete Alonso, thus taking the bat out of one of the game's best players' hands right now. That's the last thing that the Mets should want.
I get that if we're being objective, neither Brandon Nimmo nor Mark Vientos, the ideal candidates the Mets would want hitting behind Alonso, have torn the cover off the ball this season. With that being said, though, both have been much better lately, and both are much more formidable than 36-year-old Marte, who simply doesn't offer much at the dish anymore. It's not even as if he can wreak havoc on the base paths, either at this stage of his career.
Nimmo had a nine-RBI game just last week, while Marte has just 12 RBI in 24 games this season. Vientos is slashing .298/.359/.509 with three home runs and 10 RBI over his last 15 games. He has six more hits over that 15-game period than Marte has all season.
Daily lineup discourse is never something fans should realistically entertain, but hitting Marte clean-up when an argument can (and probably should) be made that he shouldn't be playing at all is worth criticizing Mendoza for. Maybe Marte silences the doubters and starts to look like his former All-Star self with more consistent at-bats, but until that happens, it's really hard to defend Mendoza, a really good manager, for this one stubborn decision.