Mets' All-Star Left Fielder Has Carried Team In First-Half

The New York Mets made significant roster changes in hopes of improving the team’s defense and “run prevention,” yet the defense has been worse than last year, and the team is 16 games under .500 with the All-Star break approaching quickly.

The best way to describe how watching Mets games has been for most of the season is like going to the circus, which is essentially how Mets legend Keith Hernandez described how New York scored its first three runs in Tuesday night’s 16-12 loss to the Kansas City Royals.

This season has been a complete disaster and it’s presumably over before the second half even rolls around. When you mortgage your entire season on a bunch of new players playing new positions and it goes terribly wrong, it’s immensely difficult to come back from.

New York is 38-54, just a half-game better than the Colorado Rockies and two games better than the Los Angeles Angels. For the amount of money the franchise spent on this team, the word embarrassing truly doesn’t capture how bad the Mets have been this year.

There are few bright spots on this team that is bound to have a huge fire sale by the trade deadline on Aug. 3, but the outfield has produced offensively and should be solid for a long time.

Rookies Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing have stepped up and been exciting to watch alongside All-Star left fielder Juan Soto, who continues to mash even if he isn’t great defensively.

Benge has 11 home runs, 25 extra-base hits and 36 RBI while slashing .262/.322/.408 (.730 OPS) in 89 games – good for a 1.5 WAR. Ewing has played in just 52 games but has six homers, 14 XBH and 23 RBI while slashing .276/.359/.431 (.790 OPS) – good for a 1.6 WAR.

And yet, those guys haven’t had seasons even close to Soto’s. Despite missing a chunk of the season with injury, Soto has hit 20 bombs, 30 XBH, walked 50 times while striking out just 39 times and slashing .299/.410/.575 (.985 OPS) – good for a 2.9 WAR.

Using the AXE model, which accounts for bWAR, fWAR, win probability added and championship probability added, ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle broke down each team’s midseason Most Valuable Player and All-Star-caliber performances.

Soto was the clear pick for MVP and was the only player to be over a 120 AXE rating, the threshold for being an All-Star type player.

“He missed some games, which is going to hurt his end-of-season counting numbers,” Doolittle wrote Wednesday. “But he's leading the NL in OPS+, OBP and slugging. For all that has gone wrong with the Mets, Soto's performance isn't one of them.”

Both Benge and Ewing have posted 107 AXE ratings, which is solid, but not what New York was hoping to see.

“Bo Bichette (102) -- who has picked up the pace, but he almost had to -- and Francisco Lindor (100) are the headlining shortfalls. But the real dirt is found in the bust bin: Marcus Semien (88), Kodai Senga (84) and Mark Vientos (82).”

This team has been bad, but at least Soto and his outfield counterparts have done their parts.