Reese Kaplan -- Some Good Things and Some Not So Good

In the first few games of the Giants series in San Francisco the Mets have looked little like the sleepwalking team that characterized their first week in the 2026 season.  All of the sudden the bats showed not only competence but real signs of life despite losing Juan Soto to injury who joined Jorge Polanco on the day-to-day list rather than being inked into the lineup every day.

What changed?

Well, for one thing, Mark Vientos has been absolutely on fire with his bat.  On Saturday he had three hits and left the game with a batting average well in excess of .450.  Tyrone Taylor playing out of seeming necessity while Luis Robert, Jr. got another day off drove in four runs which is more than many of the regulars have done for the early goings this season.  Even somnambulant Brett Baty woke up during this game. 

Of course, not all is right with the world.  Francisco Lindor is still in his early season malaise as he works his way back from injury.  Marcus Semien has heated up but still is in the .240s.  Bo Bichette has also started clawing his way back into All Star form but it’s going to take more than a hot couple of games to do so. 

Now about the one no one wants to discuss is the sub zero funk into which hot spring hitter Carson Benge has fallen.  As of right now Benge is closer to batting .100 than he is into crossing the Mendoza line.  A .111 average with one home run, 3 RBIs and 3 SBs does not suggest that he’s ready for this level of competition.  Interestingly manager Carlos Mendoza has not yet given him a day off to relieve some of the pressure.  The alternatives — Jared Young, benched Luis Robert, Jr. and multipositional player Brett Baty all are doing better in the early going. 

If we all take a deep breath then it’s much easier to realize that a mere 9 games into a 162 game marathon is not going to represent a collective yay or nay when it comes to concluding anthing definitive about the Mets offense.  Mark Vientos is as unlikely to hit .400 as Carson Benge is to remain in the .100 range.  Still, you look for signs of both positives and negatives wherever you find them. 

On the pitching side things are doing much better.  Even batting practice pitchers Dicky Lovelady and Luis Garcia didn’t lose the game for the Mets on Friday despite their heretofore best efforts to do so.  The starting pitchers of late like Nolan McLean and Clay Holmes have looked to be in midseason form. 

The bigger issues to ascertain are the two mediocre starts by ace Freddy Peralta and the good start/bad start dichotomy of David Peterson.  In between is the one start made by Kodai Senga which was filled with strikeouts and resulted in highly competitive pitching but it’s too soon to draw long lasting conclusions about him.  He’s certainly under the microscope as people struggle to evaluate which version of him the Mets will see in 2026 if he remains healthy.