Jim O’Connor-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Mets have not been known for being a power hitting team the past few years, nor much of an offensive team at that. However, that apparently has all changed as the Mets have dominated offensively through the first 11 games of the 2013 Major League Baseball season.
New York is third in the National League in batting average (.272), fifth in home runs (15), first in runs batted in (67), first in triples (4) and first in runs scored (69). It should be noted that the Mets have hit a home run in every single game they have played so far this season.
If New York (7-4) wants to compete with the Atlanta Braves (11-1) in the NL East, they will have to continue crushing balls out of the ball park. Considering the Mets did not figure to be a power hitting team by many before the start of the season, the numbers through the first two weeks come as a bit of a surprise. With that being said, New York clearly can hit the long ball, something they must utilize to its fullest potential.
“When you look at our lineup, I think that’s going to be one of our strengths,” manager Terry Collins told Mets.com. “We don’t have base-stealing guys … David [Wright] and Murph [David Murphy] have been .300 hitters in their careers, but we don’t have a lot of guys like that. We’re going to have to live and die with some power, and I’ve said before, once we get Ike [Davis] going, we’ve got a chance to be dangerous.”
The Mets must feed off of sluggers David Murphy, John Buck and David Wright until Ike Davis can settle into a groove. Murphy leads the team in batting average (.381) among players with at least 16 at-bats, doubles (5) and is second in RBI (11). He has also hit two home runs in 42 at-bats, good for third on the team.
The true slugger for New York in the early part of the season is Buck. The catcher is batting .317 with six home runs, 19 RBI, one double and nine runs in 41 at-bats. There is no question this is his hottest start to a season in his nine-year career. The fact that the most homers he has ever hit in a single season is 20, which happened back in 2010, it appears he is on pace to shatter career highs across the board.
It will be interesting to see if the Mets can keep swinging for the fences on a consistent basis, while using their bats to power their way up the standings.
Michael Terrill is a Senior Writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @MichaelTerrill, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
