Mets' lineup with Juan Soto reminiscent of Darryl Strawberry's 1986 Mets lineup
Juan Soto. Credit: AP
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Darryl Strawberry was in full Mets uniform, leaning on a fungo bat before Monday night’s game at Clover Park, as he cited the favorable comparisons between his ’86 lineup and this year’s dangerous configuration.
Power. Balance. Speed.
Lenny Dykstra and Wally Backman setting the table for Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter and himself. That collective success was based on those individual strengths functioning as a group. Strawberry sees that same potential in these Mets, and a glance at Monday night’s lineup for their 8-0 victory over the Cardinals provided a mid-March preview of what lies ahead.
Francisco Lindor, last year’s runner-up for NL MVP, leading off. Next was Juan Soto, who finished third on the AL MVP ballot, followed by Pete Alonso, one of the sport’s most prolific home run hitters over the past six seasons, trailing only Aaron Judge. Monday was the seventh time this spring this "Big Three" was aligned together — just as they will be Opening Day in Houston on March 27— and we’re already getting a taste of what’s possible.
Soto homered in the third inning — his third of the spring — by blasting a first-pitch cutter from Sonny Gray onto the grassy berm beyond the rightfield wall. Mark Vientos, positioned in what should be his standard No. 5 spot, went deep in the fourth with his second Grapefruit League homer.
Cleanup hitter Brandon Nimmo remains sidelined with a sore knee, so Jesse Winker took over that spot Monday. When Nimmo returns, Strawberry envisions a group that should be able to do damage on a regular basis, due to the quality and quantity of hitters.
“The key for any good lineup is to be consistent,” Strawberry said Monday. “Not going through long slumps for any period of time. You can’t afford that if you’re going to be in a pennant race at the end of the year.”
The Mets should be OK in that department. Last season, after Memorial Day, they ranked near the top of most offensive categories: third in OPS (.761), third in runs scored (519) and sixth in homers (144). With all of those same hitters back, and now adding Soto, it’s about as close to a guarantee as the Mets could get. And to think it was a down season for Alonso, who will be entering another walk year this time around with plenty of Soto-generated traffic on the bases. Alonso has a career .911 OPS with runners in scoring position; it jumps to 1.065 with at least two men on.
Strawberry, as you might expect, has taken a special interest in tracking Soto during his week-long stay in Port St. Lucie. A fellow sweet-swinging lefty who will be stationed in Flushing’s rightfield. There’s a natural kinship there.
“He’s a professional hitter, and he’s going to be very productive,” Strawberry said. “When you see the way he works on his craft, you know he’s going to be a huge plus for your lineup. He’s always going to be on base for the guys hitting behind him. No wonder Judge had so much success.”
Judge won his second MVP last season with Soto as his No. 2, and now it’s Alonso’s turn. Aside from the growing communication among the Mets’ top five — a process that will continue to evolve this month — Alonso just appreciates the chance to study Soto taking care of business from the on-deck circle.
“Everything that I presumed before is just being confirmed,” Alonso said. “There’s a reason why he’s a stud. You get to see him work every day, see the intent, what he does, how he does it. It’s really cool.”
Soto can be a magnet for that level of attention, but the Mets are hardly a one-man show on offense (or the two-man band Luis Severino called the Yankees a year ago). They want to be a cohesive bunch by the end of March, and that means picking each other’s brains, particularly for the junior member Vientos. He’s only a year younger than Soto, but this will be Vientos’ first Opening Day with job security (and 192 games under his belt).
“Little by little — especially with Soto — we’re kind of building that chemistry,” Vientos said Monday. “Getting a little bit tighter. I think when it comes down to the final roster, and we start playing regular-season games, and we start doing hitters’ meetings, it’s going to get a lot tighter between us. That’s how it kind of happened last year.”
Strawberry knows that feeling, too. As much as it seemed automatic for those ’86 Mets, it’s never an overnight process. Once the talent got assembled, they perfected the formula.
“We became the best at what we were doing,” Strawberry said. “Keith was a totally professional hitter that knew exactly how to set pitchers up. So you’d watch him, and then Kid [Carter] was just a big monster for us. We don’t win if we don’t get Carter. That’s why these Mets, with what they’ve already done, and now they bring Soto over here? It’s going to be set up for Pete and Mark in that lineup. Nimmo too. It’s going to be all those guys coming together and putting it together and keeping it together."
First they’ll have to play together, and there’s no return date for Nimmo quite yet. He received a gel injection in the aching knee, but he’s not up to full baseball activity, so the Mets won’t push it with their cleanup hitter. As eager as everyone is to see this Soto-boosted Mets lineup at full capacity, the wait will continue. The Mets can only hope their 'A' lineup — so reminiscent of Straw’s ’86 high-octane crew — will be in full gear by the season opener.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
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