The numbers through four games aren’t pretty for the Mets.
Not only have they lost all of them, but their lineup has been especially ineffective, as they are near the bottom of the majors in almost every significant offensive category.
But that’s not what’s really stood out to hitting coach Eric Chavez.
“I’m not looking at individuals, I’m looking at it as a whole unit,’’ Chavez said Monday. “I’m more concerned about the team approach, the team attack and stacking up good, quality at-bats.”
And after not seeing enough of it in the series sweep versus Milwaukee, he hoped to have found some answers prior to Monday’s series opener against Detroit.
“I’m looking for more aggression and for us to attack a little bit more,’’ Chavez said. “And to do it collectively, as a group.”
He didn’t find it in a 5-0, 10-inning loss to the Tigers at Citi Field.
Asked after a fourth straight loss to start the season what he’s seen from his team at the plate, manager Carlos Mendoza said, “Chasing a lot, expanding [the strike zone]. Especially passing early in counts and chasing out of the zone. A lot of empty at-bats, not creating much traffic … Trying to do too much instead of taking walks.”
It’s something Chavez said he’s trying to fix.
“I thought Milwaukee was a little bit more aggressive than we were,” Chavez said of the first series. “I always felt they were putting pressure on us. We might have had a couple good innings in that series, but nothing that was consistent enough.”
That’s what he addressed with his hitters Monday in hopes of a quick turnaround.
He insisted he wasn’t worried about veteran bats like Brandon Nimmo or Francisco Lindor, who are both 1-for-16 or Jeff McNeil (1-for-12) and instead wanted the offense to simply attack.
“Everybody is gonna be fine,’’ Chavez said. “And I told them today we want to get after it. That’s what we want to see, from top to bottom,’’ Chavez said. “From one to nine.”
Chavez was well-regarded as the team’s hitting coach two years ago before he was moved to bench coach a year ago.
And while he was still on the coaching staff, Chavez said he made a concerted effort to separate himself from what the offense was doing last season and focus on his role at the time.
Now that he’s back with the hitters — splitting hitting coaching duties with last year’s hitting coach, Jeremy Barnes — his attitude has shifted again.
“It’s a mindset,” Chavez said. “That’s what I talked to them about today: Hitting is a mindset. And we need to be more aggressive. That doesn’t mean reckless. It means looking for a pitch or a spot that you want and not missing it. Not being in-between, or late on the fastball or out in front of offspeed pitches.”
Chavez pointed to the 2022 season, when the Mets’ offense was among the best in the league, finishing fourth in hits, fifth in runs and sixth in OPS.
“That year, it felt like we had guys on base and things were happening,” Chavez said before the game. “This past series [against Milwaukee], we had one good inning in the second game. But if you tally up the three games, it’s not pretty. We’re too good for that. The league has really good pitching, but we’re really good. I said, ‘Let’s compete. Let’s force the action a little bit.’”
Asked if he felt his message was received, Chavez said, “We’ll find out after this series. Momentum is big and it works both ways. We have to get our momentum going in a different direction.”
