“Angry overreaction eventually brought a series of strategic disasters.”
—“The Pacific War,” John CostelloAfter a week of three wins and three losses, it only makes sense to have three takeaways on where the New York Mets are right now and what to look for in another vital week as they try to entertain thoughts of contention into mid-June.Carson Benge has been the Mets’ best hitter since May 1. That includes Juan Soto.An original conceit for this week was “What would we think of the Mets if April hadn’t happened?” And I would mention how the Mets would actually be a playoff team (19-15 since the start of May would be fifth in the National League) and you would justifiably point out that it’s pretty shortsighted to cut out roughly 50 percent of what’s happened so far.But one thing I wanted to keep was this point on Benge, whose 5-for-5 day Sunday allowed him to scoot past Soto as the club’s best hitter since the start of May. It was May 3 when Benge really put it into overdrive: His slash line since then is .328/.390/.516/.906.Earlier this week, Will Sammon wrote about why A.J. Ewing was not yet hitting leadoff, even though that seems like his long-term home in a lineup. The biggest reason right now? Benge is hitting too well in that spot, and the Mets wisely don’t want to mess too much with what little is working.The Mets are 3-14 without Soto.The other way to carve up the Mets’ season positively is to point out that they’re actually 26-22 if Soto starts. They went 3-12 without him in April, including that entire 12-game losing streak, and then another 0-2 when he was sick in late May.New York scored 42 runs in those 17 games without Soto (2.47 per game). It has scored 4.65 per game when he’s started. That is the gap between the ninth-best offense in baseball this season and one that would comfortably be the worst of the live-ball era.Keep an eye on Mark Vientos’ playing time this week.After starting 26 of the final 27 games in May, Vientos started just two of the first six here in June. The Mets faced all right-handed pitchers in their six games last week, and they’re scheduled to face all right-handed pitchers in their six games this week. That opens the door for Jared Young and MJ Melendez to continue getting the nods at first base and DH this week.Vientos has just four hits in his last 36 at-bats, and he hasn’t walked in more than a month — a span of more than 100 plate appearances. That’s plummeted his on-base percentage below .250, which, unless you’re catching or an all-world shortstop, is pretty unplayable.