Did This Lineup Change Revive Mets' Season?

The New York Mets will be facing the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 of the NLCS on Wednesday evening.

The Mets' starting lineup will almost certainly feature the same first four players: Francisco Lindor hitting leadoff, Mark Vientos in the two-hole, Brandon Nimmo batting third, and slugger Pete Alonso in the cleanup spot.

New York's tough start to the 2024 regular season now feels so long ago that many fans may forget this is not always how the Mets' starting lineup looked. On May 18, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza (whose team was 20-24 at that point) decided to put Lindor in the leadoff spot for the first time all year.

And an October 15 article from MLB.com's Christina De Nicola revealed why the outcome of Mendoza's decision may have saved his team's season.

"With Lindor serving as the leadoff man, the Mets have gone 70-48 (including the postseason) while averaging 4.97 runs per game. They are 19-24 with 4.19 runs per game otherwise," De Nicola wrote.

"Among 29 players with at least 50 games in the leadoff spot for the whole game, Lindor ranks as follows: AVG: .298 (sixth), OBP: .374 (sixth), SLG: .548 (fourth), OPS: .922 (fourth), Home runs: 28 (fourth).

De Nicola also noted how this lineup change was a risk because Brandon Nimmo, who had been hitting leadoff, "is not only a prototypical leadoff hitter but also one of the best in the Majors. Among 28 players with at least 1,000 plate appearances in that role, Nimmo ranked 10th in OPS (.825) from 2018-24. His 25 triples over that span were the most of any leadoff batter. "

This gutsy lineup change is just another example of why making Mendoza the Mets' manager was a genius move by the front office.

Perhaps Lindor will start his team's NLCS game on Wednesday with some offensive fireworks.