After four miserable games, the Mets will have to get through at least four more before significant offensive help arrives.
J.D. Martinez is eligible to join the team as soon as Sunday after 10 days off the roster in what technically is a minor league stint that is being used as an expedited spring training.
Martinez did not sign with the Mets until March 23, when the need for his bat seemed a bit less urgent.
Through four games, the Mets do not have a win, entered MLB action Wednesday with the worst offense in the majors (two runs per game) and collectively have hit .188 with a .551 OPS.
They will hope Martinez can help solve those short-sample-size problems.
Martinez has been at the Mets’ facility and getting at-bats against minor league and rehabbing pitchers.
The Mets have started DJ Stewart (twice), Starling Marte and Francisco Alvarez at the DH spot.
With the Dodgers last season, Martinez posted an .893 OPS with 33 home runs and 103 RBIs in 113 games.
He lingered in free agency, turning down an offer from the Giants and others wary about a 36-year-old without a position, but Martinez’s bat has shown no signs of slowing.
“He’s got tremendous experience, somebody that I have tremendous respect for,” Harrison Bader said recently. “I’ve only seen from afar, but I’ve heard the best things about him. … I don’t know how he was still on the board, but happy he was.”
Manager Carlos Mendoza signaled the Mets likely will leave it up to Martinez whether he joins the team right away, gets more at-bats at the facility or heads to an affiliate for a more traditional minor league assignment.
“It’s not your typical spring training, where you’re able to take a day off or so after two or three days of heavy activities,” Mendoza said Tuesday, before the first of two games postponed by rain. “Right now, since we’ve seen him, he’s been on the go. … He knows his body better than anybody.”
And the winless Mets know better than anybody how much they need his bat behind Pete Alonso in the order.
“J.D. would make any lineup better,” Brandon Nimmo said. “We’re excited to have him.”
Only tickets for Tuesday’s rainout will be honored for Thursday’s single-admission doubleheader at Citi Field against the Tigers.
The first game will begin at 12:10 p.m., and the second game will start about 30 minutes after the first game ends.
Tickets for Wednesday’s game will not be valid for admission Thursday.
The Mets said fans holding a paid ticket in their account valid for entry to Wednesday’s game will receive a digital voucher loaded into their My Mets Tickets account (accessed by clicking the Vouchers tab) that will be accessible [Thursday] morning.
Digital ticket vouchers can be exchanged for a ticket comparable in price and location to another Mets 2024 regular-season home game at Citi (excluding Mets vs. Yankees, June 25-26; additional blackout dates may apply).