A.J. Ewing

Ewing took Nationals righty Jake Irvin deep for a no-doubter to right-center field in the seventh inning that traveled 396 feet, per Statcast. It was his 11th round-tripper of the season and first time leaving the yard since September 14. The 22-year-old enters New York’s final regular-season contest hitting .254/.324/.379 with 55 runs scored, 11 homers, 43 RBI and 25 steals in 119 games. Here’s an oversimplification: Ewing is going to be an impactful all-around fantasy contributor for years to come.

If you’re going to have to take a day off once in a while, doing so against Phillies star left-hander Cristopher Sanchez isn’t the worst idea in the world. The rookie outfielder has been on a tear at the plate recently, slashing .351/.397/.544 with three homers, 12 RBI and a pair of stolen bases in 63 plate appearances over his last 15 games. Nick Morabito will start in his place in center field and bat eighth for the Mets on Sunday.

Ewing’s home run was his 10th of the season. He hit a solo shot off Brandon Young in the fourth inning. Ewing has two home runs in his last four games. He’s hitting .251 with a .703 OPS and 38 RBI this year.

On a heater lately, Ewing chipped in a RBI single in the seventh and solo homer in the ninth as the Mets chipped away at the Yankees lead before falling short in their comeback attempt. He’s now 13-for-27 with two home runs and nine RBI over his last seven games as he looks to end his rookie season on a high note.

Ewing had been in a prolonged slump, but he now has a modest four-game hitting streak that has seen him go 7-for-15 with one home run and five RBI. Perhaps the rookie is starting to adjust back to how MLB pitchers are attacking him. The 22-year-old has a solid .247/.319/.365 slash line in his rookie season, which began with him at Double-A.

The homer off Anthony Molina was Ewing’s first of the second half. He had seven homers in his first 53 games as a major leaguer, but he’d since gone 46 games without one. Overall, he’s batting .238/.313/.356 in 413 plate appearances. He’ll finish out this season as a regular, but he probably hasn’t locked down a spot in the Mets’ 2027 outfield just yet.

He’s sitting against LHP Tugboat Wilkinson. When the Mets lost Luis Robert Jr. on waivers the assumption was that Ewing’s playing time would be safe, but Nick Morabito is manning center field for the platoon advantage. Since the start of August, Ewing is hitting .168/.242/.212 with no homers and eight stolen bases.

While Ewing’s bat has been ice cold lately – .507 OPS over his last 30 games – he’s finally turned the corner as a base stealer. Two more here give him 13 since July 1st and he’s only been caught one time over that span.

Ewing continues to produce out of the lead-off spot in their order. Along with the three hits, he was hit by a pitch as well and reached base four total times. His stolen base was also his 15th on the season and after a bit of an inefficient start on the base paths, he’s now successfully stolen seven in a row since the last time he was caught on June 29th. Those plus his .266 batting average, seven home runs, and standout defense in center field have made Ewing a very useful player during his rookie season.

As the lone Met to bat five times, he flew out with the tying run on to end the 2-0 loss today. While he’s gone 5-for-5 stealing bases, Ewing is hitting .222/.271/.270 with 18 strikeouts in 15 games in the second half. The Mets need to keep playing him, but he might not be their best option in the leadoff spot right now.

Ewing has hit leadoff in all but one game since July 6, starting against all four lefties the Mets have faced in that stretch. The rookie outfielder is now 14-for-20 on the bases this year, but he’s converted six in a row after an inefficient start. Ewing continues to look like a long-term building block for New York and will likely get all the playing time he can handle over the season’s final two months.

Ewing has been the team’s leadoff hitter in all but one game since July 6. The Mets are committed to building around him and fellow rookie Carson Benge, so this role should last through the August 3 deadline sell-off. Ewing had been off to a slow start in the second half, but he’s held his own overall as a 21-year-old rookie. The 11 stolen bases are nice, but he’s been caught six times. He’d ideally clean up that efficiency over the season’s final two months.

Mets interim manager Andy Green said earlier this week that Ewing will shuffle between a couple outfield spots since he has experience doing that recently with Luis Robert Jr. handling center field exclusively now that he’s back from the injured list. The 21-year-old rookie has been an impactful fantasy contributor right out of the gate this season, hitting .271/.343/.425 with seven homers and 10 steals in 241 plate appearances across 61 games.

Ewing set the tone as the lead-off hitter in this one with a 420 foot shot on the third pitch of the game. It was nice to see him lay off two fastballs outside the zone before unleashing a huge swing for his second home run in as many days. He’s also now hit five homers in the last two weeks and two of those were hit at least 420 feet. That’s not too bad for a player who’s still just 21 years old and was meant to not have much power. He’s officially been installed as the Mets’ lead-off hitter against right-handed pitching and now has seven home runs, nine stolen bases, and a .279 batting average since being called-up in mid-May.

What more can a guy do? It’s his first four-hit, four-run scored or three-RBI game as a major leaguer, and it was enough to take his OPS from .742 to .790. Ewing will probably do a lot of sitting against lefties after Luis Robert Jr. returns, but he deserves to stay in the lineup against righties, and the Mets outfield defense would be pretty formidable with him playing alongside Robert and Carson Benge on days that Juan Soto serves as a DH.

Ewing homered off Atlanta lefty Martín Pérez on Sunday and moves up to the leadoff spot for the second time in the last three games. The 21-year-old rookie has put together a solid stretch in recent weeks, hitting .293 (29-for-99) with four homers, 14 RBI and four steals over his last 30 games. He’s going to be more impactful as a stolen base source than any other fantasy category, but he does offer some over-the-fence pop, which gives him more appeal than the typical speed-oriented waiver wire options out there.

After sitting against a lefty on Saturday, Ewing started versus Martín Pérez today and took him deep for his fifth major league homer. He’s hitting .222/.280/.444 in 45 at-bats against lefties, compared to .281/.370/.391 in 121 at-bats versus righties. He batted seventh today, but he’ll likely be in the leadoff spot against right-hander Reynaldo López on Monday.

He remained in and had a single afterwards. Although he’s striking out a quarter of the time, Ewing has been really good in hitting .279/.359/.422 through 44 major league games. Luis Robert Jr. seems to have started to turn the corner in his rehab from a back injury, but Ewing should stick as a starter against righties if he continues to play like this.

While not known for his power, Ewing hit an impressive 420 foot blast off Shota Imanaga. It was the third home run of his career and the furthest hit by a decent margin. He was also picked off first base later in a classic rookie moment, but those things happen. He’s righted the ship over the past few weeks with a .265/.345/.510 slash line and continues to find ways to be productive.

The homer was his second since being called up by the Mets, and he fell just a triple shy of the cycle. The dynamic outfielder is now hitting .267 with a .723 OPS through his first 120 big-league plate appearances. Ewing stole 17 bases in 30 games in the minors this year, and he has seven through 31 contests with the Mets. It’s very early in his career, but Ewing is displaying a roto-friendly profile. The Mets now head to hitter-friendly Cincinnati for a three-game set that begins Monday.