Sandy Alderson made it an organizational wide philosophy to make batters work deep counts. It is, some say, behind the lack of promotion of Amed Rosario who called upon his God to remind himself of the need for patience.
From Phil Mushnick of the NY POST:
On SNY, Saturday, the Mets “attacked” the Cards’ Adam Wainwright the way they do most of the better pitchers: By taking first-pitch strikes, the best pitch to hit they’ll likely see as they took turns getting into two-strike holes in a 4-1 loss.
Curtis Granderson led off the game by looking at the first pitch, down the middle, fouling off the second pitch, then striking out, swinging at a pitch nearly in the dirt. In Granderson's next at bat, he took the first and second pitch strikes before grounding out.
Asdrubal Cabrera followed. He took the first pitch down the middle then popped out on a 1-2 pitch. Keith Hernandez said Cabrera looked at the most hittable pitch thrown to him — that first-pitch strike. Somewhere, there is a statistic that Alderson relies upon; perhaps at the cost of natural slugger aggression.
Asdrubal Cabrera followed. He took the first pitch down the middle then popped out on a 1-2 pitch. Keith Hernandez said Cabrera looked at the most hittable pitch thrown to him — that first-pitch strike. Somewhere, there is a statistic that Alderson relies upon; perhaps at the cost of natural slugger aggression.
9 comments:
Should NOT be holding the kid up because of that. Please, Sandy, say it ain't so.
That take-the-first-strike philosophy may work against less-than-elite pitchers, but the elite ones will eat the Mets up and spit them out when they do that. Duda for years was too passive on strike 1, and I am sure it was from the top down. he stinks once he gets to 2 strikes.
In the big leagues, most pitchers can throw strikes when they know that the hitter is unlikely to swing. I know that's a difficult concept, but really Sandy, it's true.
Being "selective" doesn't mean "take the first pitch." I'm sure Sandy knows this, and doesn't advocate selectivity in that manner.
Now maybe, the book on pitcher A is that he has a tendency to throw an X on pitch 1 and there's a pre-game consensus to look for that (to jump on) and and ignore anything else. The game of i know you know (that) I know (that) you know... begins.
As in:
"You only think I guessed wrong... that's what's so funny! I switched glasses when your back was turned. Ha-ha, you fool." --Princess Bride.
Sandy hasn't ever told anyone that he wants his players taking fastballs right down the middle. Come on now, let's stay in reality.
The organizational philosophy is simple. It's to "hunt strikes".
Meaning, if you get a fastball down the middle, even if it's the first pitch, attack it.
If people are upset that these hitters are letting fat pitches go without swinging, then get upset with the hitters. Not the GM.
Now, you can definitely be upset with the GM for these players that he signed. Because he's responsible for signing them.
But it certainly isn't Sandy's philosophy to let first pitch fastballs go by right down the middle without swinging. Hunt strikes. Attack your pitch. That's the strategy.
I agree with Charles that Sandy's philosophy is to hit the best pitch in the at-bat. However, I'd say from the low run-production of the team, that they're not executing that philosophy. Therefore the players should be taught what they're doing wrong. That doesn't seem to be happening. The batter don't know what the hell they're doing. They all look meek, timid, and feckless while batting. Management's noses have to rise up and away from the computers and start looking at the players that they have. Start watching the performances on the field rather than what their latest sabrmetrics are. You can also use the eyes-on philosophy to judge the players that are drafted. Sandy's lower-minor's teams have bad losing records. And don't tell me minors are for development, not winning games. All teams do that. The ones with the better players and the better development win most of the games.
Phil Mushnick is one of the worst writers I've ever read. The author of some of the worst "hot takes" out there. thats all.
Sandy Alderson hitting philosophy has been a complete disaster! This genius has been responsible for some of the worst evaluations reagarding hitter in the history of this franchise. He did not like Justin Turner, he could not wait to get rid of Daniel Murphy. What great hitter has he developed with his genius hitting philosophy. Look at the minors beside Smith and Rosario, the minor leagues are barren. It's time for the wilponzees to wake up and tell Sandy to retire.
Inherent flaw in Alderson's "hit the best pitch of the at bat" philosophy:
There us no way to tell which pitch is the best pitch until the at bat is over.
This makes the hitter think, second guess, and become too hesitant.
Each great batter has his own approach that is natural to them.
Wade Boggs had a much different approach than Juan Gonzalez.
A major league team should be made of the best professionl hitters. Stop restricting the batters in this organization from finding and displaying their natural abilities.
Let them develop and flourish.
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