12/16/18

TOM BRENNAN - IS CITIFIELD A HITTERS' NIGHTMARE?

The Mets hit well enough on the road in 2018.  

REAL WELL, IN FACT.

6th best at .252.  6th best in runs, too, at 402.   

Despite no DH.  

Amazing road hitting, I would conclude.  WOW!


But at home?  At "HOME"?

The Mets hit .215 at home.  Worst in baseball.  

Second worst San Diego hit .231 in their home park.

The Mets scored 274 runs at home.   Worst in baseball.

Some "HOME."  Some Home Field Advantage.


OH, AND THE BRONX BOMBERS?

THOSE FELLERS SCORED 453 RUNS AT HOME.  

179 MORE RUNS THAN THE METS IN THEIR HOME GAMES.

HOW ENTERTAINING.  FOR THE BRONX FANS.

On the road?  The Bronxians scored 398 runs and hit .238.

Worse than the Mets did on the road.


So, the Mets scored 128 more runs on the road than at home.

Bizarre differential. 

The Bronxites scored 55 more runs at home than the road.

Normal differential.


Overall wins and losses?  

The Bronxites were + 6 at home (53 wins vs. 47 on the road).

The Mets were -3 at home (37 at home, 40 on the road).

Even the awful Orioles won 9 more at home than on the road.

Some Mets home field "advantage."


Conclusion: something screwed up in Flushing.


Mr. Brodie, sir, wheel and deal, go ahead.

BUT FIX THE PARK CURSE TOO.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Short of bringing in the fence(s) yet again there’s not much that can be done..It is what it is. I guess.

Reese Kaplan said...

Part of the change could be less physical (moving fences) than philosophical -- trying to make contact a'la Jeff McNeil than swinging for the fences or striking out a'la Todd Frazier.

Tom Brennan said...

Fences in right and center could be shorter, but something more is going on. The Mets owe it to themselves (and us) to figure it out.

Mack Ade said...

Susan -

This field was built for the pitchers.

You solve this by having more Aaron Judge type hitters in the lineup.

Tom Brennan said...

Mack,while true, their home record at Citifield, I believe, is WORSE since built than their road record. Impossible...but true.

bgreg98180 said...

A different thought.

Perhaps bringing players that proved productive in bigger parks like Miami (coff coff Realmuto) and Washington (ahem Harper) is another way perspective to take

Mack Ade said...

It's those damn 7 line army dudes

Tom Brennan said...

Good thinking, Bob.

bgreg98180 said...

I am hoping that is a view Vanwagenen shares

Eddie from Corona said...

BVW bring in the fences to the “fair” mark for both lefty’s and righty’s but don’t compromise the park for pitchers
Make it similar or slightly smaller than Shea

Tom Brennan said...

I would, if I were the Wilpons, Eddie.

Tom Brennan said...

Let's drop the euphoria of season 1 in 2009 at Citifield.

Over the next 9 seasons, the Mets have won just 7 more games at home than on the road.

The Bronx Bombers have won 64 more at home than on the road over those 9 seasons.

Citifield has not provided a home field advantage, averaging less than one more home win than road win per season over the past 9 seasons. Unacceptable.

Someone needs to figure that out and fix it. Hard to get in the post season when the team has little, if an, home field advantage.

The Mets managed to get to the post season in 2015 and 2016. In 2015, the Mets won 8 more games at home (normal) but just one more win at home in 2016 (not normal).

I am sure the current Mets execs could postulate reasons for the persistent lack of home field advantage. Perhaps fixes can then be made.

But I think moving the fences in one more time, in center and RF, would be a big first step to helping the Mets hitters.

Anonymous said...

This is not Rocket science. The Mets have spent 8 years trying to pound a square peg into a round hole, by building teams based on OBP, & HR hitters, in a park where from March 31 to June 15 It is increadbly difficult to hit homeruns due to cold weather & the wind pattern off the bay. This pattern returns every year around Sept 15, which is why even if you make the playoffs your at a disadvantage in your own home field (See 2015 WS against the Royals). The 2014-2015 Royals is actually the template for offense the Mets should pursue. 1-8 of athletic contact line drive style hitters.