Tom Brennan - THOUGHTS ON THE METS CURRENT SITUATION

Tom Brennan - THOUGHTS ON THE METS CURRENT SITUATION

I ponder - not for long, because of my ADD - and come up with the following thoughts on the Mets situation:

LOUSY PITCHING?  IS IT JUST LOUSY PITCHING?

The Mets through Sunday (5.57 ERA) had played only 3 games against a team that was in the bottom 16 teams in scoring.  And the 6 home games to start this week are against top half scoring teams.

Only 3 games were played against a weak hitting team - the Marlins, averaging 2.73 runs per game.

In fact, if you exclude the Marlins, and include the next 6 games against the Phillies and Brewers, the Mets will have played 24 of their first 27 games against teams with weighted average scoring of 5.2 runs per game.

To put that in perspective, last season, only the Red Sox scored more than 5.2 runs per game.

I think the Mets pitching will suddenly heal (and not be lousy) when the team faces a steady diet of the bottom 16 scoring teams in baseball.

In that regard, I remember one game Jerry Koosman pitched - it was at a time he'd had a bit of a dead arm, but he was firing bullets that night, with good location - but the Pittsburgh Pirates were lighting him up.  

I thought I was seeing wrong, maybe he wasn't suddenly the Koosman of old - except in a post-game interview, he said he was throwing great, but they were just hammering everything.  

Why?  Those Pirates could REALLY HIT, and took down a pitcher that day who had his really good stuff.

It happens.  Hitters will beat your pitchers at times.  

It will also stop happening.

So, is it just lousy pitching?  Nope, not entirely - those other dudes can HIT!

Right now, I expect (if Jake deGrom is healthy) that there are 8 or so real quality pitchers on this staff.  And sometimes, EIGHT IS ENOUGH.

I'd still still hope, though, that Brodie VW realizes that when it comes to pitchers there is always ROOM FOR ONE MORE.

NOW - MORE THOUGHTS - THIS TIME ON:

BASEBALL'S POWER SURGE:

It is clear that Jeff McNeil's successful "slap 'em where they ain't" approach to hitting has not been widely adopted throughout baseball.  "Crack 'em where the fans sit" is more the norm.

Baseball teams on pace to average 216 home runs this year - think about that.  

The Mets have 28 in their first 21 games; while that is good for just 16th best, the Mets are also on pace for 216 homers.

The Mets have had short ones - like Thor's homer on Sunday which ricocheted off of Dexter Fowler's glove to go the extra few feet it needed to clear the fence.

The Mets have long ones, too - namely, EVERY HR that Pete Alonso hits.  Michael Conforto ain't getting cheated either, if you've been watching.

Maybe that Mets team HR record of 41 is in jeopardy.  I hope so.

I'm fresh out of thoughts - what are yours?