10/17/19

John From Albany – JD Davis and other Citi Field hitting by the numbers




As Tom Brennan wrote here last off season and others have mentioned, Citi Filed can be a tough place to hit.  

Therefore, when we find individuals that can hit at Citi Field it may be wise to hang on to them.    

In 2019, JD Davis had the best year in Citi Field’s 11 year history hitting .354 with 16 HRs and 33 RBIs in 206 at bats.  Furthermore, while most Mets hit far better on the road, JD hit almost 100 points less on the road, .260 with 6 HRs and 24 RBIs. 

Compare that for instance to Pete Alonso who hit .297 on the road in 2019 to .218 at Citi Field (more on Pete in a few).

Looking at the top Citi Filed batting averages over the years, JD was only the second to hit as high as .350 and one of only 9 times someone hit over .300 with at least 150 at bats in the ballpark’s history.  Daniel Murphy (in 2011 and 2012) and Angel Pagan (in 2009 and 2010) were the only ones to do it twice.

Year
Player
G
AB
H
HR
RBI
AVG
2019
71
206
73
16
33
.354
2009
73
254
89
1
27
.350
2011
62
256
89
4
25
.348
2009
43
177
59
5
23
.333
2012
79
273
88
1
32
.322
2010
76
291
93
6
35
.320
2011
51
179
56
2
17
.313
2019
66
242
75
9
31
.310
2011
45
158
49
9
27
.310

I was all set to write about JD Davis and how the Mets should build a team around players who hit at their home park.  However, looking at the numbers I noticed that 2019 was the first year since 2012 that the Mets had a player hit over .300 at home with over 150 at-bats.  Not only that they had two, JD Davis and Jeff McNeil.

I then looked at homers at Citi Field and again 2019 was a banner year.  In the eleven-year history of Citi Field only 8 Mets players hit 14 or more homers at home, three of them were in 2019!  Pete Alonso was the first to hit over 20 homers in one Citi Field season with 27. Michael Conforto became the first player to accomplish the feat twice as he hit 18 at home in 2019 and 16 at home in 2017.

Year
Player
G
AB
HR
RBI
AVG
SLG
OPS
2019
80
284
27
57
.218
.553
0.888
2015
68
229
19
42
.275
.611
1.000
2019
73
248
18
46
.274
.552
0.934
2016
71
249
18
41
.285
.542
0.889
2019
71
206
16
33
.354
.665
1.078
2017
59
195
16
36
.292
.590
1.000
2016
68
230
14
40
.287
.522
0.888
2014
76
238
14
43
.227
.462
0.793

Overall, 2019 was a record setting year for the Mets for hitting at Citi Field.  In 2019 they scored more runs, hit more homers and had more total bases than any other year at the Flushing ballpark that evokes Ebbets Field.   

Year
Split
AB
R
H
3B
HR
BA
2019
Home
2688
380
671
5
126
.250
2017
Home
2658
344
636
8
101
.239
2009
Home
2664
343
731
32
49
.274
2016
Home
2656
339
634
5
112
.239
2010
Home
2648
334
676
25
63
.255
2011
Home
2754
328
722
22
50
.262
2015
Home
2660
313
621
7
85
.233
2012
Home
2637
287
638
10
67
.242
2014
Home
2623
286
588
10
59
.224
2018
Home
2632
274
566
17
75
.215
2013
Home
2707
268
593
13
59
.219
















But wait a second.  2009 was the year the Mets had the best batting average in Citi Field at .274.  2009 also saw the Mets have their highest hit total, third highest run total, and fourth highest total base number.  

Yes, 2009.  The year the fences were at the farthest.  The year I think the fans complained the most about the lack of offense at the new ball park.  Amazing.

Maybe we should push the fences back out?  Better yet, why not build a team around 4 young players that hit pretty well at Citi Field last year, JD Davis, Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, and Michael Conforto. 

What do you think?

11 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

JD had SOME year!

I however definitely do not want to go back to 2009, with the Mets hitting just 95 HRs. Despite the higher team average, they also scored a lot less runs in 2009 than in 2019.

2009 was when Murphy led the Mets with a dead-ball era 12 HRs. Beltran, Francoer, Wright, Sheffield and Murphy all hit well, but had just 52 homers between them - Pete beat them all.

Nah, I'll take 2019 Mets long ball over 2009's power outage season any time.

Tom Brennan said...

Actually, I think the large crowds in 2009 helped the team be productive offensively. After the newness wore off, and the crowds waned, the hitting at home waned - it was mostly MUCH worse than on the road for most years since.

They even hit better on the road this year than at home. They really, and I mean really, need to figure out why that is and fix it - and I am not talking about dimensions.

Reese Kaplan said...

I think Conforto may be the odd man out as he might have to be parlayed for pitching.

Anonymous said...

In Response

Tom: The Mets don't have a lot of pitching in the minor leagues clearly close enough to being up in the majors in 2020. David Peterson has been up and down in the AFL thus far, while Tom Szapucki may need a full season down at AAA first to sort of get ontrack again after his injury.Binghamton's Uceta has not been looked at seriously for some reason here by the NY Mets brass.

Th Mets do have one guy that I think has risen up lately really well in Syracuse's Harol Gonzales. I also find Kevin Smith most interesting a possibility for 2020. He's a successful MiLB Met and a left-handed starter. The sleeper here to me is 26 year old reliever Matt Blackham, a right-hander with an outstanding stat sheet even Steve Somers would appraciate.

Reese: Everyone likes Michael Conforto, but he does not seem capable of hitting for average, and does not normally come through well in the clutch despite his 30+ homeruns. I think Dominic Smith could be back a Met in 2020.

The Mets have an extra really good shortstop in Andre Gimenez, now finally hitting well in the AFL. B to me, Amed Rosario is the better and keeper one of the two. The Mets don't need another second baseman, they have Cano and McNeil there, so Gimenez could be a huge draw in a trade with other teams. Trading Gimenez this off season, to a team like the Boston Red Sox, does make fabulous and beneficial sense.

The Mets and Red Sox are in a sort of similar position for a big trade. Both have good teams still, and both need optimal returns for the players they have now but who are not essential for 2020 since they have someone ahead of them even better. In my opinion, these two would make the perfect trade partners. The right trade between the two clubs, could possibly make each one a true WS and quickly.

I'll go look now at and figure out a possible trade idea with Boston in a big eight man trade scenario with these NY Mets that benefits both.

Anonymous said...

Looking at some of what these two teams (Boston and the NY Mets) may need in 2020...

Could only come up with a four player (and not eight) deal.

Proposal Idea

Mets send...

SS/2B Andres Gimenez

Sign and trade SRP Marcus Stroman

to the Boston Red Sox for...

3B Bobby Dalbec (age 24/6'4"/225 lb.) Projected Power Score Rating 60, 34+ HR's a season)

LSP Daniel McGrath

Then what could be next perhaps?

1. A new power bat for right field, probably not named Mookie Betts.

2. Another new lefty starting pitcher, maybe named Wade Miley, who knows.

3. A new backup catcher.




Tom Brennan said...

Anonymous - you should add a name when posting.

Interesting roster reconstruction ideas. Good out of the box thinking. McGrath had a fine 2019 in the minors (1.98)

Mack Ade said...

Anon -

FWIW

We need to know who we are talking to when you post your educated comments.

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