Reese Kaplan -- Bring Back Small Ball

It seems that every year in Spring Training you get the same swath of stories.  There’s the “I’m in the best shape of my life” story about the guy who was unable to walk, let alone run or swing the bat the year prior.  There’s the “I’ll play any position just to make myself a more valuable member of the team” from the guy who swings a bat as if it’s made of balsa wood.  There’s the “I’m working on location, not speed” from the guy who can’t break glass with his fastball.  Then there’s the “I’m just one of the guys showing up to camp in a different car every day” story. 

The fact is that while most baseball fans accept these trite and well-worn stories without question, many others actually care about winning games and who is going to play on the team when the standings start to count in late March or early April.  Being a year of multiple managers the “How different is the Rojas camp” stories are somewhat relevant and interesting to both sides.  However, more people should probably be interested in how well people are hitting, pitching, fielding and running than whether or not the interior of someone’s three-wheeled motorcycle looks like the stitching on a baseball.

We’ve already discussed many of the internal stories for the Mets, such as who will play centerfield, who will be in the starting rotation and is the bullpen strong enough to feel confident they can save ballgames.  A great many feel this winter was incomplete without any big trades and second tier free agency being used to address shortcomings on the roster.  We won’t know whether or not the failed impending sale of the team tempered the roster manipulation or if it was the lopsidedness of some of the deals from last year or even the fact that the late season finish was pretty impressive given the early months of mediocrity. 

Next week the practice sessions are taking place on both sides of the field with pitchers striving to prove they belong in their desired roles, and batters trying to show why they do belong (or still belong) in the big leagues.  We will find out how much value Luis Rojas places on fielding, baserunning, getting on base and holding opponents to shutout innings.  Several of these aspects of the game were questionable under the previous two managers, so there’s definitely room to improve.  (Carlos Beltran gets a pass with a record of never having lost a game, but never having won one either.)

I know I’m in the minority here, but I always treasured small ball.  There’s something thrilling about seeing pitchers and catchers all aflutter when a solid baserunning threat is on the bag.  Hitting the opposite way to move runners over, shifting fielders into favorable positions given an opponent’s hitting profile, and BUNTING are all little things that make a game much more exciting than simply waiting to find out if the batter is going to strike out or put one over the wall.  How much fun was it watching Mookie Wilson, Rickey Henderson, Roger Cedeno and the rare times he got on base, even Eric Young, Jr. wreak havoc on the opposition?  Dave Kingman moments are thrilling the 30+ times they happen per season, but the majority of the time the at-bats are entirely forgettable.  The club now has many of the multifaceted players who could dramatically increase the competitiveness of each pitch, each batted ball and each fielding play if Luis Rojas isn’t afraid to embrace small ball once again.