Mets360 - Managing the Mets’ defense to support the pitchers

Chris Dial

The key to being a good manager, according to Jim Leyland, is being sure to put your players in a position to succeed. One of the keys to preventing runs is doing a good job of having your pitching and defense work together.  The biggest key for the Mets will be in not giving away extra runs.
The Mets’ starting position players are not known for their defense. This is less of a problem for pitchers like Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom, who strike out lots of hitters, but it is an issue for pitchers who do not.  Critics will often say you have to play who you have, but players are available to balance, particularly with expanded rosters, the needs of each pitcher.

In the Mets’ heyday (or heyest day) of the mid-80s, manager Davey Johnson was clever about his personnel use.  Most Met fans are familiar with Howard Johnson playing shortstop, poorly, on days where Sid Fernandez pitched. The truth is that Johnson started behind all the Mets staff, but he did evolve to playing shortstop mostly behind Fernandez. As Johnson was not a strong infielder, putting him in a premium position is risky, unless there is a reduced chance of him getting balls hit to him. Likewise, if Fernandez is going to pitch, a good manager puts better outfielders on the field.
It is fun to note that Fernandez was what is known as a fly ball pitcher. He was *the* fly ball pitcher. In September of 1993, he pitched a game where there were no infield assists – it was all fly balls and strikeouts. The newspaper article mentioned it was the 11^th time in MLB history. The Mets usual outfield included Bobby Bonilla and Vince Coleman. In this game, the Mets had a good set of defenders. When Fernandez pitched, Bonilla played third. Fortunately for Fernandez, Coleman’s season was ending when he came off the Disabled List at the end of July.

With the current starting pitchers (or at least as planned), deGrom is a strikeout pitcher, with slight ground ball tendencies.  Syndergaard is a strikeout pitcher with stronger ground ball tendencies. Marcus Stroman is a severe ground ball pitcher.  Steven Matz is a slight ground ball pitcher in batted ball distribution.  When you have these pitchers, putting a solid infield together becomes critical.  Having a strong catcher, with top framing skills becomes more valuable.

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