Tom Brennan - HOW DO KEY METS HIT IN WINS AND LOSSES?

Before my article, I asked Mr. Kotter about the Mets' return to baseball on Tuesday, and he simply said:

WELCOME BACK, WELCOME BACK, WELCOME BACK!

Now, on to my article:

Let's face it - teams will lose more frequently, and hit more poorly, against better teams and better pitchers.  That is just logical.  

Winning provides swagger, losers are laggards.

Production by each of the 9 key Mets hitters in wins, and in losses, is not monolithic.

Nope, there are wide variations in how each guy does in Ws and Ls.

Looking at 2019 and 2020, production in wins and in losses can be grouped as follows:

MAJOR DIFFERENCE IN HITTING OUTPUT IN WINS VS. LOSSES:

Michael Conforto

SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE IN HITTING OUTPUT IN WINS VS. LOSSES:

Jeff McNeil, Robinson Cano

MODERATE DIFFERENCE IN HITTING OUTPUT IN WINS VS. LOSSES:

Amed Rosario, JD Davis

MODEST DIFFERENCE IN HITTING OUTPUT IN WINS VS. LOSSES:

Brandon Nimmo, JD Davis, Pete Alonso, Wilson Ramos, Dominic Smith

Of course, over the first 25 games of 2020 alone, those categorizations may have shifted, but given that the 9 guys above have probably averaged only about 20 games in 2020 so far, I felt it was premature to focus on just that.  Look at 2019 and 2020 overall, instead.

Conforto's disparities are quite large.  He was a frothy  .330/.443/.642 with 23 HRs and 69 RBIs in 279 ABs in wins in 2019, but in a nearly identical 270 ABs in losses, he was a frosty .181/.274/.341 with just 10 HRs and 23 RBIs, 33% of the RBIs he had in wins.  

He has hit better in losses in 2020, but his slug % in 2020 wins vs. losses in 2020 is still way different: .643 vs .373.

Jeff McNeil had 258 at bats in wins and 252 in losses in 2019, but had 17 HRs and 52 RBIs in wins and 6 HRs and 23 RBIs in losses.  He still hit reasonably well in losses, but hit great in wins (.349/.421/.624).  So far this year, he is hitting .324 in losses and just .212 in wins, presumably some of that being health related, as he has just 67 at bats so far.

Cano had a .533 slug % in 2019 wins, but just .306 in losses, and just 1/3 the RBIs.  In 2020, his hitting in wins is tremendous, and almost as excellent in losses - it is nice to be healthy.

Rosario was good, but not as good in losses in 2019 (.266) as in wins (.307), but he has slid to .270 in wins and .163 in losses this year.

J Double D really ripped in wins in 2019 (.358/.416/.651) but was comparatively modest in losses (.250/.314/.385) and. like Conforto, had hardly more than 1/3 of the RBIs per at bat in wins vs. losses (42 vs. 15).  This year, in about 80 at bats, however, he has been mostly better in losses.

Pete Alonso did very well in losses in 2019, as compared to wins (.267/.375/.625 vs. .252/.338/.538), but he had a big RBI disparity: 78 RBIs in wins vs. just 42 in losses.  He has been a really big factor in 2020 losses, hitting just .200 in 50 ABs in losing games with no HRs and 3 RBIs, however.

Brandon Nimmo had limited at bat in his injury-plagued 2019, and put up virtually identical numbers in wins and losses, a very good (and unusual) trait.  So far in 2020, though, that has changed, as he has a .491 OBP and .667 slug % in wins, vs. a .377 OBP and .326 slug % in losses.

Dom Smith was .321/.382/.568 in wins in 2019 vs. .250/.333/.490 in losses, but it must be noted that in his 96 at bats in losses, he had just 7 RBIs despite 6 HRs.  In 2020 wins so far, a Ruthian .838 slug %, but a highly impressive .643 slug % in losses.  In other words, a very tough out.

Lastly, the Buffalo: His 2019 splits were almost as good in losses as in wins, but he had just 23 RBIs in losses vs. 50 in wins.  In 2020, he has been OK in 33 at bats in wins, but in 38 at bats in losses, just one double, no RBIs and .158.  Yuk.

Draw your own conclusions, but I thought this was quite an interesting look at how guys have done in wins and losses.

Almost across the board, these 9 hit much less in losses than in wins.

Just for the heck of it, as a point of comparison, I looked at baseball's current hitting wizard: Mike Trout. 

Would he have similar large differences, too?

Yep.

In 2,393 career at bats in wins, .342/.456/.673, with 516 RBI.

In 2,139 career ABs in losses, a far more mortal .265/.375/.485 with 258 RBIs.

Have a good day, and I hope you are all highly successful winners.