The dreary black and white dead ball era.
Every season, some players come out
of the gate like a ball of fire, while others come out like frozen sewer
sludge.
This season is Frozen Sludge City
for the Mets.
Essentially all of them. The
Dead Ball era has returned for the Mets.
Game 2 of the season? Scored 8
runs. Felt real good.
The other 18 games? 49 runs.
About 2.5 runs per. DEAD BALL.
Last in runs BY SEVENTEEN, at just
57.DEAD BALL.
Last in HRs by 5, at 15. Pete
has 5, the entire rest of the team, heading into May after 1 more game, has
10. No one else has more than 2 HRs. DEAD BALL..
After a miserable 2020 hitting with
RISP in 2020, the Mets are hitting under .200 with RISP as a team in
2021. DEAD BALL.
Last in doubles with 22. DEAD BALL.
Lindor (he of the enormous new
contract), Conforto (he who wants but does not deserve one), Smith (who hit
over .300 last year) and McNeil (who hit over .300 last year) are a combined 52
for 251 (.209) with a mere 6 HRs and 19 RBIs. DEAD BALL.
The expensive James McCann? 4
RBIs in 16 games. DEAD BALL.
The reserves? Pillar, Nido,
and Almora are a combined 5 for 42 (around .120), WITH 0 HRs, 0
RBIs. DEAD BALL.
Only one Met with as many as 12
RBIs, and only 3 more who have between 6 and 8 RBIs. DEAD BALL.
Team slugging %? Mets are dead
last. DEAD BALL..
Jake deGrom has 6 hits. All
other Mets pitchers? No hits. DEAD BALL.
Level of interest in watching this
sorry excuse for a Mets hitting team?
DEAD. I'll have a BALL watching Netflix
instead. Or watching paint dry, which is also more fun. I almost
instead watched the one thing I couldn't bring myself to watch, unless the
alternative was root canal: Joe Biden.
Remember one thing as you ponder
this putrid bunch.
They don't have to face the 4th best
team in MLB ERA at 3.05. You want to know why? Because that 4th
best-in-ERA team is the Mets.
Jake against these Mets sissy
hitters?
A no hitter, with 20 Ks and perhaps
a Brandon Nimmo walk would probably be the outcome.
I have to ask - may I ask? Is
there a curse on this team?
Serious respondents only.
P.S.
People
sometimes go on hunger strikes to try to force and accelerate needed change.
The impotent Mets lost 2-1 and 1-0 the last two nights.
I
pointed out the barn to them...see? It’s right there, fellas, that big,
red one - see it? Alas, they could neither see nor hit the big barn, even
though it has a broad side.
So
my “hunger strike” may be to stop writing about these putzes until they start
hitting like hitters who are not putzes. Maybe I’ll write about teams that CAN
hit instead.
Heck,
Cincinnati has 35 HRs and 128 runs, they sure look like fun.
Do
they need blog writers?
I
am not joking. I’m serious.
Nothing
worse than writing about a team that you expect to score like the 1986 Mets,
only to find out you are dyslexic and they really hit every bit as bad as the
anemic 1968 Mets.
"Aww,
it's just a team slump." I ain't buying that.
Wimps.
Losers.
No
more excuses. Also, no more excuses.
Or
send them all to AAA.
Hit
the darned ball or I put down the darned pen.
(Could
that be their plan all along? Are they on a DEAD
BALL hitting strike to get me to stop writing?)
LOL...SMH.
BORING,
BORING, BORING.
Someone
will say they are just one game below .500.
I
will say one thing: BORING.
And
one more thing: OVERRATED.
P.S.S.
Poor Jake deGrom since 2018 is just 27-21, and the Mets have a losing record in his starts over that period, despite his allowing (to my count) no runs in 20 starts and 1 run in 22 starts over that period. over the same period, in his starts, the Mets were shut out in 8 of his starts and scored just 1 run in 10 of his starts. Had I gone to 2 runs, the numbers would have been far more drastic. Something is drastically wrong.
27 comments:
Dead Ball Era is a terrible comp for what we are seeing. That was a period of high contact, "productive outs," speed -- and very little power or overall offensive production.
What we are seeing is a product of the times. Something new. Pitchers throwing 95 MPH plus, one after another after another.
And, I would contend, reason for MLB to be very concerned about the quality and fan-appeal of its product.
Too many strikeouts. Nothing happens.
Jimmy
Jimmy, you're right - Deat Bat is more descriptive.
Darwin is the evolution man - these hitters better start evolving - fast.
If you are a hitter, and find yourself getting to 2 strikes a lot, I do not know what the overall major league average is for MLB when hitters get to 0-2, 1-2, 2-2, and 3-2. My guess? .175.
So, to be taking pitches that are strikes is not good hitting in a strikeout age.
Meanwhile, can you wake me up when they start hitting so I can start watching again? I watched 10-15 minutes last night. Then I watched a movie.
Hitting in baseball overall is way off.
Only 7 teams hitting over .240.
11 teams hitting in the .230s, including the Mets.
12 teams under .230, 7 of which are under .220.
3 are barely above .200.
Amed and Andres are hitting .183 combined, BTW.
You are spot on with the boring part. How many times you can you watch your players weakly ground out or strikeout? It's just not fun. I know offense is down across baseball but the Mets take it to another level. Did everyone except Nimmo change their approach? Or is the opposite true, are none of them are adjusting or changing their approach? Trout sure isn't having a problem adjusting to the new "dead" ball.
The Red Sox look like a juggernaut after just a few years under Chaim Bloom who of course was the runner up for GM to BVW. The Wilpons still would have botched it but you wonder how much further ahead we might still be if they had hired him. They passed on Betts and it seems to be working out for them. I really hope this offensive drought is just a blip we laugh about in a month.
Dallas good points, and I hope the dawn is near
Bloom would have sold off any and every asset and went for a rebuild. deGrom, Thor, and Wheeler would have all been gone. The Wilpons were in a win now mode to try to jack up the value before the sale. Bloom just wasn't a fit in the Wilpon's eyes. Brodie got the job because he was the only GM candidate who told them to win now.
John, good point.
Dom is in malaise. I wonder if he’d be hitting if he were at 1B?
John, you are exactly right.
The Wilpons were not going to hire anyone who wanted a rebuild. That was the word on the street. Not interested in a rebuild.
Brodie felt the team could win now . . . if they were willing to trade prospects to acquire the necessary talent.
He was right. They were close. 2019 was a fun, exciting season. And they could have been the Nationals if Thor wasn't AWFUL, if Cano and Diaz had played up to their established norms.
But the point is that Bloom -- who traded away Mookie Betts -- was never, ever going to be hired by the Wilpons. It all starts there. And every decision Brodie made was a direct result of the perimeters established by ownership.
There's been so much Bloom talk, but none of it has anything to do with reality.
Jimmy
I am surprised that everyone thinks this is an aberration. Guys, get used to it. The Mets are a predictable team of young hitters. They all can hit the fastball but can’t touch a breaking ball. The whole league knows that. The mix isn’t very good. Smith has been figured out. McNeil has been figured out. Ever since McNeil hit his 23 homeruns jumping on first pitch fastballs, he barely sees one. Conforto is ice cold. Lindor is ice cold. Alonso has no business hitting above #6. He is a high strikeout, low average hitter. What is he doing at the top of the lineup?
Today is a off day at home. They need to be taking extra batting practice against off speed stuff. I’m sure the union says to stay home. There’s your problem. Last week we read that because of the weather the Mets haven’t had batting practice before a game the first two weeks of games and no games the first week of the season. They need to start taking extra swings and they need to practice like it’s a game; like all other sports do. Like the best hitters do. I really think this is an experience/leadership problem. Maybe I’m scapegoating.
Davis is a well rounded hitter. Nimmo seems to be too. None of the other guys deserve their spot. Guillorme should get more run. May 15th is my drop dead deadline, and that’s being very generous. If things aren’t better, heads need to roll and players need to be shuffled. Can’t wait for the Braves to pull away and expect to just catch them.
Gus, great points. I do think McNeil will hit, though.
Still, they are dead last offensively in everything that matters. Pretty awful from that perspective.
And I think May 15 is about right for heads rolling, absent real improvement.
Pete needs to forget homers, just hit the ball squarely. HRs will come.
Never saw a talented 1-8 roster like this go total brain dead like this.
Thank God the football draft is on beginning tonight.
Speed and defense don't slump.
Fonzie proved how to win with speed and defense...and was fired. He didn't fit the analytics narrative. All he did was win with the most exciting brand of Mets Baseball I had seen since Gil was alive.
Want to win? Bring Back Fonzie.
Want to fix baseball? Bring Back Fonzie.
The evidence was right in front of us.
Who was any good on that glorious Brooklyn team that won a meaningless championship? Who did they beat? What did they "prove"? Bring 'em all up; problem solved.
I'm not buying this.
But I do like Fonzie and clearly there's some kind of rift between him and Sandy. Fonzie probably -- I'm speculating -- had ideas of his own and Sandy doesn't go for that from a manager.
And Billy Hamilton still sucks. Fill your team with guys like that and you are doomed.
To me, it all comes back to balance. An array of differently-talented players. Despite all the analytics, everything we've learned, I keep going to back the prototypical baseball lineup I learned as a kid:
#1 Leadoff man, gets on base, speedy, a tablesetter.
#2 Good contact, bat control, another tablesetter.
#3 Your best overall hitter
#4 Most dangerous bat, quality hitter, big power.
#5 RBI guy.
#6 Power, probably K's a lot.
#7 Probably slow, maybe with some occasional pop, likely a catcher.
#8 Best defensive guy who can't hit. Some speed.
#9 Pitcher
Teams need a range, which is what makes them best able to meet any number of challenges. A blend of speed, power, offense, defense. When you get locked into one type, you become predictable and one-dimensional.
Jimmy
Jimmy,
Brooklyn had no top 20 prospects until they reached the playoffs when Baty and Allan were added to get playoff experience.
I hear fans complain all the time - why don't teams hit against the shift - why aren't they more aggressive on the base paths - why don't they try to shorten their swing with 2 strikes...yada, yada, yada...
I go to a lot of minor league games - have done so since the 90's. I had seen Fonzie manage before - saw Hojo manage - Teufel, Backman, etc. I put them all in the same category as ex-Mets getting a PR job.
Then one night in 2019 at a Brooklyn game - the lead off batter hit against the shift for a hit - the next hitter did the same...since the 3B was playing on the other side of the diamond - the leadoff batter easily made it 1st to 3rd. Then the 2nd place hitter stole 2nd. Both runners came home (one on an out - other on a wild pitch).
This was the Mets baseball I had been wanting to see since the 70's...a very aggressive fun team.
The beat the Red Sox for the Championship that had 10 of their top 20 prospects. They beat the Rays in the playoffs who always have a good team. They made the Astros team (who won the championship the year before) look silly by hitting against the shift and running like crazy. Brooklyn stole 4 bases in one first inning off the Astros Catcher and he was named league MVP due to his HRs.
It was the style of play Mets fans have begged for - especially these last few years. Brodie fired him - Sandy is not hot to bring him back. He doesn't fit their model which is what? HRs and K....wake me up when they get a clue.
The curse of strikeouts has fallen on all of MLB. The game is dull and getting duller. What we are seeing with the Mets is not isolated.
The number of pitchers throwing at 95+ is insane. Each day we see a faceless parade of fastballers and, for whatever reason, hitters have not adjusted.
Gus, I am seeing the Mets lineup swing through, or late, on a lot of fastballs. And off-speed. It goes back to Rojas' comment about them being in-between. It's neither/nor now.
The pitching has gotten so tough.
But I'll also add that they really need to review what they do in Spring Training. It didn't work!
Jimmy
Good points. If your name is not Nimmo, nobody should be taking many early count strikes. If they get to 2 strikes, all we get is Ks and feeble contact.
Poor Jake...done in again by another, almost neck high, 100 MPH fastball. They score so little so often for him.
John’s favorite offensive squad would have to be the 1985 Cardinals. I’d trade this Mets team for that any day. Speedy in the extreme and talented.
I have to give John’s comment extra merit, because if Beltran was hired because he was a smart player, why doesn’t Alfonzo qualify? Too, Rojas was given the job by default on January 23rd when it was too late to find someone else. He wasn’t even a finalist. Then, they brought him back in a koumbaia move after Cohen bought the franchise. It’s like Zach Scott, he’s acting GM, but is he really better than Theo Epstein? Buck Showalter was out there. Did anyone call him in November?
Jimmy, Alfonzo wasn’t fired by Alderson, he was fired by Brodie without a stated reason. Also James, I would say that while the Mets have been in-between, the whole team? Can that be an accident?
Maybe the RISP problem isn’t as much a problem as we thought but rather a pattern?
The Dodgers players say that they have a kid behind them that wants their job and so they are motivated. What is the motivation on the Mets?
Each has two hrs though.
Alfonso is gone and not coming back. Time to move on.
Let's be real, if these strikeout rates continue to go up its going to kill the sport. Its not unique or interesting anymore. Its just plain boring to see night after night of low scoring high strikeout baseball. Even if the Mets had won 1-0 instead of the other way around it would still have been beyond frustrating to watch the hitters look completely inept yet again.
You could argue McCann(.599OPS) & Dom (.552OPS) had small sample sizes coming in but Lindor (.578)/McNeil (.635)/Conforto (.668) playing this bad is mind blowing. They need to fit Guillorme and his .812OPS and slick fielding into the lineup somewhere even if to just mix it up. Rotate sitting Dom, Conforto, McNeil & use Guillormes & McNeils versatility to do it.
I really hope the FO and coaches have some sort of idea behind this massive slump & approach and can try some solutions. I'm not sure I buy into the opposition just "figured out" how to pitch/play McNeil/Lindor/Conforto/McCann/Dom.
Speedballer Bob Gibson's fastball...
91.3
That being said...
Bob Feller's top speed...
107.6
Maybe if the fences were moved back twenty feet, players would start trying to just square the ball up. I believe it’s part of a SportSCenter problem where the HR is glamorized.
HRs can be a blessing...and a curse.
Can we extend Conforto today? Five years, $10 million...total.
Feller MPH was possibly tainted by low tech measurement.Gibson was definitely a high 90s guy. His wicked slider was above 91.
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