Tom Brennan - Mets Hitting Low Points in 2021 to Address for 2022

 

Some things are bad, and it is childish to hide from them and not address them

In order to win it all in 2022, one has to take a candid look at what worked swimmingly in 2021 - but even more so, what did not.

Let's look at some of the hitting low lights (data source: MLB stats), and look at pitching highs and lows at another time:

1) Production with Runners in Scoring Position (RISP):

Baseball is all about scoring more than the other guys, so when your team has RISP, you want to KTI (knock them in).  

The Mets knocked in 391 RISP, dead last in all of baseball.  Houston (#1) knocked in 602, or 213 (54.4%) more.  The median team knocked in 482 runs, or 91 more than the Metsies.  

Remarkably, while last in RISP runs produced, the Mets were 18th in on base % when runners were in scoring position, and were only 12th in Ks.  Too many runners held up at 3rd, perhaps?  It did not help that they were 27th in homers with RISP.  It also hurt that they were 25th in RISP batting average.

With RISP and 2 outs, they were 28th in batting (.204) and last in RBIs (134).  Ouch.  Lousy hitting, that gets lousier in the clutch....you figure it out.

You don't figure it out, you don't fix that, you don't win a lot.

2) Catcher Hitting Production:

McCann was not the $10 million man in 2021, according to Lee Majors.  In fact, Mets' catchers drove in 50 runs, last in all of baseball.  KC had 97 RBIs.  Mets' catchers hit .210, surprisingly only 24th - 6 teams had lower catching BAs.  Mets' catchers were 29th in HRs (10), and 28th in doubles (17).  They were 14th in striking out, but it didn't produce much.  

3) Scoring When the Team is Behind:

Mets at first aren't too bad in that category, 22nd overall with 215 RBIs.  But the 7 teams below then had on average over 500 fewer at bats in such situations, compared to the Mets' 2122 at bats in such situations.  On an RBI per at bat basis in those situations, they were clearly the worst team in baseball. 

4) Scoring in Innings 1 Thru 6:

Why did Messrs. Megill and Stroman and Walker win so few starts?  The Mets were 29th in scoring in the first 6 innings, barely ahead of AAAA Pittsburgh, that's why.  Score a lot more runs early in games, and those guys would have racked up a lot more Ws.  Remember that when speculating (as some might) that Megill does not belong in the rotation (which he does).  He hit better in his starts than his supporting cast did.

5) Right Field Production:

Many Mets fans wanted Michael Conforto back, and maybe he just had a really bad year, but (per those sorted MLB stats) they were 28th in right field batting average (.222) and 21st in RBIs with 74.  Not good enough for what should be a really productive spot on a contending team, especially since the right fielders' defense and speed were below average too.

6) Broken Back Ups:

Without looking it up, no other team assuredly had two guys like Almora and Maybin drive in no runs in 80 at bats, and including Guillorme brings that trio up to just 5 RBIs in over 200 ABs.  Add that onto woeful catcher hitting and we've got a wide-ranging run drought on our hands.

7) Steals:

The Mets were tied for 24th in steals with 54, compared to the leader (Royals with 124).  Of course, the 27th, 29th and 30th teams in steals were Houston, Boston and Cincinnati, who did just fine scoring without employing the steals weapon - if not needed, why risk guys jamming fingers or ankles or pulling hamstrings trying to steal.  When you are a low scoring team, though, as a certain Queens-based team was, it helps not to be in the bottom 5th of MLB in team steals.

Not all was terrible in offense land.  The Mets (per MLB stats) had the second most pinch hit RBIs with 48, 3 behind the Giants, who pinch hit a whole lot more than the Mets. So the Mets were top of the heap in pinch hitting, in essence.  If the stats were correct, what kept the Blue Jays out of the post-season was an incredibly low .167 and 3 RBIs in 90 pinch hit at bats.

The Mets are not being childish, and are addressing things.  They have added Marte, Canha, and Escobar - which are, I believe, 3 steps towards addressing the above.  

More offense is still needed, most likely, to make sure this is an offense of predominantly high points rather than low points in 2022.