Tom Brennan - "Hey...Let's Turn Two"

They tell me Lindor smiles twice as much when he turns two.

Cubs' legend Ernie Banks was well know for his "let's play two" mantra and philosophy.

Playing two is nice, but...what about turning two?  

As in turning those double plays (DPs).

It's yet another thing the Mets seem to be, well, sub-standard at.

Here's a DP breakdown for the last 6 full seasons (2015-21, skipping 2020) (source: Teamrankings.com):

Mets were 21st in turning double plays in 2021, 20th in 2019, 25th in 2018, 21st in 2017 and 2016, and 26th in 2015. On average, 22nd best.  Which ain't anywhere near best, at all.

They averaged 0.78 double plays per game over the 6 seasons, with a low of 0.73, and just one year above 0.80 (with a 0.85 being their peak, in 2016).

The MLB's leading DP teams for those 6 seasons averaged 1.05 double plays per game.  If the Mets were tied for best in DPs in each of those 6 seasons, that would have added up to 45 more DPs per season.

Oddly, the average for the worst teams over each of those 6 years was just 0.61 per game.  But in 5 of those 6 years, the teams in question were the Dodgers (twice), Astros, and Yanks (twice), all teams that won a lot, and perhaps were at the higher end of the strikeout list.

The source I looked at only went back to 2007, so I skipped from 2015 to 2007, and guess what?  The Mets were 30th in turning DPs in 2007.  

Also shown was the rate of DPs at home vs. away.  

The Mets from 2015-21 (no 2020) averaged 0.75 DPs at home and averaged 0.82 DPs on the road.  Taller grass in the infield at home = less DPs? 

Of course, two other factors are 1) having outfielders without cannons for arms and 2) having less-than-stellar catchers at the art of strike 'em out, throw 'em out double plays.

This substandard double play rate intuitively speaking costs the Mets some wins each year.  Failure to turn DPs can lead to extended innings and more runs, and not getting a deGrom out of an inning due to a missed double play will increase his pitch count, shorten his outing, and have more of his start pitched by lesser bullpen arms.

Which, to be sure, is one of the reasons they wanted glove man Francisco Lindor so badly.

All time record?  The Philadelphia Athletics turned 217 DPs in 154 games back in 1949.  Why so much higher?  Far fewer strikeouts likely led to more men on base to erase via double plays. 

Player record?  It appears Jim Rice holds the top 2 worst seasons with 35 GDPs in 1985 and 36 in 1984.  He was also 2nd in baseball with 31 in 1983 and worst in baseball with 29 in 1982.   That's 131 DPs in 4 years. Speedy Lou Brock grounded into just 114 double plays in 19 years, by comparison, and only 38 in his first 8 (presumably fastest) seasons.   

Then I thought to look at the bunting machine, a man who presumably wanted to safely get to first base more than anybody, Brett Butler.  He was nailed just 62 times on a GDP in 17 seasons. That was 2 seasons' work for Mr. Rice. 

That's it for me regarding "turn two."  

Now it's your "turn to" chime in.

I hope I turn at least 2 reader comments today.