Man, I don't like to be the bearer of bad news. But sometimes, the auditor in me gets the better of me. With that said...
So many hitters in Mets Minorsville are having a mighty rough start of things in 2022.
Not a pretty picture. At all.
Here's a list of 23 guys on the 4 active teams with significant ABs who were hitting under at or under .200 in April (if in the Mets' Top 30, their ranking is duly noted, and if their strikeouts seem to be the main culprit for being sub-.200, the Ks are listed).
(The list was actually 24, but Mendoza Matt Reynolds (2 for 17) is gone - he actually went to struggling Cincinnati, where he was 2 for 3 and a walk with the Reds in late April - go figure):
AAA:
Khalil Lee (7) - 6 for 49 (.122), 22 Ks. What happened to last year's .450 OBP guy?
Mark Vientos (4) - 10 for 61, 1 HR. Started slow in 2021, too.
Travis Blankenhorn - 13 for 66 (.197), 3 BBs, 4 HRs, 10 RBIs.
Quinn Brodey - 5 for 44 (.114) but 2 HRs and 6 steals.
Nick Dini - catcher who is actually hitting a productive .182 (4 for 22), as he's walked 7 times vs. just 4 Ks.
Cody Bohanek - 8 for 45 (.178), with 20 Ks.
Those 6 AAA dudes and Reynolds are 48 for 304 so far (.158).
AA:
Antoine Duplantis - 8 for 46, .174 but he has hit for the cycle - if you consider all games so far - 1 double, 1 triple, 1 HR this season.
Matt Winaker - ripping at .116, 5 for 43, 20 Ks, 1 grand slam.
Manny Rodriguez - 17 Ks, and 4 for 39, .103 - but 2 of the four hits went yard.
Brandon Fryman, 3 for 21, .143.
Jake Mangum (22) - 12 for 60, so he sits squarely on the .200 Mendoza Line.
Those 5 AA dudes are 32 for 209 so far (.153).
High A:
Jaylen Palmer (14) - 5 for 44, a very high 27 Ks.
Jose Peroza (29) - 9 for 58 (.155), 25 Ks.
Nic Gaddis - catcher hitting 6 for 43 (.140)
Matt O'Neill - catcher hitting 3 for 24 (.125), but 8 BBs and 12 Ks. Matt puts up some of the most unique slash lines I can recall. In 2021 and in 2022 through Thursday, he had fanned at first glance an astonishingly high 84 times in 161 official at bats - but also walked an incredible 54 times and was HBP 4 times, to give him nearly a .400 OBP over that period. It's all about getting on base, ain't it, but a few more hits and less Ks wouldn't hurt.
Matt Rudick - 7 for 38, .184.
Warren Saunders - 7 for 39, 15 Ks (.179).
Joe Suozzi, 3 for 30 (.100), 15 Ks.
Those 7 High A dudes are 40 for 276 so far (.145).
Full A:
Drake Osborn - 9 for 46, .196.
Jack Wold - 8 for 44, .182.
Jose Rivera - 6 for 31, .194, 17 Ks.
Albert Suarez - 2 for 22, .091.
Cesar Berbesi - 2 for 18, .111.
Those 5 A-Ball dudes are 27 for 161 so far (.168).
Overall, on all 4 teams, the 24 dudes are 147 for 950 (.155).
That is a heck of a whole lot of Super-Duper-Sub-Mendoza.
My guess is no other major league franchise can come close to having 24 sub-Mendoza guys in April.
Heck, the Mets have just 3 (the now-departed Cano, Smith, and McCann), and they went 21 for 119 (.177) - not great, but not terrible. .177 > .155.
Mr. Cohen might want to ask his Scouting Department how on earth there could be anywhere near 24 Mets minor leaguers over 4 teams in April that could hit not just sub-Mendoza, but a glacial .155 in 950 at bats.
Steve, if you do ask, could you let me know what they say? I'm just curious, as I imagine you might also be.
Seems the draft is a bit busted, if you ask me. I can almost hear the conversation:
"Let's draft us a bunch of .155 hitters with good character, shall we?" "Great idea, let's do it!"
Also of note are the 10 Super K Boys:
The ten mega-whiffers (Lee, Bohanek, Winaker, M. Rodriguez, Palmer, Peroza, O'Neill, Saunders, Suozzi, and Rivera) are a combined 56 for 402 (.139) with 190 Ks, or a K every 2.1 official plate appearance. This, mind you, is against minor league pitching, with 6 of the 10 fanning like mad in A ball.
Do you think there is a correlation between hitting just .139 and a K every 2.1 ABs? I do.
All 10, it seems to me, belong in a special "making contact class" that the Mets should start. I am not kidding. Because a rate of a K every 2.1 at bats will soon make them lose contact with their baseball careers, I'd think. Or perhaps ending up on the show Jeopardy. "Let's see, should I take "Strikeout Kings for $400" or "Former Pro Baseball Players for $300" "?
GOOD NEWS! One guy I'm glad to see seems to have taken the course is Sherveyn Newton, whose Ks are way down from 2021 and who has hit .279/.357/.525 for the St Lucie squad in April. Good for Sherveyn.
Most guys - thankfully - don't stay sub-Mendoza forever.
Case in point:
Wilmer Reyes was at a very puzzling .176 on April 24, but finished the month out with 11 hits for his last 21, so now he is scorching, jumping over 100 points to .278 as April ended. If you can jump 102 points in a week, can you jump another 102 points in a month and finish May at .380, Wilmer?
If it was my call, I'd promote Wilmer to AA and demote scuffling Manny Rodriguez to High A, but what do I know? I'm just an irritated auditor.
Hopefully, for each and every one of the 23 remaining dudes in the above list, a nasty April will turn into a blistering May, a scorching June, a jolly July, a blazing August, and a scintillating September.
Having those 23 guys hitting over .300 the rest of the way would be much more fun....auditors like to report good news, too.
Anyway, my apologies...
I just woke up on the wrong side of bed when I wrote this one.
My wish on this article? 23 comments. Heck, 200 would be nicer.
On a time-sensitive side topic, Mets make the "right baseball decision" for Mr. Cohen and boot Robbie Cano.
ReplyDeleteWhy? It's not all about the $$. It's all about the W's.
Would Cohen have axed Cano yesterday without a hard deadline? No. But sometimes hard deadlines force hard decisions. That's baseball.
This was unlike the decision made regarding last night's Mets antagonist, Travis D. The Mets foolishly rushed his dumping just as he was coming up to speed post-Tommy John.
There was no hard deadline. There was no soft deadline.
There was utter stupidity.
He has been one of baseball's most productive hitting catchers since. Top 3 or 4, most likely.
So...the Mets' catchers were 29th in average at .210 last year, and last in RBIs. This year they are hitting a SUB-MENDOZA .171. Atlanta's catchers, meanwhile, are hitting .284.
The foolish gift that keeps on giving.
But boy, can our guys frame pitches.
It's truly amazing what this team has accomplished without Jake and hot bats.
ReplyDeleteGreat research - what an eye-opener! It inspired me to look more. Here's what I found:
ReplyDeleteSyracuse (AAA) is last of 20 teams in the International League with a .212 team batting average.
Binghamton (AA) is 8th of 12 teams in the Eastern League with a .222 team batting average.
Brooklyn (A) is 11th of 12 teams in the South Atlantic League with a .205 team batting average.
St. Lucie (low A) is the only team showing offensive performance with a .255 team batting average leading the Florida State League.
So it's not just those notable prospects - entire teams are struggling. Is this just an early anomaly with a new organizational hitting approach, or is there a bigger issue?
Paul, it deserves to be asked. For the umpteenth time, I am not doing this to attack players - it is directed AT THE METS. I have written so many of these sorts of articles over the past decade about poor drafting of Mets hitters. My favorite was 4th round Cohen $50 million a year in the long run. How? Draft dangerous hitters. Stop drafting guys with AA ceilings.
ReplyDeleteAnd...hitter drafting was even worse from the 1960s to the 2001-10 decade. My brother points this out to me all the time. Where are our star hitters? Pete, David, Reyes, Straw and.... Where is our Pujols? Our Soto? Our Trout?
Poor drafting was critical under the Wilpons
DeleteIt's not under Steve
Quiz question: which catcher in 764 at bats has had 43 doubles, 34 HRs, 138 RBIs, .270. Bench? No. Piazza? No. d'Arnaud? Yes, as a TBR and Brave.
ReplyDelete138 RBIs in 764 at bats. Lethal. We instead have Nido and his .240 career OBP.
Murphy and d'Arnaud...two ginormous mistakes of the past decade.
Steve has to change young talent acquisition drastically. Because if the Mets had to rely on drafted and internationally signed hitters over the years and not free agents, they'd be a 60 win per year team.
ReplyDeleteYes the difference in last night's game was the catching position. We had McCan't and they had TDA and I wonder what SC thinks about all this? Look the big difference from the not to distant past to now is Steve Cohen because I'm still amazed about the Cano DFA but it's a decision about what's best for the team and not about the money and I can't believe I just wrote that. For the first time in forever I have full confidence that the owner has the Front office's back and will approve whatever they deem necessary to improve this club. Tom also any more update's on Wyatt Young and wondering if he could be our version of Sid Finch but he's real right?
ReplyDeleteAlso wondering who made the "let's not keep Thor and Loup" decision considering money's no object anymore and they signed for chump change considering our new team mantra.
ReplyDeleteGary, this is Tom. Wyatt went hitless last night - they did not play
ReplyDeleteLOL Tom but what's your thought's on the young man?
ReplyDeleteGary, regarding Wyatt Young, I think when opportunity knocks, there is nothing like succeeding.
ReplyDeleteWyatt got as I see it a very unique opportunity....Matt Reynolds left AAA....SS Cody Bohanek in AAA hitting .167...Luis Carpio left the Mets minors after 2021...Mauricio is not ready for AAA...Manny Rodriguez in AA isn't hitting enough for AA, much less AAA, Wilmer Reyes started off ice cold in Brooklyn, Jaylen Palmer in Brooklyn is sub-glacial, and Sherveyn Newton is doing quite well in St Lucie but is not skipping through any levels
- so last year's .370 hitter in 92 FCL rookie at bats, A/K/A Mr. Young, got all of 14 ABs for Brooklyn early this year (2 levels above the FCL), then was ripped out of there and skipped over AA to AAA.
All of which miraculously got him from rookie ball to AAA in the blink of an eyelash
- but wouldn't have meant much....at all....if he had gotten on base 4 out of 40 times.
Instead, he zooms to AAA and gets on base 28 times in 14 games.
Not a power guy, but who can say he won't be successful with that against-the-odds AAA debut, where 7 AAA guys who didn't skip any levels were hitting under .200!
Simply remarkable. Can't think of anyone else doing that. Ever,
Sidd Finch (the everyday player one) lives so just keep on keeping on young man.
ReplyDelete