Paul Articulates – Have the wheels come off?

Maybe that title got you worried.  Fear not readers, there is no big disaster hanging over the Mets right now.  This is a post to talk about the base-running savvy and speed that we had last year, and whether we can count on more.

Early in the 2022 season, the Mets thrilled their fans by playing some aggressive offensive baseball.   They were not knocking it over the fence much because they were not built for power (and those darn fences are too far, right Tom?).  

They were hitting singles and doubles, taking the extra base whenever possible, swiping a few bags, hitting behind the runner, and generally taking advantage of opponents’ defensive weakness.  They had a weapon named Travis Jankowski who was not only a capable outfielder but also had great speed.  

He would come in to pinch run and score from first on a double, or if he were on second it was pretty automatic to score on a base hit.  Jankowski played in 43 games before the Mets decided to DFA him to make room for trade deadline acquisition Tyler Naquin.  

Without Jankowski and with the wear and tear of a long season, the Mets aggressive base-running seemed to tail off towards the end of the year.  However, on August 31, the Mets added Terrance Gore to the MLB roster.  Gore was a renowned speedster that had played on a few recent World Series teams (Dodgers 2020, Braves 2021) as their primary pinch runner.  His role, similar to Jankowski, was to speed around the bases to deliver critical runs.  He did not get many opportunities.

So now we roll into the 2023 season.  Gore is still in the organization, outrighted to Syracuse back in November.  Jankowski is there as well, signing back with the Mets when things didn’t work out with Seattle.  

However,  it is going to be tough to make the opening day roster, as the Mets have been bringing in some high caliber players this off-season.   Assuming the Carlos Correa deal goes through, the team is going to have some pretty solid bats around the infield and outfield, but not many that you would put in the category of speedster.  

Lindor is fast and can steal bases, Marte is certainly a threat on the bases when his legs are 100%, but after that things drop off quickly.  Nimmo has speed, but has yet to master the stolen base – maybe that will be his improvement this year. Correa had zero stolen bases in 136 games last year and we have already heard the tales about his ankle.  

I really enjoyed last year’s aggressive running game, and would be very disappointed to see it diminished this year, especially since all home games will be played in a pitcher’s park so there will not be many cycles of the big apple.  

Some players like Lindor, McNeil, and Marte will naturally take advantage of the defense – that is how they were trained.  The base coaches will have influence, and I loved the job that Joey Cora did last year at third.  Buck Showalter will have to set the tone at spring training.  That is where the tone is set.  I believe he had a lot to do with the aggressiveness last year, and hope he will do the same.