Paul Articulates – A swing and a miss

This has certainly been a frustrating year for the New York Mets.  They have the highest payroll in MLB history and can only show a .471 winning percentage, which is good for fourth place in the NL East.

We know that when Steve Cohen acquired the team, he was committed to building a winning team – from the flagship Mets all the way back through the player development system.  They have a long way to go in this evolution.  Let’s look at the farm system right now:

The Syracuse Mets are 26-38 (.406) and have a starting lineup with only two batters boasting batting averages above .260.  One of them is the newly acquired Luke Voit and the other is hot prospect Ronny Mauricio.

The Binghamton Rumble Ponies are 28-29 (.491) and have a starting lineup with only three batters boasting batting averages above .245.  One of them is new call-up Joe Suozzi with 47 AA at-bats.

The Brooklyn Cyclones are 25-33 (.431) and have a starting lineup with one batter (D’Andre Smith) that is hitting better than .250.

This is the definition of mediocrity – a MLB team and its three in-line affiliates all with sub-.500 records and batting averages that make opposing pitchers want to spend more time in town.  The lack of hitting throughout the development system coupled with the inability of proven MLB hitters to make consistent contact on the Mets brings the entire hitting approach into question.  

Last year was a banner year for the Mets.  Not only did they achieve a 101 win season, but they did so with some very good, timely hitting which is uncommon for this team.  It was a breath of fresh air for fans that were used to only winning pitching duels.  

Last year’s hitting coach Eric Chavez had simplified the approach to understanding analytics and the batters responded in kind.  So the reward for such a great performance was for Chavez to be promoted to bench coach and the hitting performance went in the opposite direction.  

Jeff McNeil is not making solid contact like we are used to.  Starling Marte is looking very confused at the plate, often taking half-swings at balls well out of the strike zone.  Francisco Lindor is flirting with the Mendoza line.  Something is clearly wrong.

The lack of hitting has put pressure on a pitching staff that has already demonstrated the inability to deal with the changes in pitch clock rules.  They have no stamina, and too many games are lost after the fifth inning because the starting pitchers are tired, the relievers are tired, and the bats are not consistently delivering.  Right now the staff ERA is 4.69 (26th in MLB) and the team batting average is .240 (21st in MLB).

Statistics can be twisted to say anything you want them to, but it is tough to argue that the team is better than its record when you watch the televised games.  Players are pressing to do more than they can in all aspects of the game, and the results are ugly – errors, failure to make contact in scoring situations, and hung breaking balls that are pounced upon by opposing batters.

I think that the pitching woes are an unfortunate consequence of the new pitch clock rules on top of a short term strategy to bring winning arms to the team that belong to pitchers with birth certificates authored in the 1980’s.  

The batting woes are harder to explain – and from the stats provided earlier in the post it points to a systematic problem.  This organization is not training its players to hit what the pitchers are throwing.  I cannot put a root cause to this issue, or I would be hired as the director of hitting.  

But I can make a plea for the Mets leadership to find a director of hitting that can right this wrong.  There are too many batters throughout the organization that are hitting well below their potential from the major league team through the high A team. 

It is time to upgrade the baseball operations in the New York Mets organization.  The leadership is committed to excellence and they are getting mediocrity.