Ray Savage - Head Games

 

SAVAGE VIEWS – HEAD GAMES

June 6, 2023

From my perch it appears that this Mets team is a dispirited bunch.  

Of the 26 players currently on the roster only David Robertson is having what might be considered an average or slightly above average season.  I know there are those who will dispute me and claim that Alonso, McNeil and Nimmo are having fine seasons.  A quick dive into their performances suggests otherwise.

Pete is on his way to another 50 plus home run year with RBIs in the neighborhood of 120.  Sounds good on paper.  However, he is batting around .230 and has only 4 doubles in 60 games.  His inability to make contact with runners in scoring position shows up on a routine basis.  He has not been a clutch performer this year.

Jeff seems to have become a slap hitter – he has stopped driving the ball.  Through 60 games he has a grand total of 10 extra base hits.  Last year’s batting champ seems to be a shell of himself. He has had one extra base hit in his last 31 games.

Nimmo had a reputation of working deep counts especially when leading off an inning.  Not only is his ability to work out a walk down significantly, but he is also no longer coming up big in key situations. 

Buck continues to bat Lindor in either the two or three hole where he has been grossly ineffective.  They have scored runs in the first inning about 8 times in 60 games.  A major reason for this has been Lindor’s lack of production.  Yet, Showalter refuses to bat him lower in the lineup.

The rookies, Baty and Alvarez, seem to have hit that proverbial brick wall. They have regressed from their early successes.  The current malaise infecting the team seems to have dragged them down.

We have become aware of the fragile psyches that seem to have an impact on today’s professional athletes.  We see it all the time when a team will have a run of producing over a long stretch of time and then go through a period of no production at all.  Over the past six games the team has had as many as 7 hits once.  

It’s no wonder that they have become a mediocre team winning half of its games.  This virus that has hit the team has infected nearly all of the regular players with a couple of exceptions. 

I’m not sure where we go from here.  Some suggest bringing up Maurico would help.  As much as I look forward to Maurico making his debut, the timing is not right.  With Lindor entrenched at SS and McNeil pretty good at second, it only seemed logical that Ronny would have begun the year learning how to play Left.  I suggested this scenario last October.  Someone needs to explain why the transition to left field is just starting to take place.

This team is comprised of many talented individuals.  Unfortunately, some would probably flourish on other teams.  It’s time to find trade partners for Vogelbach, and one of Canha / Pham.  With Canha already on board it was a strange move to sign Pham.  Two right hand hitting outfielders with similar skills.

It’s going to be a long season unless this team can pull their collective heads out of the sand.

Ray