Tom Brennan: What to Do About Mets Hitting - I Repeat My Advice..And Other Gems

I WANT TO SEE METS HITTERS DO THIS….DONT YOU? 

Good morning, lads and lassies. Only one main subject today. 

The Mets have had their hitting woes all season. And it has not gone unnoticed. 

I saw this in NJ.COM on the subject:

“Hitting coach Eric Chavez spoke to the NY Post about the team’s hitting woes.

“It just needs to get better,” Chavez said, via Mike Puma of The Post. “You kind of think there’s too many good hitters and players for us to underperform as a group. 

“But it’s like, we’re halfway through the season and you would like to say, ‘Oh, it’s going to turn,’ and you think it’s going to turn, but at some point … you just don’t want to ever overreact and go too hard and make drastic changes, so it’s timing is everything. 

“Working with [president of baseball operations] David [Stearns], the one thing he has shown me is to have patience. I don’t have it. I am more of an overreactor where I want things hammered down. But as far as addressing it, the players know. They know we’re better than this as a group.” 

Which brings me, Eric Chavez, sir, back to a point that I’ve been making for a very long time.

That is, Mets hitters need to be much more aggressive on first pitch strikes

My Case in Point person is slugger Brent Rooker.

Mr. Super Aggressive.

He sucked until he was 28, then hit 30 homers at age 28, an amazing 39 HRs and .293 in 146 games in 2024 at age 29 and, after a slow start in 2025,  has 17 HRs, 54 runs scored and a .274 average so far in 2025.

Dang, that’s good.

This year, he swings at first pitches 46% of the time. Meaning?

Since a lot of pitches are balls, that means he swings at almost every single first pitch strike.

In 2024, also 46%.  

AGGRESSIVE. BIG RESULTS.

Now I will pick just one Met - Mark Vientos - to compare with.

1) Having a bad year.

2) Has swung at first pitches just 70 of 221 times in 2025:  31%.

3) ABs that end on 2 strike counts: 120, or a whopping 55% of his PAs.

4) Batting average on 2 strike counts? .138. One Friggin’ Thirty Eight.

Mark hit somewhat better in 2024, but not early as good as Rooker. 

In 2024, Mark got to two strikes around 55% of his PAs. 

He hit .162. In his “good” season.

So, in those 55% of his plate appearances in 2024 and 2025, he has gotten to a pitcher-advantage 2 strike counts, and has hit roughly .150.

AND…HOLY CROW…

You know that MVP candidate, Petey the Crow? First pitch swings, 191, first pitch takes just 162. 

Swings at a stunning 54% of them!!  

And he is an….MVP candidate.

Eric Chavez, are you paying attention?  Are you?  Really, are you?

I hope you are.

Your answer is RIGHT HERE. In this very article.

Keep doing the same stupid coaching thing, in the face of obvious facts, then perhaps my only conclusion is that you are the wrong man for the job.

Simply: 

VERY FEW HITTERS IN MLB hit well on strike two.

AVOID THAT.

Solution? Swing at many more strike ones.

I exempt Soto and Nimmo from this advice. 

They are proven walk specialists. 

This advice applies to EVERY OTHER METS HITTER.

That is my advice. You don’t have to thank me for it.

Just implement it. 

It is past time for you, Eric Chavez, to be a targeted “overreactor.”

My guess? My suggested alteration will be sloughed off.

So I wrote other swell stuff.

CREAM RISES TO THE TOP

“ The Los Angeles Dodgers have won 12 of its past 15 games to build a commanding NL West lead.”

Cream rhymes with scream in Queens 

We hear blood-curdling screams in Queens, and our pitchers get creamed.

Of course, Winker hit a 3 run HR, and is virtually ready, while Manaea threw 60 pitches with poor results. No rush, Sean. Figure it out by August.

TRIFECTA?

The Mets recently had an oft-injured two-time Cy Young winner. 

Jacob deGrom.

This year, in Texas, he is 9-2, 2.13.  

Cy Young # 3?

And another ex-Met, Zach Wheeler, could win the Cy Young in the NL. 

He is 8-3, 2.27, and 3rd in MLB with an NL-leading 136 Ks.

Two ex-Mets Cy Young’s - and perhaps an ex-Met MVP for Peter the Crow? 

Now that would really be something, huh?

STEVE WAS RIGHT

When Gavin Crochet was up for a move from the White Sox last year, my brother Steve (not to be confused with Billionaire Steve) SCREAMED AND BELLOWED to do whatever it took to get him.  

AT DANGEROUSLY HIGH DECIBELS!

Crochet through Tuesday was 8-4, 2.26, with an MLB-leading 144 Ks. 

I guess Billionaire Steve should have listened to Brother Steve.

I LIKE TO COMBINE STATS TO MAKE A POINT

The 1986 juggernaut NY Mets went 108-54 (.667).

The 2025 Binghamton and Brooklyn teams, combined? 102-46 (.690).

Incredible, frankly.

BASEBALL HAS THE MOST INTRIGUING TRIVIA

Saw this on Facebook:

On this day (June 28) in 1931, 17-year-old Jackie Mitchell stood on the pitcher’s mound for the Chattanooga Lookouts and made history. 

In a jaw-dropping exhibition game, she threw three pitches that stunned the world—two of the greatest hitters in baseball, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, walked back to the dugout shaking their heads. A teenager. A girl. And a legend was born.

Jackie wasn’t just lucky—she was trained by Hall of Famer Dazzy Vance, her neighbor growing up, who taught her his signature drop pitch. She signed one of the first pro baseball contracts ever given to a woman and proved she belonged on the field. But days after her unforgettable debut, the baseball commissioner voided her contract, calling the sport “too strenuous” for women.

Still, Jackie didn’t back down. She kept playing, barnstorming across the country, dazzling crowds who came to see the girl who struck out two icons. By the time she retired in 1937, she'd already changed the game.

Jackie Mitchell’s story isn’t just about baseball—it’s about the courage to throw hard when the world tells you to sit down.

So, I googled her, and also saw this: 

“Ruth stepped into the box, and took a high first pitch for a ball. After swinging through the next two pitches, the Sultan of Swat took the fourth pitch for strike three. Ruth slammed his bat down in anger and turned back to the umpire, likely to argue the call.

"What a lot of people said about her was that she had an uncanny knack to outguess the batters," Patrick said. "She had phenomenal control and she could make that ball drop, whether it was a sinker or a form of a curve that dropped -- I mean, who knows exactly what it was."

“Mitchell could exhale, but only for a second. Another legendary batter was coming up in Lou Gehrig. The reliever got the Iron Horse to whiff on three pitches for the second punchout of her fabled debut. And after walking Tony Lazzeri on five pitches, Mitchell's outing was done. Broome says the southpaw was supposed to pitch longer, but she had overworked her arm in preparation for the big game.

"I am glad of having the pleasure of pitching against Mr. Ruth and Mr. Gehrig. I think they are both fine men and great ballplayers," Mitchell told reporters, per Patrick. "I see nothing strange about my striking them out. At least stranger things have happened. Not even the best batters can hit them all. 

“I only tried to do my best and I am the happiest girl in the world."

“Whether it's a David vs. Goliath tale, a case for seeing history the way we want to, or simply, a woman with a wicked curve, people will always wonder what story lies beyond the box score.”

SO…THE NEXT TIME YOU SAY TO SOMEONE, YOU THROW LIKE A GIRL, REMEMBER THAT YOU COULDN’T THROW LIKE JACKIE BROWN.