The Mets didn’t make the post-season and many Mets fans find it difficult to watch playoff baseball because their team isn’t in it. I have still been watching because I love the game and I find it interesting to see what other teams and players do on the field to succeed.
Here is one thing I have seen in the late pennant races and playoff games that drives me nuts: the bunt is suddenly back in play.
For the majority of the regular season, regardless of score, MLB teams just don’t utilize the bunt to move a runner over or score a guy from third. We know that is driven by the analytics guys postulating that over the long season it pays off more not to give up the out. But suddenly, when the playoff game is on the line, and the team needs that run, it’s time to bunt. Good luck with that, because your players have never practiced bunting since it is a lost art. But here, in the desperation to win, it is the right choice.
From the Mets’ perspective it causes me great angst. We missed the playoffs by one single win. ONE! Where was that urgency to win one more game during the regular season, when this improbably inept lineup consistently failed to move runners or score from third with less than two outs? Could a bunt have saved the season? Maybe I sound too old school, but there used to be a real art to moving runners. Players were valued for that skill and teams reaped the rewards by scoring more runs. One might argue that this is obsolete thinking in the day of the big power game, but look no further than the Milwaukee Brewers who were 22nd of 30 teams in home runs this season. They got further putting the ball in play than they would have by swinging for the fences on every single at-bat.
This to me is the result of too many people getting lost in group thinking and not tailoring results to their circumstances. If you are the New York Yankees or Philadelphia Phillies with short fences and a roster full of power hitters, then go for it on every swing – it works out. But if you don’t have a murderer’s row lineup or you play in a pitcher friendly park (yes, that includes Citi Field), then manufacture some runs if you want to succeed. The Mets ranked 18th in MLB by recording only 15 sacrifice bunts in the entire 2025 season.
I blame the hitting coaches (they are all gone) and the analytics guys (waaaay too much influence) for not making proper adjustments during a season where the Mets failed to advance runners into scoring position and failed to score them when they were in scoring position. Let me reiterate: ONE GAME! One safety squeeze; one grounder to the right side with a man on second and no out; one first-to-third on a hit and run. ONE!
Moving into next year, I think that the new Mets’ coaching staff should learn from what the old staff couldn’t. This team plays no less than 81 games per year in a pitcher-friendly park and has a history of failing with RISP. Adopt a new philosophy about scoring runs and implement it with urgency 162 times.
3 comments:
I loved your headline…. There didn’t appear to be one. Mendoza’s is very lucky, but in all honesty, I don’t think anyone on this team listened to him.
Paul,
There were numerous times this season that Acuna and Taylor, with their speed, could have stolen runs with a successful bunt and a stolen base. Instead it looked as if they were swinging for the fences. I attribute those failures to a lack of coaching and managing and a lack of awareness of the game situation requiring that one hit to score a winning run in the ninth inning.
I agree DJ. Those two, and some behind them like Williams and Ewing could create some chaos with small ball tactics.
Post a Comment