Paul Articulates - Aggressive thoughts

The word "aggressive" is one of the most overused in sports.  How often do you hear a player interview where the player says they need to be more aggressive or the coach told them to be more aggressive?  How many post-success interviews start with a coach applauding a player for being more aggressive?

Aggressive can be good.  Aggressive can also be bad.  Very bad.  Let's start by defining the two sides of this coin and then move on to how it applies to the 2026 Mets.

Good aggressive is a "go get it" mentality where a player or a team plays to win versus playing not to lose.  Good aggressive is manifested in many ways:

Looking for a fastball on the first pitch in a zone that you can drive the ball.

Drawing a hard throw to second on every single.

Going first to third on a base hit to right.

Swinging on a grooved fastball on a 2-0 count, even after a walk.

Throwing strikes early in the count to get ahead.

Bad aggressive is forced activity where a player tries to "do too much" to turn adversity into recovery.  Typically it leads to greater failure and increased adversity.  Bad aggressive is manifested in many ways:

Pre-determination that you are swinging on the first pitch.

Gunning a throw from the outfield when there is no real play on a runner just to send a warning to the other team.

Attempted steal when you need multiple runs to tie.

Pulling a starter before the third time through a lineup even though he dominated the first two turns. 

The 2026 Mets have been guilty of "bad aggressive" way too much and have not shown "good aggressive" nearly enough.  This is a significant factor in their lack of success and probably stems from inadequate leadership in the dugout.  People may lament the firing of Carlos Mendoza because it was the players who didn't perform, but I would argue that with the right guidance to keep them on the "good" side of aggressive they may have done better.  That was not exclusively Mendoza's job, but he was in the strongest position to influence behavior.  So what are some examples of the "bad aggressive" that we have seen this year?

1) Quick hooks on starters to "not get in trouble" caused overuse of bullpen arms which impacted more than one game.

2) Free reign for batters to challenge pitches.  See my prior post last Thursday.

3) Every Mark Vientos at-bat.

4) Francisco Alvarez hits three home runs, then unleashes max effort swings in every successive at-bat.  He's going to hurt himself again.

5) Pinch hitting to get lefty-righty matchups even though the batter being removed is on a tear.

There are also plenty examples of not being aggressive enough that have hurt the team.  Here are a few:

1) Tim Leiper has been the least aggressive third base coach since Gary Disarcina.  He has guys going station to station that could easily take an extra base.  He has guys not even picking him up as they round second base.  There have been several players who have run through his stop sign and almost all have scored.  If there was a metric for runs not scored due to coaching decisions, he would have the most negative numbers in MLB.

2) Mets pitchers have walked 296 batters just halfway through the season.  This is an example of playing "not to lose" by nibbling at corners due to fear of the opponent getting a big hit.

3) The Mets are 25th out of 30 teams in stolen bases even though they have added speed to this year's team.  In 2025, Juan Soto had 38 stolen bases on his own.  At the halfway mark of this season, the entire Mets team has 39 stolen bases.  Why are there shackles on AJ Ewing and Carson Benge's ankles?  We miss you, Antoan Richardson!!

4) Even with the significant decrease in power on this year's roster, the Mets have not adopted a "move the runner" mentality.  There are very few bunts, either for base hits or sacrifice, and once again there is very little hitting behind the runner for productive at-bats.  A team that will hit less homers than last year continues to rely on homers to win ballgames.

I could go on, but I think you get the point.  The Mets need to loosen up, get some uniforms dirty, and play competitive baseball like kids on a back lot.  Swing like you want to hit, run the bases like your life depends on one more.  Go take the victory, and stop trying to avoid the loss.