Hudgens Making a Difference?

Anyone who watched Wednesday night's game vs. the Phillies on SNY has heard at least part of the reason we appear to have acquired a very different Andres Torres than we thought we'd acquired in the Angel Pagan trade. Just what was that reason? Well, it's the very same reason the Mets, since Dave Hudgens has arrived as Batting Coach, have been scoring far more runs than anyone else (including me) thought they would. That reason, oh ye Met faithful, is teaching people how to walk more.

The walk, as far as I'm concerned, and pretty much as far as every other sabrematrican is concerned, is the most underrated statistic in all of baseball. Beyond that, it's a teachable/learnable skill, at least to some degree, and it's been Dave Hudgens' recognition of that which has turned the Mets from what many people thought was an offensively impotent team into a team which ha the ability to come back and score bunches of runs at a time.

To look at specific examples, Andres Torres has said straight out it was Dave Hudgens who convinced him to take more strikes early on in the count, and convince himself he can still hit the ball with 2 strikes.  Hudgens told him, early in the count, if a pitch is questionable, or close, don't swing--take a pitch.  I realize that sounds like common sense to some of us, but apparently that sense is not so common (as a ballplayer in my younger days, I was well known for my ability to take a walk).

  So what's been the result? Andres Torres, prior to this year, had BB per 10AB ratios of .99, and 1.05 in his last 2 full seasons. So far this year he's averaging 1.70 (and he's walked in Saturday's game, giving him 1.8 BB's/10AB to keep right up to date) . Now that's an incredible increase, and I don't think he'll maintain that ratio, but if he maintains even half of the gain from his prior years, we'll see his OBA skyrocket. In 2011 his OBA was .312. In 2010 it was .343. So far this year it's .426. 

How many times in the past would you say the Mets have drawn 4 consecutive walks? 10? maybe 15? I'm talking in the history of the franchise. They've already done it twice this year (one of those times being a major league first of four consecutive walks with four different pitchers).

Personally, I can't say I know if Sandy Alderson had anything to do with this, or if his moneyball advisor did (that is, I don't know if they hired Hudgens because of his penchant for pushing players to learn how to walk), but color me impressed. I don't know that I've ever really felt the Mets had a hitting coach who made a difference... until now, and if nothing else, it gives me hope for the future and a reason to watch this season's games.

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Note: Lucas Duda seems to breaking out of his slump.  Duda has his BA up to .265, his OBA up to .362, and his SLG up to .402.  Ike Davis seems to have missed the memo on taking walks.  In 2010 he had 1.38BB/10AB, 2011 is was 1.32, but this year it's down to .82 per 10AB.  This is very similar to the problem David Wright had over the past few years.  Davis' strikeouts are up as well. He's on a pace to strikeout over 150 times this year.  He struck out only 138 times in his rookie year (I know... Only??).