Boy, some Facebook posting people have a lot of angst for Luis Rojas.
I come not to castigate or denigrate him. You can if you so choose. But please...if you do...do so thoughtfully.
If he is to be judged, looked first at how well the team has pitched, without Thor, Cookie, Lugo, and a few turns without Jake.
By that standard, pitching, he has done great.
He also does not hit.
The Mets hire trained professionals to do the hitting.
Those professionals are roughly last in team runs scored, doubles, and HRs.
The hitting coaches were replaced.
Want the culprits?
How about those professional hitters, huh?
Let me spin the Blame Game Wheel and rate by position:
Catcher?
McCann and Nido are a combined .198 with a precious few extra base hits and ribbies. WAY BELOW EXPECTATIONS.
First Base?
Alonso has 6 HRs and just 18 RBIs. SOMEWHAT BELOW EXPECTATIONS.
Second Base?
Jeff McNeil, .319 career hitter before 2021. Hitting far below that this year, few RBIs. WAY BELOW EXPECTATIONS.
Shortstop?
Lindor was expected to be a difference maker. I have yet to see the difference between him and Al Weis. WAY BELOW EXPECTATIONS.
3rd Base?
Davis has been injured a lot, so overall, with JD, Guillorme, and Villar? ABOVE EXPECTATIONS.
RF?
Michael Conforto has scuffled. RBIs, he's had a few. WAY BELOW EXPECTATIONS.
CF?
Nimmo, Pillar, Almora...SOMEWHAT ABOVE EXPECTATIONS.
LF?
Smith was terrific offensively in 2020. In 2021? WAY BELOW EXPECTATIONS.
What it all comes down to, for Mets' overall hitting, I get:
WAY BELOW EXPECTATIONS.
Last (or virtually last) in scoring, doubles and homers.
I call it Professional Offense Malpractice.
Remember, the 2020 team that hit so well?
The manager was the same Luis Rojas.
Perhaps another manager could have made a large difference:
I’m thinking - perhaps - BILLY MARTIN?
Give me a rotary phone, I'll call him.
Ahh, I'll stop....just blame the hitters.
They’re the 2021 laggards. Hitting like a Retro '68 VW Beetle with 44 HP..
No blame shifting allowed, Bill Clinton just told me,
"It's the Hitters, Stupid."
The hitting? It's been a stain on the season.
7 comments:
1. Luis Rojas does not create the lineup.
2. It comes from the analytics dept. and consistently is the best players available.
3. Luis Rojas does not swing a bat.
4. All game decisions are made after dugout discussions between Luis, and his bench and pitching coach.
So, Mack, that supports, I think, my thesis.
If McNeil Davis Conforto and Nimmo miss some more time, I guess we’ll just have to put up with another week or two of miserable hitting. Unless, that is, the hitters put their big boy pants on for a change.
WORST OFFENSE IN BASEBALL. Before the season, I thought their offense was top 5. I bet Steve Cohen thought so, too.
It's hard to evaluate Rojas if he's not making the decisions.
The players need to perform. This has nothing to do with Rojas and he doesn't deserve to be in that headline.
Jimmy
Reese, hitters are easy to evaluate, based on comparative stats. They are the culprits.
Jimmy, so right. To the extent Luis is responsible for any shortfalls, that is minor. The hitters are the burglars holding the burglary tools when the spotlight hits, making off with bags of cash they haven't earned.
The majors' 15th highest scoring team (median) has 175 runs.
The Mets? 119.
To be fair, the average MLB team has played 40 games, and the Mets 36.
So, normalize the Mets to 40 games, and they'd have 132 runs at their current pace, OR STILL MORE THAN A RUN PER GAME LOWER THAN THE 15TH HIGHEST TEAM.
That is your problem as a Mets analyst. The gosh-awful hitting.
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