An interesting question arose in the comments on yesterday’s article concerning the Mets’ ongoing rash of serious injuries. Whether it is the expected arm and shoulder issues for pitchers, the innumerable muscular strains in the abdomen and hamstring, or the myriad of other maladies, the fact is it doesn’t make sense for the Mets to be disproportionately affected by these circumstances.
One question that arose is how the Mets go about preparing their athletes for the rigors of the game. It doesn’t stand to reason that other clubs do not have the same problems with half or more of their roster unable to play.
Obviously people understand the normal routines of stretching, running and so forth, but there are modern approaches to various muscle groups that require embracing change in the exercise routines. Spend a few hours perusing Youtube and you will see depth and breadth of exercise methodologies that you don’t remember from gym class.
Right now it would seem that the Mets need to engage an outside firm to evaluate what it is they’re doing, setting metrics to determine whether or not they are achieving their intended goals, and what are the deficiencies in their processes that could be leading to players getting hurt. The old-school front office folks like Sandy Alderson may not be attuned to newer developments in this area, hence the results everyone has seen.
Going forward the club also needs to look at the in-season training facilities as well as how they’re handling the off-season. Games may only be played from April through September but the preparatory work for an athlete is a 12-month endeavor. We often hear stories about the winters spent on the beach, hunting, fishing and other leisure activities, but unless someone is specifically attempting to recover from a well known injury we don’t hear about the physical therapy, the exercises nor the progress being made.
The Mets need to decide very quickly if they can recover and advance in the standings or if they’ve shown the best they can do and hovering around .500 is where they will finish the year. The process starts with pitcher Jacob deGrom who likely should sit out the rest of the season, then continues with the infield duo of Francisco Lindor and Javier Baez. Granted, if the hitters start to do their job then they can withstand less-than-stellar starting pitching, but no one has seen evidence of the rust falling off the starting eight.
One of the other signs of lack of execution concerns the club’s baserunning (or lack thereof). Take a look around the league and you wonder whether the Mets simply employ folks not capable of pilfering a bag or if they do not see it as vital to their strategy of advancing runners. The league leaders in stolen bases right now are Starling Marte and Whit Merrifield tied at 35. The Mets as a club have part-time player Jonathan Villar leading their pack at a mere 10. In fact, their entire team total for base thefts is a mere 32, 3 below the individual accomplishments of players on other teams. Why is that? We won’t even look at the caught stealing and picked off numbers. Ugh!
Many folks are blaming Luis Rojas for what the players are doing or not doing. While the manager is indeed accountable for strategy and motivation, he’s not the one swinging the bat, running the bases nor throwing the ball. This problem goes well beyond the questionable skills Rojas brings to the game and calls into question whether or not the Mets should be doing a 100% overhaul of their training strategy for the future. It doesn’t matter if your pitching rotation and starting lineup are filled with potential All Stars. If they can’t take the field regularly, then you’re not going to win. The Mets are seeing crystal clear evidence of this manifestation right now and nothing tangible has been done to address it.
6 comments:
Somewhere, Lou Gehrig is laughing loudly.
The 1986 Mets used 36 players (21 offense, 15 pitching).
The 1969 Mets used 35 players (20 offense, 15 pitchers).
The 2021 Mets, 75 % thru the season?
26 position players, 39 pitchers (3 position guys).
The pitchers are the main aberration - the higher-ups need to figure out the overwhelming disparity between 1969, 1986, and 2021 pitchers needed.
Of course, the team's soft position regulars need to figure out how they've missed so many games this year, too. Because the 1969 and 1986 hitters did not miss much tie due to injuries.
Reese is on the mark. The Mets seem disproportionately affected by muscle strain injuries, and they are also slow to recover from them. It takes months to return from a hamstring injury??!
Also, the stolen base needs to be in the Mets' arsenal. They have had a horrible average with runners in scoring position, so if you can't fix their approach during those at-bats, you can at least increase the frequency of RISP by stealing second base with swift players like Nimmo, Villar, and Conforto. Lindor did his part while healthy, but he will likely take it slow upon his return (from a muscle injury).
An odd thing is that 52 years ago, nobody ever heard of an oblique, let alone an oblique injury, coupled with the fact that the players of that day didn't generally train all year and have the advanced exercise equipment and training rooms and training staffs that are employed today.
Good luck, Bad luck? I doubt it. Perhaps today's athlete's (or at least baseball players) are too toned? I don't know what the answer is.
And yes, I have said it before (after last season and prior to this one), that the baserunning needs to improve in all areas - stolen bases, advancing bases on 'productive outs', getting runners in from third and second base . . . I still like the '85 Cardinals approach.
Keith has said it many times that he just enjoyed the off season and didn't pick up a bat till ST and didn't get to the park for a nite game till 3 or 4 not noon. With the strain of a 162 game schedule they all seem to over due it but having said that don't other teams do the same things with better results? Whatever it is we need to address it because even with this dreadful month that doesn't seem to end the pitching has been solid for the most part but the hitting...we couldn't hit water if we fell out of a boat to put it mildly.
Gary, that is the answer. Chill in off season.
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