Maybe when you were in school, you had a tutor.
Then, finally, it clicked, where it hadn’t before.
You solved it through the extra tutelage.
I almost needed one once for geometry, until I became less obtuse through lots of self-study. My geometric growth thereafter was astronomical.
In baseball…
Some guys really exhibit the need to be tutored in Metsville Minors Land, to reach astronomical heights.
Especially in lefty v. Righty situations. Where a righty hitter should own lefty pitchers but doesn’t.
I postulate that is in large part due to a relative starvation diet of lefty pitchers to face during the season. Some tutoring could help there.
Lefty v. Lefty situations also apply. They need tutors badly at times.
Some righty-hitting guys, like John Bay, need no tutor. He salivates when facing lefty pitchers. .286/.461/.545. Keep it up.
Bay also has thrived, going .297/.400/.418 in 27 AA games since his promotion from the Coney Clink, after hitting .232 for Brooklyn.
No going back to Coney Baloney is the lesson from Bay’s logic tutor.
Who are some pitching tutor candidates?
Based on stats through August 26, let’s look at a few:
Bombardier Billy Amick - 33 HR and 99 RBIs in 105 games? “Kingman.” But the righty slugger is just 20 for 115 vs. lefties, but a Killebrew-like .248/.356/.570 vs. righties. TUTOR!
Bear in mind that he has had only 666 pro at bats so far, so his HR and RBI production is sensational, even while his strikeouts are pretty high so far, even as he is now very impressively in AAA.
Slamming Sammy Stafura - the righty slugger has done OK against lefties and righties but…his power entirely evaporated in his first 17 Brooklyn Cyclones games (0 HR, 2 RBIs). I don’t need a tutor to tell me he needs to escape from the Coney Island maximum security facility in 2027, playing in less-pitcher-hostile Binghamton.
Jolting Jacob Reimer - noting immediately that first and foremost, he needs a tutor to help him stay out of sick bay, he is just 13 for 78 vs. lefties this year, vs. .272 against righties as a righty hitter.
That lefty non-production screams for a tutor.
Jacob BTW is finally healthy and averaging an RBI per game in August, and is 27 for his last 90 (.300), so he is another guy who you shouldn’t overly focus on full season stats on. GET HIM A TUTOR!
Yonatan Henriquez - he is a switch hitter, but in 2026, he has hit a mere 11 for 75 v. lefties, but .233 vs. righties that he has faced nearly 4 times as often. A lefty pitching tutor would seemingly help.
Before you think, why would I waste a tutor on a guy hitting that low, we get into the dreaded Cyclones Park hitter death spiral once again. Henriquez is a disastrous .186/.231/.273 in Brooklyn home horror games, but a quite decent .246/.320/.480 on the road.
So…promote him out of hitter hell in 2027, to Binghamton. Please.
Last example? Ronny Mauricio. He is a switch hitter who is objectively awful vs. lefties. He in AAA is just 11 for 54 vs. lefties this year, but a commendable .280/.318/.536 vs righties.
Last year in the minors, .109 vs. lefties, but .295/.363/.492 vs righties.
His prior season stats vs. lefties were somewhat better, but still a far worse slash line than against righties. And, let’s not forget this:
Major league career slash vs lefties? .140/.175/.204! Egads!
I asked a tutoring expert what he would recommend, and he said emphatically: NO MORE RIGHTY AT BATS!
The stats are just so blatantly obvious.
It is simply stupid to not stop trying to hit as a righty vs. lefties.
Get him a tutor for lefty vs. lefty this winter, and tell him to stay the heck out of the batters box on the third base side of the field. He is awful at it.
I could go on, but I think you catch the drift.
If you don’t, dear reader, perhaps you too need a tutor.
WINLESS STARTERS, STUPID RULES
Joel Diaz in Brooklyn is 0-9.
For most of the season, it is true, he hasn’t pitched well. His ERA is 6.84.
In 4 of his last 5 starts, though, he combined for 13.2 innings, allowing just 6 hits, just 2 runs, and no wins because he isn’t going 5 innings.
His last outing, on Thursday, he went 3.2 excellent innings, threw just 52 pitches, and got pulled with a lead, but got yet another no-decision.
The same night, St Lucie starter Nathan Hall threw an excellent 3.1 innings in his start, but remained at 0-5 because he got pulled at that point, after just 42 pitches. He will get stretched out to 100 pitches in about 3 years.
Joe Mack came in and got two outs, finishing the 4th inning, before a new pitcher came in. Mack got the win, moving to 9-2, even though he did not even pitch in the 5th inning, an inning that a starter would have to COMPLETE in order to qualify for the win.
Relievers clean up, but the starters starve.
CHANGE THE STUPID RULES!
WICKED GOOD SLASH LINE
One Mets minor leaguer has a wicked good slash line in August.
A slash line that only Ted Williams could love:
.412/.446/.706.
Now hitting a respectable .247 after a frigid April to start 2026.
His name?
KEVIN PARADA
He is unexpectedly relevant again, I would say.
If Parada's offense is sustainable it would give the Mets another catcher free the Mets to think about trading Alvarez while they wait for one of their other prospects to reach major league readiness.
ReplyDeleteParada does not play enough quality defense to be a major league starting catcher. IMO, his only future as a possible major leaguer is if he gets his pop back abd converts fully to a DH
DeleteParada is an enigma having a great August. But his bat is still short of Jarred Kelenic. The grind goes on.
DeleteThink you're reaching with Diaz
ReplyDeleteThe last think I would want on my team is a platooning DH with, at best, limited pop on his best side.
Simply put, Mauricio didn't work
If you looked at the collective win-loss record of all Mets minor league starters, it is jaw-droppingly bad because they often pitch well, but are pulled before 5 innings. Diaz is not the best example, but he is one of many whose poor W-L distorts his record. Tong, as an example had 4 fine starts spanning 4 to 4.2 IP in Syracuse, where he got an ND this year because he did not go 5. I’d just lower it to 4 innings from 5.
DeleteMauricio is flawed. How, one asks, can a quick guy with a strong arm never get into the outfield? My guess is defensively, he is a Mark Vientos clone. The best fielding position for both is DH.
DeleteTong was one out away from a 7 inning no hitter. The guy who hit it is a AAAA guy who roped his single off the wall. So it wasn’t a dinker, by no means.
ReplyDelete110 MPH.
DeleteSome guy named Pete Crow Armstrong lined a single yesterday - plus 3 HRs, giving him 36 homers - before September. Can we Javy do over?
ReplyDeleteARGH
ReplyDeletePCA has turned into one hell of a player. Good for him; sad for us. The story revealed about the FO willingness to trade him and Cubs front office not having him as their first choice just validates my claim that the most difficult yet most important task for any FO is being able to project the capacity of their own players to perform at the next level. It is that lack of confidence that makes for terrible trades and adds what I think of as a 'lack of confidence' premium that becomes part of the cost of entering the premium free agent market. Been my theme all along
ReplyDeleteJules, I remain baffled by it all. Crow was known to be Gold Glove caliber. Had he now been hitting just half as well, he’d still have been a valuable major leaguer. I think the Mets protecting the injury-resplendent Matt Allan from the trade was bizarre, wishful thinking.
ReplyDelete