New Hitting Coach, Same Old Mets

     For a Mets Fan it feels like its been the same old problem since 1962, not hitting with runners in scoring position. The Mets have been absolutely terrible at driving in runners for the past few years and are doing nothing to discontinue the trend. The team recently fired Dave Hudgens and brought in Lamar Johnson hoping a change in philosophy and a fresh voice may help calm the struggles. Sadly it has not.

The first problem is that the hitters in this lineup are not Major League quality, as half of the starting lineup would not crack the starting lineup with most of the league. Ruben Tejada, Chris Young, Lucas Duda, Curtis Granderson, and d'Arnaud are not cutting it. Travis has been sent down and Recker will test his hand at regular playing time. Asking these guys to hit in clutch situations and drive in big runs may be asking too much of them as they be more suited for AAA.

The second problem is there is no one to hit behind David Wright so teams do not pitch to him and lately he is becoming very impatient and swinging at terrible pitches. Hopefully with a day off in today's game Wright can begin to rebound.

Third problem, the Mets have long been a team to take way too many pitches. When they swing at the first pitch, obviously when a pitcher is throwing strikes, the Mets hit over .300. The major league average is under .100 when in a two strike count. It is great to be patient when looking for your pitch but you can't be too picky as a hitter. A classic baseball saying is "you only get one pitch, and don't miss it".

All of this being said, some blame has to be put on the bullpen for blowing leads in 4 of the last 6 games, and take into account that they played the MLB best Giants. This pitching staff is working hard to throw quality start after quality start and they are not reaping the benefits they deserve.

Going forward the Mets need to seriously look at their offensive approach and really groom hitters throughout the minors to become great all around hitters and they need to start through the draft.