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.

    

Game 63: Mets vs. Giants Starting Lineup and Pitching Matchup

Mets Starting Lineup
1. Matt den Dekker-C
2. Ruben Tejada-SS
3. Daniel Murphy-2B
4. Curtis Granderson-RF
5. Chris Young-LF
6. Lucas Duda-1B
7. Eric Campbell-3B
8. Anthony Recker-C
9. Zack Wheeler-RHP

The pitching matchup is Zack Wheeler ( 2-5, 3.89 ERA) vs. RHP Tim Lincecum  ( 4-4, 5.01 ERA)

Game 62: Mets vs. Giants Starting Lineup and Pitching Matchup

Mets Starting Lineup
1. Matt den Dekker-CF
2. Daniel Murphy-2B
3. David Wright-3B
4. Curtis Granderson-RF
5. Chris Young-LF
6. Lucas Duda-1B
7. Ruben Tejada-SS
8. Anthony Recker-C
9. Bartolo Colon-RHP

The pitching matchup is Bartolo Colon ( 5-5, 4.52 ERA) vs. RHP Tim Hudson ( 6-2, 1.75 ERA)

Game 61: Mets vs. Giants Starting Lineup and Pitching Matchup

Mets Starting Lineup
1. Matt den Decker-CF
2. Daniel Murphy-2B
3. David Wright-3B
4. Curtis Granderson-RF
5. Andrew Brown-LF
6. Lucas Duda-1B
7. Ruben Tejada-SS
8. Travis d'Arnaud-C
9. Jon Niese-LHP

The pitching matchup is Jon Niese ( 3-3, 2.69 ERA) vs. RHP Matt Cain ( 1-3, 3.66 ERA)

Opinion: Chris Young, your time is up

The Mets had to come out of the gate this past offseason and make a splash. Within the first few weeks, Sandy Alderson needed to show the fan base he was trying. The primary target would be outfielders, and the list included players like Jacoby Ellsbury, Nelson Cruz, Sin Soo Choo, and Curtis Granderson.

I remember waking up one morning to a text from the ESPN reading "the Mets sign OF Chris Young to a 1 year $7 million dollar contract. I asked myself if this was the same Chris Young who had fallen off the face of the earth when he departed Arizona for Oakland in 2013. Unfortunately, it was.

The Mets couldn't wait to land themselves an outfielder who had been in decline four straight years, and posted a .200 batting average with the Oakland A's the previous season. Knowing the Mets would make an even bigger splash, in the form of Curtis Granderson, I shrugged this signing off and prayed Chris could regain his 30 home run power he displayed with Arizona.

After a strong spring training, Young injured his oblique and missed the first few weeks of the season. Since his return to the lineup, he has proved that he has indeed been a $7 million mistake.

Sandy Alderson recently spoke on the radio, saying he was hoping to get 15 home runs from Young, while serving as an insurance to Juan Lagares in center field. Currently, Young is hitting .197 with four home runs and 15 RBIs. To boot, Young has not played the defense we know he is capable of in center field.

Point being, the time is up on Chris Young in my opinion. Play den Decker, Brown, and/or Bobby Abreu until Lagares's return. As far as Young goes, he has been a mistake.

Did the Mets pick the best hitter in the draft?

In last night's MLB draft, the Mets picked 21 outfielder Michael Conforto with the number 10 pick.

The Mets decided to draft for offense once again, considering how pitching rich their farm system seems to be. "He's got some credibility," said one American League scout. The scout went on saying essentially he can see Conforto as a middle-of-the-order type power bat.

ESPN's Chris Crawford agreed with the American League scout, saying "Conforto may be the best pure hitter in the class; a left handed hitting outfielder with plus power and an outstanding approach at the plate.

MLB also ranked Conforto as the best hitter in this year's draft.

Opinion: Mets have waisted a golden opportunity in Chicago.

The Mets left Philadelphia feeling good about themselves. After taking four of five from the Phillies, and six of seven overall, the Mets were faced with the golden opportunity to face the worst team not only in the National League, but in all of baseball.

The bats were live in Philadelphia, in what seems like the first time in months. There was a post on this blog earlier titled The Mets dominated the Phillies, onto Chicago. Now, that seems like a decade ago.

On Tuesday night, the Met offense looked like they needed their batteries recharged from the previous series, when they squandered bases loaded situations in multiple innings against the Cubs. A one run lead didn't feel secure all night, and Josh Edgin mades that become a reality when he served a home run to Chris Coghlan of all people in the 8th inning. The Cubs would eventually win the game in a walk off in the 9th.

Wednesday night, Dice-K Matsuzaka took the hill for the Mets and did not respond well. Dice-K was out after the fifth inning, surrendering 4 earned runs on five walks and four hits after the Mets gave him a 3-0 first inning lead. The Cubs bullpen, their lone strength, stifled the Met offense for the rest of the game, and the Cubs walked away with their second one run victory over the Mets.

Thursday night was the cherry on top. A Cubs team that has not won a series all year swept the Mets following a 7-4 win, in which the Met bullpen blew up again. Jacob deGrom's line wasn't as bad as it appeared to be. The Cubs had a call overturned in their favor when Andrew Brown appeared to have thrown a Cubs base runner out at home. Brown eventually tied the game at 4-4 before Vic Black surrendered a long home run to Anthony Rizzo, giving the Cubs a lead they would not relinquish.

With a real chance to get to .500 after beating up the Phillies, the Mets once again disappointed when the lonely Cubs swept them, sending the Mets 4 games under .500.