It’s official now: The Mets are a losing baseball team, again.
Actually, what the Mets have done is impressive statistically (in a bad way) in their last 57 games.
They have managed to turn a 13-3 record and a 4 1/2 game lead in the division into a 36-37 record, 3 1/2 games out of first place, and teetering on the edge of third place and irrelevancy behind the Braves, who were supposed to be rebuilding in 2015.
The Mets are now 23-34 in the 56 games since the conclusion of the 11-game winning streak, which instilled so much hope and promise for a special run towards mid-autumn baseball this season.
They’ve hit .233/.290/.658 in those 57 games. They’ve grounded into 56 double plays, struck out 461 times, and walked only 130 times. They’ve stolen just 19 bases in that span as well, and scored only 190 runs.
The defense has given away 23 unearned runs, and that doesn’t include many other runs given away due to mental mistakes and poor range.
They have managed to erase all that was good, all that was optimistic and hopeful, all of their own confidence and swagger that made the team and the players glow all throughout spring training and the first month of the season fade away in what almost feels like typical fashion.
But wait a second. Wasn’t 2015 supposed to be different than this? Weren’t there expectations to contend and be relevant? If so, why does this seem so typical?
That’s what years and years of kicks to the stomach will do.
There’s a lot that’s wrong with the Mets right now. On the surface, their problems can be written off to the injuries to Travis d’Arnaud, David Wright, the bullpen and to a lesser extent, Daniel Murphy. Mets players have missed a combined 761 days on the disabled list, which is second most behind the Rangers. There’s no question it is a key contributor to their lack of success.
But if that’s going to be the core metric used in explaining the club’s problems, then how have the Rangers been able to sustain a positive record, their current four-game losing streak not withstanding?
That’s because, it’s not just the injuries which have plagued the Mets.
It’s the overall poor fundamental play which was been prevalent on this roster well before the injuries plagued this club.
This is the result of a mismanaged and poorly constructed roster. The architecture of this team lacks the necessary skill sets to succeed in this era of Major League Baseball: pitching, speed, and defense. The Mets don’t have two of those attributes.
Instead, the design of the roster centers around static power and station-to-station speed.
And, they don’t have any of that, either.
What they have is a roster which is unbalanced with three left-handed relievers, none of which can get left-handed hitters out. What they have is a starting rotation which doesn’t walk many batters and has a lot of ground ball pitchers, and they don’t have players who can consistently get to, pick up, and throw the ball.
What they have is a championship-caliber rotation (with more in the pipeline) surrounded by one-dimensional veteran hitters who are underperforming, and a bunch of minor leaguers and part time players constantly playing out of position.
Again, it’s a misguided roster, and that’s the main reason why they’re 23-34 since their 13-3 start. The injuries only compound the core problem.
After Wednesday’s loss to the lowly Brewers, Terry Collins rejected anyone else was to blame for their uninspiring play.
“I don’t blame anybody,” Collins said. “I have never done that and never will. I’m not going to point any fingers. These are the guys that are here. They have been major league players and we’ve got to play better. I write the lineup, it falls on my shoulders. I’m the one that puts them out there. My coaches do an outstanding job of pregame preparation.
“We’re not hitting. End of story. That’s pretty much it. We’ve got to start hitting,” Collins concluded.
It’s going to be hard to do if the personnel doesn’t change.
Sure, the club can shift Wilmer Flores to second, start Ruben Tejada at shortstop, and install Daniel Murphy at third base. But that’s just deciding to eat Shredded Wheat as opposed to Muesli. In the end, it’s still a tasteless cereal which the public has been force fed for years.
It needs some sugar added, or a different cereal needs to be chosen altogether.
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One response to “Official: The Mets are inexplicably a losing team now”
The worse part is there is no reason to suspect that it will get better in 2016 given the organizational management and philosophy of this team. There is no boldness, imagination and that the general unwillingness to spent is matched by an organization that has spent unwisely (a quarter of their salary is for Granderson and Cuddyer -ugh). Is there any reason to believe that they would be willing to bite the bullet and get rid of one or both? About 25 mill. will come off the books next year (Colon, Murph, Gee and Mayberry). Does past record indicate that they will spend that money wisely?
Patience can be a virtue but in the case of the Mets it is a vice. At what point will Mets management realize that they need to deal young arms for players who can hit and field. What has aggravated the situation is that when they finally come to the realization they will- as often the case with the Mets – be dealing from a position of weakness.
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