As we all know the Mets cannot do anything right this year. One of their biggest weaknesses has been hitting home runs. Playing in Citi Field does not make it any easier.
With under 40 games left in this dreadful year, the Mets have just passed Barry Bonds on the home run list. In 2001, as everyone knows Barry Bonds broke a major league record by hitting 73 home runs in one year. Currently the Mets as a team are at 76.
Just because pretty much every Met has gone on the DL this year and they play in a giant stadium, does not mean that they can string together a bunch of homers for the season. Mark Reynolds, Chase Utley and the Yankees would agree with me on that one.
Then who is to blame for the Mets hitting woes this season? Is it Minaya for not trading for any hitters, Jerry for managing the team poorly, or Howard Johnson for doing a bad job as hitting coach this year.
The correct answer is Howard Johnson. Is Minaya and Manuel to blame for this too, yes, but most of the blame should be put on Howard Johnson.
Here are some interesting facts about how poor the Mets hitting has been this year.
- Not only is every other team have at leas 15 HR’s more than the Mets, the Mets top HR hitter, Jeff Francoeur (who hit half of his homers with the Braves), is not even in the top 100 players for homers hit this year.
- 9 players on the Yankees have over 10 HR’s on the year. Jeff Francoeur is the only Met that has accomplished that feat.
- 8 of those 9 players on the Yankees have over 50 RBI’s each. Mets only have two in that category with Wright and Francoeur
- As of today there are 3 teams that have over 100 more HR’s than the Mets this year.
- Mets are in the bottom half of the MLB for almost every single batting category except hitting for average and triples.
- Twice this year the Mets have had scoreless streaks of over 18 innings.
- The Mets have been shutout 8 times this year.
If the Mets want to be in the playoffs in 2010 then Howard Johnson must be shown the door.
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How many homerun hitters, other then David Wright (who isn’t even really a hr hitter but agree his numbers are way down), are currently on the roster and have been playing on a consistent basis?
This season is a mess, no doubt, but I think we are putting more energy in looking to fire someone to justify it all then to realize, the BUFFALO BISONS are playing out there right now.
I agree…Mets need some changes and if they bring back Omar and Manuel next year than some coaches have to go. I think Alomar, Hojo, Alicea and Warthen should be released or reassigned. I understand that Citifield is a big park but every other team HR hitters seem to have no problem.
Agreed HJ should be shown the door. The Mets offense has been poor to say the least, just ask Johan. But Omar and Manuel cannot be overlooked in this weakness. What has either of them done to work on this issue that is clear for all of us to be a problem, and has been for some time. HJ bears the frontline in this responsibility, but when it becomes clear that the fronline is failing, the Manager & GM must address this with HJ (or whoever fills that role) and place a sense of urgency on it. The roster of hitters is weak as Kay eluded to, and they all bear responsibility in that as well. When an organization such as the Mets fail to this degree, the repair plan begins at the top. It is the managements role to instill a sense of urgency in the staff, especially when failure is the norm.
Really this offense is POOR? This rag tag team that is put together, with ALL the stars on the DL is 6th in the MLB in average and 2nd in the NL in average. In in the top half or higher in slugging and OBP.
We are at the bottom of the barrell in homeruns – again with EVERY STAR ON THE DL which must be considered.
Oh yeah and we are DEAD last in strike outs – that includes the fact that DWright has ane exceptionally high number of K’s this year.
So, to say HJ is not doing is job, is quite inaccurate. Just another case of, this season is bad where can I place the blame today.
I’m not just wildly casting blame like throwing a dart at the dart board. Clearly as you say our offense is horrible, and i believe HJ has some ownership in that. As you say, there are significant amount of players on the DL. However I disagree that this is a good excuse for HJ, Manuel, or Omar. HJ in particular, sometimes his job is to take a chunk of coal and make it a diamond; he does not have those skills yet. Manuel too for that matter, he is not ready for his current role, they need mentoring. I do not say just fire any of them because someone needs to be fired, they have all earned a change in venue, Omar especially! None of them seem to have been able to instill a sense of urgency in this organization. As far as pitching rotation, we are clearly weakest there. The Mets have little depth, and IMHO the reason for this is a lack of vision on the part of the owner, GM, and managers. Most believe a change is necessary for this team, and as always opinions differ as to what should be changed. But, to take a team in a different direction it requires management and leadership, two things that go hand in hand and the Mets sorely lack both.
Actually what I said is, all things considered, our offense is pretty good, sans the homerun numbers, but ALL OUR HR HITTERS ARE GONE…..
Putting HJ on the hot seat right now is not making sense.
I’ll go as far as saying, that I think Manual is getting the brunt of things unfairly too.
This is a make shift team, and NO one wants to recognize that, lets just chop heads for the sake of chopping heads.
“makeshift team”? ok, let’s just say that is correct. That COULD apply to the players due to injury and whatnot. The coaches however are not makeshift. They each chose roles that make them accountable for the success or lack thereof of the team, in other words “leadership roles”. And, as leaders when things don’t go according to plan they make adjustments and improvements to the situation toward the common goal. This is where they seemed to have failed, on a basic fundamental level. Much like your comments earlier, they have hidden behind injuries of key players and thrown their hands up in defeat. As I said earlier, I do NOT say fire these people just for the sake of doing so. Each of these “leaders” have earned a trip to the unemployment line due to each of their own performances. Fundamentaly, the Mets are broken; and the people responsible for fundamental aspects are the Coaches. The GM is at fault for the staff and depth, and overal is accountable for the success of an organization. many different teams in many different sports usually let coaches and GM’s go after several years of failure to reach a championship.
Ace – I guess this has linked too many times, but in response to your last comments, the point is, people are calling for HJ’s head, but if you look at the numbers, the offense is 2nd in the NL with the lowest amount of K’s so he has done his job, despite the players given. The only lacking number are homeruns and you can’t make non homerun hitters become homerun hitters, either they are or they aren’t and they wouldn’t be called bench players or minor leaguers if they were homerun hitters.
I always remember the ‘69 Mets batted .242. Great pitching made them a great team.
Pops
Don’t blame Johnson for the ineffective, ragtag lineup of second and third string bench warmers the Mets play everyday. He’s not the one standing at the plate. If these hitters had been better before they came to the Mets, then I’d agree with you. Yes, he has to work with Francoeur on his impatience at the plate, but most of these guys will never be better than they already are no matter who is the hitting coach.
It’s not much better in the Minors either. I saw Binghamton (dead last in the Easter League North) play the Connecticut Defenders (Giants, 1st Place EL North) Saturday night…saw catcher Josh Thole that Cohen was talking about on TV yesterday…the B-Mets don’t slide when a play is on, they make basic fundamental errors that AA players should get right, and they lost in major league fashion…with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, Binghamton leading 3-2 with a runner on, the B-Mets pitcher gives up a walk-off homer to a Connecticut .211 hitter who as yet had no homers. The B-Mets lost 4-3. The problems run much deeper than HoJo.
Your kidding right? Look at the lineup! Maybe if he had some hitters to work with he could succeed! The mets really do have issues and but its not the hitting coach, mainly being conditioning and roster management.
the problem is that the mets pitching staff is inconsistent and the hitting is just horrible.. this team has so many problems that ots hard to fix one without fixing the other first. during th off season the mets should look for good quality hitters and pitching.. and oh yeah HoJo and some of the minor league staff should be replaced they are doing a horrible job .
the problem is that the mets pitching rotation is inconsistent and the hitting is just horrible.. this team has so many problems that ots hard to fix one without fixing the other first. during th off season the mets should look for good quality hitters and pitching.. and oh yeah HoJo and some of the minor league staff should be replaced they are doing a horrible job .
Clearly its not the park. Ask ryan howard. hehehehe the mets are surely pathetic. Does anyone have any recollection when is the last time they won a series??
This article sorely misses the mark. It’s like having a solution and looking for the best problem to justify the answer.
Good try but but no cigar will be offered by me. Too many real issues exist for the team. Let’s hope the Mets fill a major league roster with day-in and day-out players next year and the fates don’t conspire against them.
Sometimes fate and circumstances are too tough for writers to deal with.
P.S.: I think the article, whatever its merit (which I think is small) is a bit mean spirited.
Terrible, awful, uneducated post!
If this blogger was a caller on WFAN I’d give him ‘the wave’ in 2 seconds.
Not only is the team batting average of .268 very good for a team of substitutes but the Mets have been missing their leadoff, #3, & #4 hitters all year, and now David Wright but Subs like Angel Pagan, Alex Cora, Fernando Martinez, & Gary Sheffield have been injured at one time or another as well. And YES…that does matter. It’s been a backup lineup all year. I am surprised something as stupid as this made it past the MetsMerized editors.