Apr
14
2011

How About We Throw Some Strikes?

An article by Jim Mancari

On the whole, baseball is a simple game. The pitcher takes the ball and throws it over the plate, while the batter either watches it go by, puts the ball in play or swings and misses.

Pretty simple, right?

Well, our beloved Mets have of course found a way to skew the most basic facet of the game: throwing strikes.

Both the Mets’ starters and relievers have struggled with walks in the early going, which has definitely played a factor in the early season losses. The Mets were in most of their games until they were burned by the walk.

On Opening Day right before John Buck hit that morale-crushing grand slam, Mike Pelfrey walked two hitters.

After the Mets overcame a seven-run deficit in Philadelphia last week, Blaine Boyer had a huge walk in the bottom of the fifth which allowed the Phillies to tack on an insurance run.

Last night, Jon Niese walked Seth Smith with one out that later set up early NL-MVP candidate Troy Tulowitzki’s three-run homer.

Let me start this off by saying that walks are undoubtedly going to happen. Though pitchers are paid to throw strikes, they sometimes try to get too fancy in spotting their pitches and miss the strikezone.

I can live with a starting pitcher doing this, since he is likely to see each hitter at least 2-3 times per start.

However, we need our relievers to throw strikes. In tight games, walks kill a team, especially walks that lead off an inning. The opposing team can then sacrifice the runner over and then has two chances to drive in the run.

The Mets have a putrid 4.83 bullpen ERA (25th in the league). Even worse, they are second only to the LA Angels with 21 bullpen walks.

The Mets have only played 11 games, so that’s almost two bullpen walks per game, which is unacceptable.

Granted, the Mets bullpen ERA has been ballooned by Boyer’s eight earned runs in just 6.2 innings of work. Luckily, Jason Isringhausen replaced Boyer, and may be able to provide some stability in the pen.

Tim Byrdak and Taylor Buchholz have also struggled with walks. Byrdak has two walks in 4.0 innings, which has played a role in his 9.00 ERA. Buchholz takes the cake, however, with five walks in just 6.2 innings.

Bobby Parnell hasn’t been great throwing strikes either, with three walks in 4.1 innings.

Let’s all just take a deep breath.

One thing the Mets have shown this year is a little bit of fight. They’ve shown they can come back in games (at least to some degree).

However, the team’s efforts are squandered when the bullpen cannot hold the lead. We need guys in the pen that can come in, throw strikes and give the Mets’ bats a chance to either continue their comeback or tack of some insurance runs.

I wonder how patient the Mets will be if the bullpen keeps up these walks. I’m sure there are relievers in the Mets’ system that can throw strikes.

If necessary, bring up the “Boof.”

Follow me on Twitter @JMMancari.

About the Author: Jim Mancari

Jim Mancari hails from Massapequa, N.Y. He recently earned a Master's degree in Journalism at Hofstra University. He is a devout Mets fan and takes pride in his team, despite their lack of success over the last few years. Like all Mets fans, Jim has plenty of hope. He also writes as the sports reporter for the Brooklyn Tablet newspaper and the senior editor of metroBASEBALL Magazine. Click my name to view my personal website.

4 Comments + Add Comment

scottydoesn'tknow April 14, 2011 at 10:55 am

Let me be the first to say that I agree with the concept of throwing strikes, but it is not all about throwing strikes. Allow me to explain…

First off, Relievers and Starters fall into 2 completely different categories when addressing the subject of throwing strikes. A reliever should/must throw strikes. Most times a reliever is brought in to replace a starter who is probably walking hitters, hence the reliever is brought in to get hitters out, not put them on via the walk.

Starters on the other hand don’t necessarily need to pitch strikes only to get hitters out. Pitches outside the strike zone can be just as effective as that back door curve ball that hits black. However, in order to be effective of pitching outside of the strike zone, you must know how to Pitch. That is, know how to set up that splitter down and away, or that fastball that climbed the ladder out of the strike zone.

Hitting and a hitter’s philosophy has changed from identifying pitch type and location and swinging to guessing what pitch will be thrown and if they guess correctly, then they swing. Guess hitters can be difficult to a pitcher who follows a standard script. That is, up in the count, I use my breaking stuff, down in the count, I use my fastball. The pitcher has become too predictable. The on reason Chris Young has been successful thus far is because he is able to Pitch, using both balls and strikes to set up hitters and force hitters to follow his plan, rather than the hitter dictating what the pitcher will throw next.

Possibly some of the Mets pitching struggles stems from Thole’s lack of experience behind the plate. If the Mets pitching staff is letting Thole call the pitches, than perhaps it is not 100% the pitchers fault. Say Thole calls for a pitch that the Pitcher is not 100% confident in throwing in a certain count. Well that Pitcher might not make the best pitch he can because of his lack of confindence in the pitch. A pitcher isn’t going to tell Thole, “Hey man, my slider is hanging, or my fastball has no life on it”. It is up to the catcher’s experience to recognize which pitches are working for the pitcher that day, and utilize those pitches in certain counts to get hitters out.

Just because statistics say that a certain hitter is suseptible to a fastball high and tight doesn’t mean that you should pitch that pitch if your pitcher’s fastball has no life to it that day. You have to rewrite the script.

If the walks are atleast partially a result of Thole’s pitch calling, well, there is really nothing we can do to fix it other than let him get the experience the hard way, by learning when and when not to call certain pitches and to learn how to judge his Pitcher’s stuff during the game.

I like Thole and I believe he can be the future back stop of this club, I do question the Mets move last year to trade Barajas away. I think we could have brought him back on another 1 year deal and Thole could still use another year of study and learning. I question the Paulino signing because 1) he violated the drug program and is not necessarily the best positive role model for Thole to learn from 2) Has yet to return from suspension and injury to work with Thole. Plus Paulino in my opinion is not as good of a catcher as Barajas was anyways.

Time will tell, and hopefully Thole will and this Mets pitching staff will work better together as an unit. And let me re-iterate that all Mets relivers must throw STRIKES, no if ands or buts.
Alex in CT April 14, 2011 at 11:45 am

Throwing strikes, not walking the ballpark, shaking off a bad pitch, fielding your position, pitching deep into games, holding a lead no matter how big or small. Is there anything our pitchers can do right?
Des April 14, 2011 at 4:42 pm

Off Topic Update:

Jenrry Mejia has had a couple of good outings so far this season for Buffalo. He’s pitched 12.2 innings, allowed no runs and only seven hits and five BB, while striking out 11. He’s held opposing batters to a .156 AVG. During his two stints on the mound, he has thrown 189 pitches, 113 for strikes, which is 60% rate. This shows Jenrry still needs to improve his command because it translates in 135 pitches per nine innings.

In summary, Jenrry is doing a very good job and if he can polish his command, the Mets have a great young pitcher.
- Jim Mancari April 14, 2011 at 9:11 pm
  
  Definitely not off topic here, we may be seeing young Jenrry at Citi real soon.

NL East Standings

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB
Braves	25	18	.581	-
Nationals	23	21	.523	2.5
Phillies	21	23	.477	4.5
Mets	17	24	.415	7.0
Marlins	12	32	.273	13.5

Last updated: 05/19/2013

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