26
2011
Mets Missing A Middle Of The Order Masher
An article by 
I’ll cut to the chase. Something I’ve been thinking about recently and that I’ve mentioned a few times to friends lately is that the Mets really don’t have a real cleanup hitter. We play in a ball park that is quite obviously pitcher friendly and it can very well sap a few runs from any team playing there. Since the Mets haven’t loaded up on gap hitters that play to Citi Field (which isn’t too smart) nor have they have acquired great pitching to play off their home park’s true strength (pipe dream for me…), I began to think about the absence of a power hitter in the middle of our lineup.
The Mets, at the moment, can throw in anyone from Bay, Wright, Beltran, or Davis to bat cleanup. Taking into account track record, the closest thing we’ve got is probably Jason Bay. However, depending on how much one weighs last year, Bay might be better suited for the 6 hole in your mind (and I can’t say I blame you.) For argument’s sake, let’s say Davis has a HR ceiling this year of about 30. That’s still not definitively a power hitter.
- In 2010, the Mets had Wright post 29 HRs and Davis post 19. Nobody else had more than 12 and the team slugging percentage was .383.
- In 2009, the Mets had Murphy post 12 HRs and 4 others post 10. Nobody else had double digit HRs and the team SLG was .394.
Those were the first two full years in Citi Field. Take a look at the last two in Shea.
- In 2008, the Mets had Delgado post 38 HRs and Wright posted 33. Beltran added 27 and three others added 11+. The team SLG was .420.
- In 2007, the Mets had Beltran post 33 HRs and Wright posted 30. An injured Delgado still managed 24 and 5 others posted in double digits. Team SLG was .432.
And of course, the last time we made the playoffs…
- In 2006, the Mets had Beltran post 41 HRs and Delgado posted 38. Wright added 26 and even Reyes added 19. The team SLG was .445.
Beltran and Delgado put up nearly 80 HRs combined in 2006. Do you think two players on the current Mets will come even close to that in 2011? If Davis hits 35 and Wright hits 30, that’s still only a combined 65. Now, I understand that obviously the expectations for HRs will be tempered since we play 81 games in a pitcher’s park. But we don’t play all of our games there. And how come Tulowitzki or Mark Reynolds or Chase Utley didn’t have any problem drilling HRs at Citi? One of the main problems when we look at our power outage overall is that we no longer employ a major power hitter in the middle of the lineup.
We don’t have a Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder, Adrian Gonzalez, Albert Pujols, Joey Votto, Jose Bautista…etc. And from the looks of our minor league system, the closest thing we’re going to get for a while is Ike Davis. I love Ike, but I think 35 is his ceiling. Maybe we should go out and look for Adam Dunn from the ChiSox – it’s a great buy low time period right now.
In any case, I’m not saying we NEED a big power hitter in the middle of the lineup to win; hitting home runs is just one aspect of a baseball game. I am saying that we are missing one and it just might help.
About the Author: Satish Ram
I am a Senior Writer and Editor here at MetsMerized - where I specialize in Minor League coverage. I have been on the staff since 2007 and I am currently in my third semester of college in New York City. You can find me at www.facebook.com/SatishRam or @SilverHeatMMO. Feel free to message me - I love talking about the Mets or baseball overall with anybody.
34 Comments + Add Comment
NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 30 | .583 | - |
| Phillies | 35 | 37 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Nationals | 34 | 36 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Mets | 27 | 40 | .403 | 12.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 48 | .314 | 19.0 |
Last updated: 06/19/2013
Recent Comments
- metsaddict77: on Last Night We Saw A Big Chunk Of “The Plan”: so byrd is cheap, you just prove...
- TexasGusCC: on Atlanta Braves Broadcaster Shows Little Class During Matt Harvey At Bat: Sarge, if you want to see homer...
- Hitman: on Wilmer Flores: It’s Time For Another MLB Debut: You know Ted, it was just a...
- taskmaster4450: on Wilmer Flores: It’s Time For Another MLB Debut: Wrong again Alex. You never think things through...
- TJ: on Wilmer Flores: It’s Time For Another MLB Debut: Metsie, I agree with you, but that's the...
Latest From Mets Minors
Check Out These Great MLB Links!
Photographs From Gordon Donovan
Fans Follow Us On Twitter!
1333 Fans Like Us On Facebook!
2341 Fans Read Our Feed!
1702 Fans Subscribe via Daily Email!
Ike will blossom into a 35-40 home run guy I truly believe. Probably not this year but in 2-3 seasons. He has the potential for power equivilant to Adam Dunn and the ability to his .300 aswell.
Wright will hit around 30-35 homers, I believe he is going to have a year somewhere between 2010 and 2008 performances.
Beltran probably around 20-25 but he will likely get traded in my eyes.
Bay probably similar to Beltran’s numbers, maybe a little bit better.
I could see .301/35/110 or something of that nature for Ike. If he starts putting up consistent 35 HR years, I think he’ll probably fit the mold the best.
A healthy Beltran fit the 3 hole better ; when he had 30/30 potential. Feels like so long ago…Right now, your projection is about right, 20-25. I have him pegged for 22 and Bay for 24.
I don’t think Wright will hit 35 HRs again.
He never did hit 35 homers. He hit 33 in 2008.
As for Ike, he is going to put up huge numbers in the next 2-3 seasons/
Think it is possible for a .300 30 and 100 season is possible for Ike in 2011?
For some reason, I had it in my head that he hit 36 in 08′. But yeah, I don’t think he’ll get to 35. I remember when he had his 30/30 season, some people used to speculate that he would hit 40 HRs and win an MVP someday.
In 2011… If he keeps up his pace for HRs, he’ll hit just about 30. His AVG is over .300 already and with Bay back, Ike looks pretty strong. So that’s actually not impossible.
Yea I was actually in the process of writing an article on Ike when I saw this Lol.
I think Ike could hit 30 and drive in 100 but I am not sure if the .300 average will hold up.
When I get this article together I’ll talk to you more about it Lol.
If the .300 average doesn’t hold, to be optimistic, I’d expect a few more HRs or RBI to compensate.
I do see him able to put the year together, and to do it in his second year, that would be very impressive.
Ike will do it this year we don’t have to wait 2 or 3 years. He’s ready now. i predicted 32 for Ike this year and now feel he could surpass that
It’s better to have three through 6 hit a total of 120 Hr’s and hit for average, supplement that with getting on in other ways and pick up another 150 doubles. That turns your lineup over much better than adding an Adam Dunn who would have to replace Ike and cost us something on the other end. Forget about moving Ike to RF. Our RFer must be able to defend a big area and there is no sense in moving a guy out of a position he plays well and projects to be the answer to for another 5 years or so bare minimum.
I disagree. I think Wright is a good middle of the order smasher. Also if Beltran stays healthy for most of the year he can reach 30HR. Home runs in general were down last season compare to previous season so you won’t find many teams with 40HR middle of the order guys. If Bay can regain his form and Ike keeps up this pace the Mets line-up will be one of the best this season.
Wright cannot hit cleanup. a career .222 BA
Out of how many PAs?
Is that right? BR has a different number.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?id=wrighda03&year=Career&t=b#lineu
Wow, can this be any more wrong.
They don’t need a power hitter and why Dunn who strikes out as much as Wright is just insane, but what the Mets need is pitching, specifically an ace with the unknown future of Santana. Further, what data do you have that suggest that Ike will hit only 35 HR/season in his career? What data suggest that is only his ceiling? You make a statement and then drop it as if it’s a fact. I’d hope you could provide some actual proof to this statement. You could be right but without backing it up with reasons, the entire article is completely silly and off base.
I’m not going around claiming it’s a fact.
I said “I think 35 is his ceiling”. There’s no guarantee he’s going to hit it; I’m just making the statement that I think he will. The article just notes that the Mets SLG percentage has dropped over the years and I feel that we haven’t had a true cleanup hitter in a while.
Also…for the record. “nor have they have acquired great pitching to play off their home park’s true strength (pipe dream for me…)”
If I was GM, i’d be spending most of my time going after pitching. I just want to make that clear. But I’ve given up on seeing that become a reality.
I agree. Young pitching is priority number one. It was the same story last year, although some people were fooled into thinking that Pelfrey was the ace of the future and Dickey would continue pitching at an ERA under 3 until he was 40.
I personally wouldn’t do anything other than stockpile as many young arms as possible and hope that by doing so we can have a viable top 10 rotation in 3-4 years.
Right, especially since our farm system isn’t exactly loaded with pitching prospects. At all.
Satish, Satish, Satish….you want Adam Dunn? First question that came to mind was…Where are you gonna put him? You sure as hell not gonna put him at 1st and putting him in the outfield is a tragedy/comedy waiting to happen. He’s like Murphy: You like his bat, but you’d hate to see him with the glove. Well actually, I trust Murph with the glove anywhere than Dunn’s any day of the week.
As far as the “missing a middle of the order masher” argument goes, I believe Davis will be a masher sooner than later. He’s gonna blossom into a 38-40+ HR guy, if he hasn’t already the way he’s starting out. Put Davis at cleanup whenever Beltran needs rest. The question then is, “Who do you have in RF?” I’m not gonna push my luck with Hairston or Harris (with Harris, I’d use him more as a defensive replacement, like he was brought in to do), so I’d bring up Nieuwenhuis (who’s lighting up AAA right now) and insert him to the #6 spot. Captain Kirk can be a masher himself and at the same time, we’d maintain a strong #1-6 in the lineup.
You’re right on one front: We need more arms to benefit our home park’s true strength, and I hope we get big time arms before July.
Capt Kirk isn’t really that great a fielder and doesn’t hit with enough power to be RF. He is, however, leading the IL in GSACB.
What in the world is GSACB?
I’ve heard the talk about Nieuwenhuis not being such a great fielder, but what I saw from him in RF during ST, he would be a decent Right Fielder on the major league level. You say he doesn’t have enough power to be a Right Fielder. What do you think qualifies as having enough power to be a Right Fielder? The last two years, he’s hit 17 & 18 HRs. Translated into a full season here, that would be around the ballpark of 22-26 HRs. I don’t see what the problem would be.
@Satish: Last I checked, Nieuwenhuis is not on the 40 man, so I believe all his options are in tact. I say release Hairston (you must have a lot of patience with Hairston saying you could live with him for 2 weeks…most of us can’t live with him for 2 more seconds because he’s a whiff machine), add Kirk to the 40 man roster, and let’s see what he can do until Pagan returns. If he exceeds what we expect him to do, briefly send down Kirk, have Pagan build up his value again, and if he goes on a hot streak, strike while the iron is hot and trade him ASAP…something the Mets failed to do last offseason.
I’ve seen what he could do in SD so he’s got some power potential. Then again, I have also seen him striking out…over and over… I figure Harris has some value as a defensive replacement so Hairston is expendable. I’m just waiting for Pagan to get back, lol.
Kirk is off the 40-man, you’re correct. So he’s got 3 options. Also, I think we had the discussion about selling high on Pagan before.
Green Skinned Alien Chicks Bagged.
#nerdhumor
+1
…ok seriously, what is GSACB?
I’m an Adam Dunn fan. Right now, obviously, isn’t the best time for him – but I was using him as an example of a power hitter rather than talking about him personally. He’s also in a buy low situation. Best thing to do would be putting him in RF and that’s crazy enough, yeah? And lol, yeah. Murphy’s glove is much better but Dunn’s bat is also much more potent. But don’t worry, Dunn won’t be seeing time on the Mets anytime soon, lol.
Harris should not be starting in LF. Simple. I could live with Hairston for 2 weeks or so. Nieuwnhuis is a guy I’ve liked from what I saw last year down on the farm and he could probably put up decent numbers. But how many options does he have? No reason to call him up when management will just send him right back down when Pagan returns.
I think in 2 years or so, Ike will grow into our cleanup role. I just can’t see Ike and Delgado in the same light. Perhaps Ike will grow into a better overall player, but I’m using Delgado as an example for a cleanup hitter.
How many guys in the league can you pencil in that are consistent 35+ homerun guys now?
In all of baseball last year only 6 players hit over 35 home runs and only 18 over 30. And the only team to have 2 players over 30 were the Yankees. In 2009, you had 30 players hit over 30 homeruns and only 13 over 35. And in 2008, 28 over 30+ and 11 over 35+. So, I see your point on trying to get a power hitter, but its probably the toughest skill to obtain and even harder to obtain when we have already locked up a few of the power positions such as 1b, 3b, and LF.
I agree with you that we need more power hitters…but 25+ should be the types of players to get. I think the market for 30+ is very limited, and I think if we don’t make any trades we should have 4 players hit that total (Bay/Beltran/Davis/Wright). That’s not a bad quartet playing in neutral ballpark (that’s being generous)
You make an excellent point about us locking up power positions in 1B/3B/LF.
Of course, at first base, we do have a power hitter, so I’m not too worried. I think he’ll get into the 35 HR range and do it consistently.
I could deal with two +25 guys over one 40 guy. But next year, Beltran will be gone (whether trade or via free agency) and that leaves Wright, Bay, and Davis. If we assume Davis can hit 35, Wright 25-30…and Bay about 25 (His power is still up in the air, but i’m hoping he returns to form and I expect him to.) we’re still short a little on power, you know?
I wonder who will be playing RF next year… if Pagan sticks it in CF it’ll be interesting to see what happens.
Granted the Mets don’t have a big HR hitter, but keep in mind that we are no longer in the steroid era, so comparing HR totals from 2006-08 to 2011 is like apples and oranges.
Not too many players in MLB put up 40 HR or even 30 anymore.
In any given year, guys like Beltran, Wright, Davis, and Bay should all hit approx. 30 dingers a piece.
On paper (on paper, I said) I cannot imagine that the Mets have ever had that kind of pure power from 3, 4, 5, 6 in any given year.
My two cents on Hairston.
He has shown that he has problems in the OF.
He strikes out a lot cause he goes for the fences on every swing; anyone tell him he is not a HR hitter and cut down on swing? He needs to go when Angel returns and keep Pridie if he continues to hit cause he can definitely play in Citi.
really dude? a lineup with Wright, Beltran, Bay, and Davis and you’re worried about getting a middle of the order masher? If you’re waiting for a bat that’s gonna be THAT much of a difference than those four guys, you’re gonna be waiting a long long time. would love to hear what your definition of a middle of the order masher is if we don’t have one in the lineup right now. name me one other lineup in baseball that has FOUR legit 30-homer threats…go ‘head, I’ll wait.
“Beltran and Delgado put up nearly 80 HRs combined in 2006. Do you think two players on the current Mets will come even close to that in 2011?”
no, but four could hit 120.
“And how come Tulowitzki or Mark Reynolds or Chase Utley didn’t have any problem drilling HRs at Citi? One of the main problems when we look at our power outage overall is that we no longer employ a major power hitter in the middle of the lineup.”
name me one year that Wright, Beltran, Bay, and Davis have been in the lineup together for a full year….go ‘head, I’ll wait.
“We don’t have a Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder, Adrian Gonzalez, Albert Pujols, Joey Votto, Jose Bautista…etc.”
go ‘head, finish the etc.’s
Sorry for the smugness Satish, but this post is ridiculous.
I didn’t find it smug, don’t worry.
You’re being a little too optimistic.
Bay’s power is no guarantee. I expect, even with bounceback numbers, about 24 or so this season. And the Beltran we have now can’t play every day. There’s no guarantee that he can hit 30 either.
I’ll give you Davis in a heartbeat and Wright can probably touch 30. The closest thing we have to my definition of a middle of the order masher right now is Davis.
I think Davis will touch that 35-40 HR plateau…It worries me because I remember how I used to feel that way about Wright and he never got there. You know?
Also, with Beltran gone next year, we lose a hypothetical 25 HRs. I was just missing the days when we had a 40 HR threat right in the middle of the lineup. If Davis doesn’t develop into that, I worry.
Satish, TWO players in BASEBALL hit 40 homers last year. It just doesn’t happen anymore man. no one even hits 35 anymore. six guys last year. you’re thinkin like it’s 2001.
also, what makes Bay’s power not a guarantee? because he had one HALF year where he only hit six? after hitting 30 five out of the last six years before that. these guys are human beings dude, they’re allowed to have an off year…or off half year in Bay’s case. Beltran had an off year and then hit 41. Wright had an off year and then hit 29. I’m not saying Bay is def gonna hit 30 but to think his power suddenly just disappeared because he had one bad half is very, very unfair and just not thinking logically..
and Beltran healthy and in a walk year is really all that needs to be said about that. and he’s played like the last eleven games in a row. he’s playing for a new contract. believe me he will be playing as many games as he possibly can, and he will be hitting.
Satish man ANOTHER middle of the order slugger is the last thing the Mets need. what they really need is someone who can K 200 hitters, or at least something close to it.
Why didnt Duda’s name come up?? He is similiar in body and play to Dunn? Anyhow they lineup right now 1-6 is good when Paulino comes up and Pagan is Healthy it will be strong 1-8.The key is whenever Beltran gets traded Nieuwenhuis or Duda or Martinez is ready to play right field.But if they lose Reyes without getting an equivalent shortstop back the lineup will suffer.
The yankees of the late 90′s did not feature huge HR numbers and won 4 times. What they did do is what the mets are doing now. They drove the ball through the box with consistency. A lot of 2 out runs and some impressive rallies too. Today’s hitter dopily goes up to the plate and tries to park every pitch. That is where the money is. I like what the mets are doing. Going up the middle and the other way. Last year they couldn’t get anybody in from scoring position when they had to. Having said that, I think Sandy also dreams of a basher. I heard him talking to Mike or someone in the off season and he said you need home runs even in a place like Citifield. From the comments he made, I think Sandy and you are on the same page.