6
2011
Mets Need Bench Production..Now
An article by 
…badly. Starting an article off with an ellipsis is probably incorrect grammatically, but this article will be filled with mentions of the inability of the Mets to have an effective bench, and thus this discussion comes about.
Willie Harris has been a black hole offensively, both as a starter and as a bench player, striking out in 19 of his 65 at-bats. Using him as a pinch-hitting option is a criminally bad idea, and those at-bats could probably go to a bunch of other hitters who may actually make contact. His value doesn’t even lie in a platoon split, which renders him useless. Scott Hairston has had 33 AB’s, 12 ending in strikeouts. He apparently mashes lefties, but so far he hasn’t mashed anything. He’s played passable defense in LF/RF and due to the Angel Pagan injury, CF in some cases. He looks overmatched at the plate in every at-bat, and doesn’t seem to get the idea that hitting the ball is important, and striking out is VERY, VERY bad when you are a pinch-hitter.
Mike Nickeas was the defensive replacement catcher, so his value as a bat overall was diminished, but Mike Nickeas was a place-holder for Ronny Paulino. Even so, Nickeas hitting .250, walking three times and striking out four times. The best bench-bat against lefties has now become Ronny Paulino, and his splits show that he has been one of the most effective hitters in the MAJORS in hitting lefties. Daniel Murphy was the best bench option as a hitter, and now as he has claimed the role of starting second basemen (the platoon is almost null and void since most starters are righties). Justin Turner is now the backup second baseman and so far has only hit .250. He is on the team as the backup 2B, but his ability to play short may lead to another decision.
Chin Lung-Hu. He hasn’t had a hit since April 5th in limited appearances, and minus that key sac fly a few games ago, has been about as effective at hitting as most Mets pitchers. He has eight strikeouts in his 13 at-bats, with no walks. He is striking out in over 60% of his at-bats. He is like the Oliver Perez of the bench right now, because he has no minor league options and is ineffective. The Mets are forced to play with a shorter bench due to this.
Jason Pridie hasn’t amazed so far, but he hasn’t been all that bad in his 26 at-bats, playing good defense in center, hitiing .269 with two home runs, five RBI and six strikeouts to two walks, with one steal. He may not light the boards up, but he has been adequate, much more adequate then Willie Harris.
What do the Mets have in the minors that would be much better, you ask? Sadly, nobody. Captain Kirk has been killing the ball in AAA, but unless Pagan goes on the DL for an extended period of time and Pridie/Harris/Hairston continue failing, the odds of him being called up are slim. The Mets brass will not bring up talented players to serve bench roles.
Maybe the bench just needs to refocus and put together quality at-bats. Whatever the case is, hopefully the bench can put together some production.
About the Author: Sean Kenny
Sean Kenny is a student/writer currently attending school at the City College of New York. For more Mets news, notes and thoughts follow him on twitter @TheSeanKenny
42 Comments + Add Comment
NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 24 | 18 | .571 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 20 | .535 | 1.5 |
| Phillies | 20 | 23 | .465 | 4.5 |
| Mets | 16 | 24 | .400 | 7.0 |
| Marlins | 11 | 32 | .256 | 13.5 |
Last updated: 05/18/2013
Recent Comments
- Joe D: on Rafael Montero To Make Spot Start For Las Vegas: Trust me on this. CThomp is absolutely...
- CThomp519: on Rafael Montero To Make Spot Start For Las Vegas: U are so wrong about that. ...
- Edward: on Rafael Montero To Make Spot Start For Las Vegas: Funny, I haven't heard any scouts say...
- Hotstreak: on Juan Lagares Belts First MLB Homer In Mets 4-3 Comeback Win: Nice win and John; excellant wrap up....
- RandomGuy: on Juan Lagares Belts First MLB Homer In Mets 4-3 Comeback Win: It's crazy, guy worked forever to try...
MMO Mets Chat
Need Tickets To The Mets Game?
Check Out These Great MLB Links!
Photographs From Gordon Donovan
5360 Fans Follow Us On Twitter!
1269 Fans Like Us On Facebook!
2341 Fans Read Our Feed!
1702 Fans Subscribe via Daily Email!
Ellipses create victory. On days when I start articles with them, the Mets have never lost a game. (Nor have they won a game…)
Pridie’s looking pretty decent lately – he batted over .300 last week.
Hu is a wasted spot on the bench, as you noted. He seems to be only up for defensive replacement, but come on. Turner can at least provide some offense, so we’ll see if Hu gets sent down at some point.
Harris should be only a defensive replacement, but on a team like this, there’s no place for a defensive replacement without much offense.
Hairston is a K machine and I’m still looking for the power I saw in SD or OAK.
At least Paulino ripped it up yesterday, but you can’t really use your backup catcher in PH roles so we need a solid PH off the bench. I’m sure Collins must be getting fed up. The good thing is, the main starters are producing pretty well but a good bench makes or breaks a good team.
Captain Kirk shouldn’t be called up…yet. Perhaps if there’s space after the trade deadline, his bat looks about ready.
Everytime I see Hu up to pinch hit with runners on base I cringe. He’s a defensive replacement who doesnt even come in to replace anyone. All he does is pinch hit and FAIL. I love Sandy, and he’s exactly the GM we need, but trading for Hu and keeping him on the roster is just a terrible decision and I think we can all agree on that point.
Not sure everybody agrees. Ruben Tejada was sent down to Buffalo to get a season of shortstop under his belt in case there is a glitch resigning Jose. Hu is the best middle infield reserve the Mets have. They need him until the Reyes-Alderson situation plays out.
To be sure Hu looks overmatched sometimes at the plate. But let’s give it a little time.
Well the reason why the Bench is as poor is easy to explain and you touched on it.
All the BATS are in there playing the game and the Bench is largely comprised of defensive replacements with No Bat to speak of.
Paulino’s Arrival fixes this a bit.
The bench problem right now seems to be Harris and Hairston. They can’t seem to get on track. And if they do not start hitting soon I would be ready to say that Pridie should stay and one of them should go if and when Pagan comes back.
Right now every good bat we have seems to be in the starting lineup. That leaves the bad bats and defensive replacements left to pinch hit.
That might work fine in a 9 Inning game but it makes winning extra inning fests very difficult.
Paulino will be good for getting rid of those Lefties they are currently throwing at Ike. What we need is a good LH bat we can PH when we need a big hit vs a Righty.
Maybe Duda would be the better option there, I don’t know I haven’t really followed his performance since he went down.
I don’t know what you mean by Pridie hasn’t amazed yet, was he suppose to ‘amaze’?
He’s hitting .269 with 2 HRs in under 30 ABs – that’s doing a nice job so far where I come from. And unexpectedly too! And don’t forget his DEFENSE has been just as important. Remember we have a front office that does not value defense and unfortunately many people who subscribe to this Front Office’s ideals cannot think for their own and agree with that stance. It’s a bad stance and 100% wrong. No defense? No winning. Period.
And Hu? Why is Hu pinch hitting? I’d rather have Fernando Tatis than Hu up there. Is that why Hu was signed? To be a pinch hitter? They may as well signed a veteran or different type of player. Heck, we would be better off with Luis Castillo if that’s how Hu is gonna be used. That’s a management mistake from the front office down to the field. Hu should be be pinch hitting
That should read Hu “should not” be pinch hitting
By “amaze” I meant “proclaim as the best CF EVER!”. He has played admirably in Pagan’s absence, and ironically is/was hitting better then Pagan before the injury anyway.
They should dump Hairston, Harris. or BOTH when Pagan comes back and keep this kid Pridie up here
Hairston is probably closer to the band saw than Harris, so it would probably be one of them going down first. The sad thing is, if one of the three OF’s gets hurt now, I see them calling someone up. Not going from the bench. Because the bench players are just that, bench players.
However, in other news…If Thole doesn’t shape up with the bat, Paulino could leave Josh only catching R.A. Dickey’s starts.
Yes but if Pridie is kept it means Harris is the most likely to go because both hit Lefty and Hairston is a righty.
They won’t replace the righty with another lefty they will get rid of the lefty and keep the right handed bat for the bench.
Not that it seems to make a big difference because neither has been hitting anyone righty OR lefty!
But I would bet iof Pridie stays Harris will go.
But here in lies my logic. Hairston mashes lefties apparently. You know who else crushes lefties? Our fresh off the DL catcher, Ronny Paulino. At a much higher clip with proven pop. Hairston would really have to wow the Mets to keep him around, especially when Angel comes back. Harris speed as a pinch-runner beats Hairston, and Pridie is the BEST defensive outfielder, making him Endy Chavez redux.
but, unless they bring up a 3rd catcher (nickeas to replace hu?), they are not going to use Paulino as a primary bat off the bench. plus he will be starting at least 40% of the games most likely!
They could use Paulino to pinch hit in the later innings at no cost if he wasn’t gonna start anyway.
they could, but most managers keep the BU catcher in reserve in case something happens to the other one.
now, if it is the 9th inning down a run, you take your shot. But if a big spot comes up in the 7th, they aren’t likely to be using the BU catcher to PH.
Right,
At best it’s a true catching platoon and that’s a good thing and besides Thole’s defense is showing some big time holes. At least Paulino looks like he knows what he’s doing back there. And I still haven’t heard anybody speak about Paulino’s defense? What’s his defensive reputation?
Before last night I had no idea how he was
best as I can recall, paulino was thought of as an offensive catcher that was OK defensively, solid but not spectacular. And really only very good at hitting lefties. So basically, perfect platoon guy for thole.
He’s a meh guy. 31% career runners thrown out, which is trumping Josh Thole’s 17% as of right now. Has some passed-ball issues, and hits .250 against righties. The only concern really is Thole having to catch Dickey since Paulino has 0 experience w. a knuckleballer or Dickey.
We let the runners do their thing when Thole catches Pelfrey. It’s awful to watch.
Well thats pelfrey’s problem. he tends to put the runners out of his mind and forget they are there because if he thinks about it he will get nervous and give up another hit!
Paulino’s CS numbers are going to fall when he catches Pelfrey too!
Metsie, there is no argument from me. Mike is slow to the plate. But Thole keeps calling for the same pitches with little changes in up, down, in, out, speed …. You get the point I’m trying to make. Maybe Mike is a Johnny-One-Note.
Well Des we tend to agree on an awful lot here.
I have pointed out before how our best pitched games have come on days when Thole was not behind the plate!
How he calls a game could be a factor in that!
But the runners stealing is about throwing over to first.
Now maybe Thole should be calling for that more but the Pitchers should not have to be told to do that.
Chris Young did and they got Rollins because of it.
Can you please give me links detailing that the Front Office that does not value defense? Would this just be another one of your extremly igornant statements that are completely factually incorrect that you will continue to spew?
It is not front offices who do not value Defense it is those FEW who think Stats are the only valid way to judge players and only look at Batting stats ignoring the fielding.
Many of the guys who believe in particular Sabermetric philosopies also believe Fielding isn’t important!
And the Metrics they use to say the guy is good shows that!
But just because Bloggers make that mistake does not mean Front Office personnel do!
Even our front office who believed that offense was a bit more important than fielding did not leave themselves without a decent fielding player at 2B!
The bench has sucked, but it just got better with Paulino. Will Mets keep Pridie whe Angel Pagan comes back? I sure hope so. Pridie has been a pleasant surprise.
Pridie could easily replace Willie Harris, and may realistically be a better idea. Harris’ made sense from a versatility aspect, but he will not be playing 2B/3B/SS, so he is the 4th/5th OF
Bench should at least be able to make contact cause a hit ball can go for a hit, error, score a run, move over a runner whereas a K does nothing but create a breeze for catcher.
The lack of quality bats, at least those that don’t K all the time, will cost Mets games and I don’t see how Collins who has to manage these situations has not addressed this issue with SA who saddled him with Hut, Harris and Hairston.
I know that they are not supposed to be good as starters but come on make contact at least, everytime they come up there is no need for strategy on other team cause their past at bats reflect who they are, bad players taking up bench space.
The Hu experiment has to stop; unless Jose is going to get a day off which doesn’t seem to be a reality the way he has played then his spot is a wasted spot on bench.
Last night on telecase Hershieser commented how Mets signed Harris to keep him from making catches against them but that maybe he could now provide some help, not!
I swear it looked last night like Harris didn’t even care when he was at bat
He probably doesn’t. He hasn’t had a meaningful hit in weeks.
I thought that Hu was only kept because they were not sure that Reyes was going to be in shape to play pretty much full time, with a side issue of being afraid that they would need a defensive sub at 2B most games.
since at this point neither issue is a problem, he has no reason to be here. Turner is not a GG SS, but he can play out there every once in a while when Jose needs a break. And Murphy is not looking like a liability that needs to be pulled whenever the closer comes in.
so, convert Hu into a RH bat that actually has a chance to do something off the bench!
No, they traded Mike Antonin for him, and he had no MiLB options and they protected him in the Rule 5.
I know that they could not send Hu down (well, assuming some team would claim him). Just meant that the only reason he was on the team was because of those issues.
the stiff they traded for him would have IIRC been lost too, and he pretty much stunk anyway.
I was watching last night’s game and had to walk into the other room when Hu came up to pinch hit. You know using Hu in a spot like that is killing Terry. I just hope Sandy and his staff are working the phones trying to make this bench better.
Willie Harris as you pointed out has been a “black hole”. Scott Hairston hasn’t been much better. I’d rather see see Nicky Evans than either of those two.
at this point, send Dickey up to PH and keep Hu on the bench. Got a better shot at a hit that way, and if R.A. does get on, send in Hu to pinch run.
When Pagan comes back, keep Pridie, drop Harris. Pridie provides back up at all the outfield positions, a left-handed bat off the bench that has shown some power and the ability to make contact, and some speed for pinch-running. With all the outfield spots covered (especially cf), drop Hairston and bring up Evans. Evans can backup both corner outfield positions and can give Ike a day off against a tough left-hander at firstbase. He’s also shown a decent bat as a pinch-hitter from the right side with some pop, so TC doesnt have to risk Paulino before the 8th or 9th inning, fearing a catcher injury. Hu on the other hand, will probably have to be replaced by someone not here yet. Could be Nickeas but he wouldnt play that much and he doesnt hit well enough to be useful. Yes he would free up Paulino to pinchhit but Evans would do that just by being able to save Paulino till late in the game. Feliciano maybe, a lefty bat with some speed that can play the infield positions.
This shouldn’t be a surprise. With a bench manned by the likes of Hu, Harris and Hairston, we knew it would struggle offensively, and that’s when we thought Murphy would be there. That’s why I was in favor of Duda or Nick Evans rather than Hairston. We knew Hairston would stink, we weren’t sure about the other 2.
You wanna hear another answer: INCREASE ROSTERS TO 26!
As if there’s any chance of that happening. Owners would never agree to that.
[...] Mets Merized Online Posted under Daniel Murphy and tagged with Bench, Mets, Need, Production..Now Comments (0) [...]
Hairston, Harris and Hu have been killing us.
Sometimes, spring training performance means zippo. All of us probably remember Hairston’s big homers.
I wouldn’t say SOME times…LOL
Lets face it just look at what is going on in a typical ST.
The GOOD pitchers are focusing on PITCHES not SEQUENCES to getting someone out.
The ones who are focusing on the batter are all MiL pitchers hoping to make the team! They are in the Minors for a damn good reason!
Hu is not really here to hit, he is here to spell Murphy late in games.
Hairston and Harris were here as insurance against Beltran needing rest every other day (That hasn’t happened!)
Losing Pagan and the delay of Bay has exposed Hairston and Harris because they are getting even more games than they should have just replacing Beltran.
As Murphy gets more comfortable with the glove and if and when Pagan gets back I can see an opportunity to scrap:
HU – Because we can keep Turner as the backup to Murphy. Only issue would be if Turner can fill in at short if needed (doubtful)
Harris or Hairston – Because we don’t need two light hitting OFs for backup
Get a good hitting OF that can come off the bench to replace one of them and the bench will be better!
Part of the bench problem is before we had 10 pitchers and the rest bench. Now we have 13 pitchers and 4 bench players and they have to cover multiple positions so you need them to play defense. Before we had Ed Kranepool, Rusty Staub, Jesus Alou, Danny Heep and Lenny Harris on the bench just to pinch hit. Now you can’t have that pinchhitting specialist taking a spot on the bench, now he is a bullpen specialist.