Morning Grind: Why Is Hu Here Instead Of Luis Hernandez?

11 Comments + Add Comment

• paul nassau May 10, 2011 at 7:38 am

  Drawing walks is great, but in RBI situations, mainly bases loaded, is there anything wrong in telling a player to look for a fastball on the first pitch and driving it?
  Pops
  • Des May 10, 2011 at 8:30 am

    Drawing a walk with the bases loaded isn’t too shabby either. It’s like getting a batted RBI.

    I would agree with you view if there were men on second and third — an RBI is probably better than a walk to load the bases, though not always. Depends on who’s up next and more.
  • t agee May 10, 2011 at 9:29 am

    Walks occur naturally when you refuse to swing at balls, no one has to go look for them. When they come around you simply take them. Often times the first pitch is the best pitch to hit especially if you have earned a reputation for having a good eye. With men in scoring position you always look for that first pitch to be in a particular place and when it is you give it a rip. Wright almost never swings at the first pitch but then swings and fouls off or misses a worse second pitch. I don’t get it.
• Dennis Ribant May 10, 2011 at 8:40 am

  How many guys make the bigs because of their outstanding ability to walk? NONE. End of subject. Teaching a guy in the bigs to walk is taking away the aggressiveness required to be a successful. You see it in the new Mets every day. They are being retrained to walk and are letting 2-0 count pitches right down the pipe go. Bad baseball. Result.. LAST PLACE.
  • Des May 10, 2011 at 8:57 am

    Dennis — interesting point. But the Mets are last because of some crummy overall play. Their outfield defense (in general and before Pridie arrived) has sucked. Hairston hasn’t cut it as an outfielder. They have given up far too many stolen bases, partially because of slow times to the plate by a couple of pitchers, partially because Thole is not as good as the combined guys who left.
    • metsaddict77 May 10, 2011 at 9:59 am

      who cares really,is this gonna help us win more games, probably not.
  • Bayonne Mets Fan May 10, 2011 at 12:16 pm

    Exactly Dennis,

    It’s becoming an alarming trend and frankly making it more frustrating than ever watching Mets games. Seeing them taking so many good pitches is HURTING the team and not helping the team.

    Again, this is Sandy Alderson’s doing.

    It KILLED the Mets when the last faced the Phillies and that rookie Vance Worley. The Mets took so many first pitch strikes right down the middle that game.

    This is not a good sign and it goes all the way down to the minors too and as someone else mentioned here, i forget who, it may even be preventing major league ready guys from being brought up to help us because they’re not walking enough. I just wish main stream media would start catching on to this and Alderson himself addressed about this ridiculous philosophy that’s HURTING the Mets, not helping.
• Pete May 10, 2011 at 10:45 am

  HU CARES?
  • metsaddict77 May 10, 2011 at 10:48 am

    @pete, i was waiting for somebody to make that joke.
• sarge May 10, 2011 at 12:11 pm

  How many times has Terry Collins mentiioned this that you try to work the count but you don’t let “your” pitch get by without swinging at it.

  In the effort to take more pitches this team has turned into the bat that can’t swing.

  All need to take the approach of Paulino, who apparently missed those seminars on taking pitches and working the count. He comes up and if it is a good strike he swings and he has so far produced despite no walks.

  Many don’t make it to majors cause they can walk but cause they wait for their pitch or mistake by pitchers to hammer it and then in majors this translates to more walks, higher OBP.
  It is knowing the strike zone and knowing where you would you would like the pitch to be and then hitting it but you don’t get that discipline once in majors cause you want to hit so you can stay.

  Having a high OBP will not keep you in majors if you are not hitting.
• any May 10, 2011 at 2:42 pm

  people seem to be missing the point of the 10% “rule” (more of a suggestion, actually!)

  instilling that in the low minors is not about making guys passive, or having them look to walk (and not swing). it is to train them to be selective, and swing at strikes, not balls.

  if a pitcher throws 4 straight balls (and not borderline close), you should take the walk.

  early in the count, you don’t swing at crap, and it puts you in much better position to get a meatball in a hitters count. But of course, if they throw you a juicy 1st pitch, let it rip.

  you can’t be as predicitble as someone like Wright often is, or pitchers will just keep throwing strike one down the pipe. Hit some of them, and they start being more careful, so as a batter you can just be selective.

  there can be a fine line between being passive and selevtive of course. But, most hitters tend to be aggressive (castillo being on the far opposite end of the spectrum).

  I really don’t think it is going to make the met prospects better ML players if they are told to just hack at every pitch, no matter where it is, Frnechy style.