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.

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.

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.

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.