23
2012
Mets Tee Off At Field 7
An article by Hojo's Mojo
Here is a video of what the players had to say about Field 7 yesterday, which were making some of them play and feel a little Ruthian to say the least.
David Wright, Daniel Murphy and Lucas Duda became the first players to test out the new dimensions on Field 7 which has been altered to match the new outfield dimensions at Citi Field.
Several of the balls landed between the new and old fences. Balls hit to those spots at Citi Field last season would likely have been outs or, at best, doubles. This year, they will be home runs.
“Today shows you there’s a big difference,” Mets Manager Terry Collins said, referring to “how many balls are laying behind that first fence.”
“It’s going to change the way these guys think when they’re at home plate,” Collins said. “This past year I saw many guys thinking they had to pull a ball to hit a homer.”
I hope this translates well in the real Citi Field.
About the Author: Rob Johnson
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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
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Balls flying over the fence are nice to see. But our pitchers may have different thoughts.
Des, even with a “pitchers” park, they did not do well.
LoL, Daniel Murphy says “Alright…” with a grin on his face as he talks about a ball that ran out of real estate to 358 in left center.
MoZone – R.I.P.
hell ya’ goodbye MoZone.
I believe that the closer fences could help the pitchers more than it hurts them.
I think the had it in their heads that the Mets couldn’t score or put up a big inning. knowing that, I think they freaked once the other team got a runner on base…they were so afraid of giving up a run that they started to nibble the corners, fall behind the count and then hang a 3-1 fastball down the middle.
Pitchers shouldn’t pitch scared and I think the Mets starters did that (excluding RAD).
I get what your saying (Collins and Warthen both said similar things)
It may make them think twice about the pitch selection and location but a guy like Pelfrey it’s like his worst nightmare!
Nice to see our guys hitting things over fences!
But lets face it it’s not like Halladay was throwing to them when they did that!
It was not much more than batting practice!
Lets see what they do when someone is attacking them high and tight and them low and outside when 90% of their Ks came from last year because they were busy trying to pull the ball over those fences!
NOW they shouldn’t have to pull the ball but when you go for those fences thats usually what you tend to do and an MLB pither will exploit that toot sweet!
I think the some of the OFs said that it could improve the pitching in the fact that they could actually cover a lot more ground instead of having to play so deep.
Don’t know about the OFs but Dickey did comment on this. He said it was a positive, them not having to cover so much ground. He went on to say that since he gives up a fair amount of bloop type hits, not having to cover so much ground might mean they can catch up to those type of hits and convert them to outs instead.
The best thing about moving the fences is it takes the conversation about them away. If they are still a conversation after 3 years, then thee is a problem. Now their should be no more excuses, head trash or whatever.
No more excuses I agree…
Ends the conversation? Not so much!
My worry is they will all try so hard to take advantage of those fences that they will expose themselves to the low outside pitch just as much as they exposed themselves last year!
Even Collins mentioned it when he said (paraphrasing here): “Ok Fences are gone now hit the ball to all fields and you’ll get your dingers!”
He seems to be less concerned with the balls that will go out and more worried about what happens in all those ABs in between!
I am too!
True, baseball is always a game of adjustments. Especially for hitters. Hell the best ones fail 7/10 times that has got to get in your head some. That is why so many tinker with things all the time. So yeah who knows what effect the new fences will have on their swings?
WellI am ging to show faith in the new Hitting coach as I think he did a very good job last year.
the really good hitters of the MLB don’t start thinking fences until they get to 2-1, 2-0, 3-1 or 3-0!
Then it’s fine to foam at the mouth because you know your going to get something pretty good if the pitcher has any control at all!
But they should approach every AB, Every pitch with the idea to just make the best contact you can and if you do that you won’t have to worry about the HR numbers at the end of the year!
Hit the ball good it goes out even in old Citifield!
Well that last part is not necessarily true. I saw some really well hit balls not make it out and the first year I saw some not so well hit balls go out when we played the Phils and they picked on that small part of the RF wall.
I remember Utley had it down to a science exactly where to pull the ball to (just to the side of the mo zone I think).
What is your definition of WELL HIT? I suspect it is different than mine!
You mean Well hit because it went far?
Or do you mean it as I mean it, got all of the fat part of the bat on the ball, Had a good level swing with only minor Upper cut, Hit the 90 degree (perfect timing) and cleared his hands through the zone easily?
Thats a good hit ball! The proccess of where the bat meets the ball in your swing and at what angle that swing met the ball is what determines fence clearing or not!
All the batter can do!
Metsie — “the really good hitters of the MLB don’t start thinking fences until they get to 2-1, 2-0, 3-1 or 3-0!”
You’ve overstated your point. Albert Pujols is a really good hitter, as almost every baseball fan would agree. In his career, he’s hit 445 homers. Only 77 have come on the counts you mention.
2-1 —- 27
2-0 —- 27
3-1 —- 17
3-0 —- 6
But on the first pitch, he’s hit 60 homers.
On 1-0, he’s hit 57 homers.
On 1-1, he’s hit 66 homers.
Well Des all I can say is just because you hit one, doesn’t mean you were thinking or trying to hit one when you did!
But those counts are the hitters counts and they expect a fastball there!
Just as your data showed that he hit almost as many on the frst pitch!
Why is that? Because most pitchers start you off with a fastball which is the reason you swing first pitch in the first place! Pitcher wants to get ahead of you and thinks he can sneal one past you while you are taking a pitch. Don’t take it and EXPECT that fastball gong gone goodbye!
Putting good wood on the ball has a lot to do with anticipating what is coming, guess right under ANY count and you will get that good wood. When the count is in your favor it’s a lot easier to anticipate because the Pitcher can’t be too playful, he HAS to throw a strike or risk walking you! Which if you look you will see Pujols does almost as much if not more than the HRs he hits on those counts!
If it is a pitch he anticipates and likes he swings, if it’s not where he wants it he takes it!
Good Hitter!
Metsie — There is no doubt a difference between intent (or lack of same) and execution. But the numbers show there is much more than you originally claimed. So have a beer, chill out, and remember that you can’t hit a semantic home run with every post. I do appreciate the reasoning you used.
Des the numbers don’t say a thing about what the guy was thinking though!
I didn’t say the count made it easier to hit a HR, Just that the Batter is in the position to LOOK for a pitch to pop where he is not in that position the rest of the count!
First Ball Fastball htting is really acting upon the same principles and 2 and 3 and 0!
Your EXPECTING a fastball and can tee off on that!
Cause in all those cases if your wrong it won’t result in a K!
It’s pretty much a FREE swing and as such the Batter can LOOK for it and think lets Jack one out!
Metsie, I follow your logic. Enough already. I’ll buy the beers!!!
Follow the Progression with me for a sec….
Count 0-0 – Goes up thinking the Pitcher is likely to sneak a fastball by me, I’ll CRUSH IT!
Count 1-0 He Missed last time (or threw me something other than a fastball) I’m looking Fastball again! Lets take a whack!
Count 1-1 He hits a lot here too. He’s not LOOKING to Jack it out here but if he gets the right pitch he can! 1-1 You can usually expect a strike to come, They want to get to 1-2 and rarely try to fool you, maybe just nibble!
Pujols does tend to take pitches more than the average batter after 3-1
Most HR hitters don’t take those pitches!
Thats why Pujols has such a great OBP!
That is without a doubt the best thing. I’m sick of hearing about the wall as an excuse.
There’s only one player who the excuses were made for…. that stadium was huge!!! but still, you could’ve hit 40+ doubles and 20+ hr’s if you were a good hitter as you “numbers” said you were.. good hitter don’t let the stadium get to them… they dominate the circusmtances no matter what, but, if exucses are made why not make them yourself..
there was also only 1 RH hitter who hit a lot of balls out to right center.
besides, a lot of people used the park as an excuse for bay sucking.
Ok, make that 2 then…
Wright and Bay is correct. Duda and Wright didn’t need the fences moved in.
Santana, Pelfrey, Niese, Dickey and Gee will be more affected by it then Wright and Bay.
Oh, I thought Alex meant our new shortstop. lol.
Wham, a Homer. Wham, another homer.
LoL, it’s scary that I knew that was a Bugs Bunny quote.
Baseball Bugs vs. The Gashouse Gorillas.
In theory it will help the home team hitters more, if they go back to being complete hitters (using the whole field) and not developing bad habits “cheating” to try and adjsut to the park. visiting teams didn’t do that, since they weren’t here long enough to have the park get in their heads!
And if it keeps the pitchers from getting lazy that will be a plus too.
So, overall, as long as they made it play fair (neutral?) similar to Shea, should be an overall improvement.
I think Duda and Davis were gonna hit homeruns in bunches regardless of the changes to Citi. This will help Wright/Bay more than any other players and the biggest improvement will be in getting their confidence back.
I agree. And if that confidence manifests itself as Wright cutting down on the Ks and spraying the ball all over the park again, he could be reborn.
David really should just be entering his peak years here. If he is physically good (the back) and has his head clear, entirely possible he rebounds to 2007-8 form.
And if that confidence manifests itself as Wright cutting down on the Ks and spraying the ball all over the park again, he could be reborn”
AND THEN TRADED FOR PROSPECTS… MONEYBALLIN!!
Agreed.