18
2012
What Is Wrong With The Mets?
An article by 
Coming off of a sweep at the hands of the NL Central leading Cincinnati Reds, the Mets should probably consider themselves lucky. Why you ask? Well, just as the Mets had done when sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays only a few days earlier, their crosstown rival Yankees did the Mets a favor in their sweep of the Washington Nationals. Its for that reason and that reason alone that the Mets remain only 4.5 games back in the division, but don’t let this little twist of luck force you into thinking that the Mets are in good shape.
Through a little more than half of June the Mets have posted a 7-9 record. A free fall by no means, but still nothing to write home about. Whether it be due to injuries or simple reality, the Mets are beginning to look mortal. More importantly their offense, which carried the team through the first two months of the season, has averaged only two runs per game over their last six losses. Just a blip on the radar? Perhaps…but that isn’t to say that the writing hasn’t been on the wall for such struggles.
Daniel Murphy, who entered the month of June with a .305 average has batted only .197 in his last fifteen games while watching his average plummet to .274. Since returning from the disabled list on June 1st, the surprisingly potent bat of Josh Thole has hit only .224. If you’d like to split hairs, one could say that even David Wright, who is still hitting a very healthy .355 and .328 in the month of June has seen his offensive numbers suffer this month. I mention these three players because they, along with the injured Ruben Tejada, carried the Mets for their very surprising first 50 games.
Offense alone isn’t to blame for the Mets June swoon. The team’s defense as a whole has been downright awful this season. Entering play today they have posted 52 errors, which is good for fourth worst in major league baseball. Daniel Murphy leads all National League second-basemen with nine errors, while both David Wright and Ike Davis also rank among the worst at their respective positions. I don’t mean to pick on anyone, but if the Mets hope to claw and scratch their way through the season, they’ll simply need to play better fundamental baseball.
The final, and in all probability largest weakness of this team has got to be the bullpen. The Mets currently boast the worst bullpen ERA in major league baseball, at 5.40, with opponents batting a major league best .275 against them. That’s nearly a full run worse than their closest competitor, the Chicago Cubs, who own a 4.51 bullpen ERA of their own. That isn’t do to overwork either, as the Mets pen has pitched only 188.1 innings and finds itself in the lower third of the league in that category. Simply put, as illustrated by their league worst 13 blown saves, the bullpen has been very, very bad.
Now with all of that having been said, as previously mentioned, the Mets still only find themselves 4.5 games back of the division leading Washington Nationals. From here, if the team is going to continue to contend, they must play more consistent baseball. Fundamentals will be key for a roster that probably won’t win many games on talent alone this year. In spite of what seems to be an overwhelming amount of heart on this roster, I question this young team’s ability to pick itself up off the mat should they fall off the pace in the division for long. Their weaknesses are apparent, if not glaring, and with the remainder of a murderous June looming the time is now for the Mets to cure what ails them, before their confidence and their season slips away.
Follow me on twitter at @RobPatterson83
About the Author: Rob Patterson
Ultimately, I owe nearly thirty years of Mets related torture to my mother, who is the reason I became a fan. I was too young to remember the 86 run, but hope to see one I'll be able to recall much sooner than later. I enjoy writing about the team and welcome your feedback on my posts. Oh..and I am not with 28!
58 Comments + Add Comment
NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 23 | 18 | .561 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 19 | .548 | 0.5 |
| Phillies | 20 | 22 | .476 | 3.5 |
| Mets | 16 | 23 | .410 | 6.0 |
| Marlins | 11 | 31 | .262 | 12.5 |
Last updated: 05/18/2013
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I think the lack of power has more to do with it than anything. If they were jumping out to early leads more frequently and taking more advantage to all the base runners they are accumulating, they bullpen is much less a factor.
The main thing “wrong” with the Mets is…well, they are a .500 team. This is what happens. You get peaks and valleys.
They are a real odd offense when you really think about it.
They are 4th in runs scored in the NL, yet 11th in HR, 15th in SB, last in triples.
Usually when you see a team that has success but little power, they often have solid speed. The Mets have neither right now.
The Mets are a doubles team. You don’t often here about a successful offense that is mostly a doubles team.
Stolen bases really don’t translate into runs the way people think they do. Also, interesting stat:
For April and May, the Mets had a combines 21 stolen bases. So far for June, they have 12.
I’m not suggesting that.
I’m saying normally when you’re told a team is almost dead last in power numbers but up near the top in runs scored, you think of fast/scrappy teams.
You don’t often think of “doubles power” being the reason.
I’m actually pro stolen bases. I think if used properly it can change a game with intangibles and does things stats do not measure. I do get that you can give away outs, but that comes down to the using it properly.
Agree with this here.
Only I’ll go one step further in saying the defense is killing them lately. And that’s what will happen when you’ve got multiple injuries, 5 different line-ups a week, guys playing out of position or not to their strength.
A 7-9 record in June yes, but we’ve been battling some of the best teams in MLB. This is a very tough month for us and the schedule makers were cruel. But we’re still hanging tough. If we can make it through this month with a .500 record, things will ease up come July and August.
The Mets just aren’t that good of a team. They have been playing above their talent for the majority of the season. There are going to be ups and downs all year.
The prophetic Bill Parcells said “you are what your record says you are” and he may have been talking specifically about this 2012 team. The key is why Terry Collins, Sandy Alderson and the rest of the brain trust is not panicking because they have an idea what they have and they are doing a great deal of evaluating this year. Last year they had to trim payroll and this year they must assess what they have. For example, does Daniel Murphy’s .300 average (I know he is in a slump right now) and grit outweigh his lack of speed or power? Will Josh Thole be the catcher of the future or are the Mets looking for an upgrade at catcher? They are trying to figure it out and we as fans need to be patient. Personally, I have not felt this confident in the administration of the Mets since Frank Cashen ran the show.
I agree about the front office having a plan going forward, but if SA had done a better job with the bullpen and had gotten back someone who could play a little (Torres is a joke) back for Pagan, we would be leading the NL in the wild card race.Why can’t we be one of those teams this year who is going with youth but can still surprise the world and sneak into a wild card spot?
that trade was pagan for Ramirez, who had been one of the better set up men the last few years. So while it obviously did not work out, thta was a move that should have helped the pen.
Torres was just a filler replacement part until a prospect (kirk) was ready to step in.
and IMO there will be more pen adjustments coming soon.
The lack of power is huge. While I like gritty ball players, the Mets need a hitter that the other team fears. The Mets sadly don’t have one. Ike isn’t producing, and Duda is very streaky right now. Daniel Murphy is a glorified “Punch and Judy” hitter with zero power, no speed, no base running intellect, and obviously is brick handed. I am shocked at the love he gets simply because he hustles. He also leads all 2B in errors and has no homers in almost 400 at bats going back to last season. GIVE ME A BREAK! Find out what Valdespin can do with a shot everyday. He can’t play worse defense than Murphy and at least has some pop.
they are like the rest of the flawed, mid-pack teams (which is pretty much the whole league at this point!) There will be ups and downs.
Right now, the defense has really been killing them, and in quite a few games, making the pen look bad (they did a number on parnell in particular in a couple of recent games).
Answer:
Lack of a consistent offense plus a questionable pen. Fortunately, we’ll be buyers & sellers at the deadline. Bullpen wise, we have suitable pieces from AAA but it wouldn’t hurt to pursue some extra pieces like Balfour and/or Fuentes. Murphy most likely will get out of this mini slump within the next month, and when he does, trade him for arms and give Valdespin the chance to shine at 2nd base. With Bay on the shelf yet again and Baxter gone for another month, I’d look into Josh Reddick to man LF/CF and ditch Torres. Only problem is that Reddick will be in high demand within the next month.
The team is resilient and their bopper has concussions and career issues that amount to more than baseball but if her were performing up to par and reputation along with Ike this team would be fine.
It is tough to give up on Bay or criticize when you know it is an upstairs issue now complicated by real upstairs issues.
Ike needs to get going big time as we don’t have any fear provoking sluggers in the lineup. Duda is good but he is a 260-270 20 homerun guy.
We have to commend our starting pitching. That pitch should have been in the dirt. Dickey spoke to God from the top of Mt. Everest and is our ace. Jury is out on Santana who appears to have regained 3/4 of old form but after no no teams are killing the slider. Young, if he stays healthy, is an artist out there. Gee and Niese are young and show some promise but we can’t live on promises. Niese has this odd thing about getting in trouble, getting to two outs and then throwing a mystery mistake a la Jay Bruce this weekend. He was one pitch away from out of a big jam. That is not the first time. Gee has weak beginning issues.
The defense is clearly costing games and the there is a dreaded combination of getting to the pen and then making boo boos on the field. Rauch is looking better now. Parnell is a mystery as is R. Ramirez and I can’t tell anything good or bad about Elvin (what is he doing here)
We need Tejada back for defense and he was hitting well. Need to start leaving lefties (K-Nu and Ike) in the lineup v. righties and righties in the lineup v, lefties (Hairston) It is amazing that we miss Baxter so much.
Young team, mostly fun to watch(not last weekend…frustrating), but brighter horizons are more likely than spiraling downward. THe Mets have already exceeded expectations and are getting attention, That scares me a little because that can get in players heads. (living up to the media’s hype)
Every series we win (Rays) you get all jazzed up. Every series we get swept (Yanks, Reds) you get this next series will seal our fate. Hello Orioles and Showalter. If we are the team that we think we are watch for a spanking. If we are the team everyone thought we were in Spring we show it now.
LETS GO METS!!
no veteran leadership is another problem. You can’t win with all kids, Santana isn’t out there everyday and naturally Wright is no leader at all because he has done nothing to earn the respect of his team mates except get off to a good start. The same thing happened last year when people nominate Wright as “the leader” (They do it every year) and what happened was all the players flocked to Beltran as the leader and all you people know it.
No veteran leadership is a problem on this team – you need veterans to win and you need veterans to take you to the next level. I miss the days of getting named veteran stars to play for this team – they could do it if they wanted.
and just because it has happened with a few players recently doesn’t mean acquiring stars doesn’t always work out. The Mets don’t get into the post season in 99 & 00 and 06 without stars. You just have to keep trying. Mets have some nice young talent so they should be getting some veterans or a star or 2, somebody who’s been through the wars to try and supplement them
“naturally Wright is no leader at all because he has done nothing to earn the respect of his team mates except get off to a good start”
How do you know?
I’m just guessing here… but there are probably some pro baseball players who think a 9 year average of .303/.384/.511 26HR 106RBI and 5 time all star, 3 time Top 10 MVP, 2 time gold glove, 2 time silver slugger is worth respect.
Just because you don’t respect him, doesn’t mean the players who suit up with him everyday don’t.
He is the best player on their team. You think Kirk N. walks around and ignores Wright and thinks “what has he done to earn my respect?”
They can respect him because of his ability – heck even i do. But they don’t have to respect him as a leader – for many reasons.
But the subject i’m discussing is what I think it would take to win, Wright was just a sub topic – you can stick to the sub topic if u choose and then use people’s words against them. That’s what you and what you do best.
So you as a viewer/fan can see his ability and judge for yourself how valuable that is.
You as a viewer/fan can NOT see him inside a clubhouse yet you decide to judge how valuable he is there?
You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. You’re merely saying he’s not a leader for the 2012 Mets because you don’t like him.
good that you noted “2012 Mets” because he may be some kind of leader for this type of a team largely comprised of kids and journeymen as everyday players but he’s not and never had been a leader for the good Mets teams that were in contention and I’ll say as recently as last year when OBVIOUSLY Carlos Beltran was the leader.
I DO know what i’m talking about. You don’t. You’re a suit and tie carnival barker who speaks out of both sides of his mouth when your not using people’s words against them.
Don’t even try little man, don’t even try. Everybody can make a point now and then but don’t even in your shallow little mind think that u can ever keep up with me.
But anyway like i said – this thread is about what is wrong with the 2012 Mets and I stated what I think they can do to improve their chances this year so let’s get back on track with that.
But that’s typical of you to go off topic and just run with it. You’re just that type of person and I don’t associate with creeps like you in real life.
How many big league clubhouses have you been in?
No, you said the Mets have no veteran leadership and made sure you called out Wright.
By the way, how do you account for Beltran’s return in 2010?
right – they have no veteran leadership that’s why they need to go get veterans to win. Wright is not the guy to lead this team to win but he can …by default i guess since he’s been here so long..but some kind of …i don’t know….something..for the newer kids here. Whoop-de-do.
Again they like to use words as weapons instead of just getting the point you’re trying to make thus the 200 comments ensue.
2010 has nothing to do with anything because he was no leader then either and just because Beltran came back and the team still flopped in the 2nd half doesn’t mean that the players don’t respect him more. Beltran has been there and delivered, Wright to a lesser extent was there in 2006 but didn’t deliver.
Now the word games response by another couch potato who’s main strength is typing
Ya, it sucks when you are held accountable for what you say. It is easy to see why you don’t like that.
How do you know who the players respect? Are you still under the belief that high school has anything to do with the actual world?
Funny, many interviews I see of the players of the NY Mets talk about the invaluable leadership of David Wright in the clubhouse.
Hmmmmm I’m not actually there, so I usually take the word of the players being asked the question that are there, but hey, that’s just me.
Hmmmmm I’m not actually there, so I usually take the word of the players being asked the question that are there, but hey, that’s just me.”
also the players voted him one of the most OVERRATED PLAYERS IN BASEBALL SO….. Take it as you will…
Great point about the players voting Wright the 15th most overrated player in the game.
That clearly means he’s not a good leader now?
Which is why Derek Jeter being voted #3 most overrated proves he’s suddenly not a good leader too right?
By the way, I believe Beltran was ranked #11 on that list you referenced.
Dude cmon, if your referring to the SI poll how much stock can you put into it? It also had Jeter and Beltran rated higher as most overrated and Pujols was rated one spot lower than Wright at 16th. What matters is how Wright’s teammates think of him not some random players that have never shared the same locker room most likely with him and from most accounts Wright’s leadership has never been one of concern.
Honestly, who cares about leadership? How about coming trough in the clutch when you team need you the most? how about winning a championship? i can care less about all that hoopla, to me, wright is not a leader, he’s not even a guy you build a franchise with, he’s a good player that when combine with studs he can be better.. Not someone who’s won anything.. And again, i am just saying the same stuff that was being said about Reyes and Beltran.. Let’s see how most of you run with it
Right – who cares about leadership in this thread anyway. That’s not the name of this thread – it’s about what’s wrong with the Mets and I cited my reasons.
Now the thread has been hijacked by the Wright nut lickers and then they’ll blame us.
Stay on topic please you stupid people.
Who cares about leadership? Now, I’ll tell you that the Mets problem is they have no leadership.
Is that your idea of being clever? To make the topic about your point, declare it over and then attack anyone who addresses your point as trying to “derail” it?
Once again, you make a claim you can’t back up, when called out on it, you come through as always with the classy retort “nut lickers”. Good comeback.
You brought it up, then call out people for hi jacking the thread. Seriously you can’t make this up.
So you don’t think he is a leader and also don’t care about leadership? OK
I think he is a leader so we can agree to disagree on that point.
If you don’t have anything more to add regarding the SI issue we can leave it at what was said and move on.
“Honestly, who cares about leadership?”
Obviously you and Bayonne.
Bayonne — Once again you prove yourself to be a pessimistic, miserable misanthrope. You’ve been just a disaster as an objective critic. Yup, in your mind it’s likely Jose Reyes showed greater veteran leadership. If not him, you’ll rally to the benefit of Carlos Delgado, who ran home after every game with the excuse of being needed to take care of his newborn, even though he could afford a team of nurses, doctors and nannies.
no you old fool. Go get your teeth out of your glass next to your bed before you read this answer this way you can grit your teeth properly instead of gritting your gums and hurting yourself.
Jose Reyes was not a leader and said he never wanted to be one so that’s that.
Carlos Delgado, who i was never a big fan of, was a leader despite running from the press after losses. He was also a leader by the way he delivered in big spots too.
Go back to pasting false quotes, quoting yourself, getting timelines mixed up and being the absolute WORST evaluator of talent this site has ever seen
Bayonne — You’re a sick dude with your usual bag of red herring charges which have be refuted several times. Jerk.
refute this….
here is the famous article where Des was caught quoting himself and then trying to deny it:
http://metsmerizedonline.com/2011/04/mets-cut-brad-emaus-and-promote-justin-turner.html
Des November 28, 2011 at 8:12 pm
Amen, Xtree. Danny Herrera is a lefty specialist and a good athlete. His lack of size hasn’t hurt him getting guys out. He’s the real deal.
Bayonne — As I said you’ve got your bag of red herrings. It sure beats substance when you can’t admit you’re wrong. As for the quotes, they were used to let you know I wasn’t changing what I had previously said. Once again, the Mike Carp lover proves himself to be a self-absorbed runt who is tough only behind a keyboard. Did I fail to say you’re a lightweight jerk?
Des September 23, 2010 at 12:03 am
Jerry Manuel said he was going to coach the baseball program at William Jessup University, an NAIA school in Rocklin, California. So another baseball job likely awaits Jerry.
Jerry is a good man, ground down by the Wilpon follies.
Bayonne Mets Fan September 23, 2010 at 12:18 am
Where did you read this? Can you please provide a link? I’ve not heard anything about this.
Bayonne Mets Fan September 23, 2010 at 12:19 am
SNY hasn’t said anything about this to the best of my knowledge
Bayonne — You obviously have reading comprehension problems. You confuse dates and timelines. You were given the link to the NY Times article in late 2010 by George Vecsey several times. Complain to Vecsey if you don’t believe him or accuse him of plagiarism.
You are just a mental lightweight who tries to elevate his game but only gets slam dunked by me and several others on this sight. You’re not bullying anyone with your bellicose postings. You’re a guy who coached some early teenaged kids and who translated that into thinking you’re a better GM than Sandy and apparently a better manager than anyone the Mets have had in several years.
P.S.: Kiddo, I bet I have more pearly whites than you have. LOL.
Yeah the article by Vecsey was 3 years old in 2010 so when you cited it it was already outdated.
You are citing an article that was mentioned by a writer in 2010 that was already 3 years old by then! You tried to pass it off as current events. It’s now going on almost 6 years since the original story was written and that university STILL doesn’t have a baseball team
Now back to current events and what Des said about me back on May 29th.
Des May 29, 2012 at 2:41 pm
Try doing what I do. Ignore him.
Well?
Bayonne — Are you accusing George Vecsey of the New York Times as passing off as current news an three year old article? The Vecsey article was produced in late 2010. Are you saying it’s just a copy of a 2007 article? If so take it up with the Times. I’d believe them before I’d believe you.
Are you saying it shouldn’t be believed?
As I said, your bullying macho days are over, my lightweight friend. You’re just a keyboard tiger. Back to the sandlots for you. Maybe you can bamboozle some kids. You can’t here on MMO.
Is this an example of an on topic post?
After a no-hitter by Santana, the Mets are in a slump again.
While it really hurts to be swept by Yanks and Reds, I would almost say the Reds wins were more thorough than the Yanks in the sense that it seems like we let two Yanks wins slip away. Against the Reds, we caught few breaks (each team needs this from time time no matter who opponent is) and rarely capitalized on bona fide scoring opportunities.
I don’t see the Mets as imploding or falling apart right now. Clearly you wonder how you go from 29 runs in a series to five, but then you realize both sets of run production are abnormal for this team.
Whether we can finish the season five or ten games above .500 remains to be seen, but there’s no reason why Mets cannot at least vie for WC in September.
I was going to wait till ASB to be a “believer” in this team, but I am already.
Time to go 1969 on the Baltimore Birds!
LGM!!!
Pen, Defense, Lack of Power & Injuries have been problems with the team on and off all season.
Though in this last series I think they were simply beat by a better team overall. It happens.
The positive I take from that series though is that the middle to back end of the rotation pitched relatively well vs a hot hitting Reds team.
Mets starters in the series pitched 20/IP, 11/R, 9/ER, 4/BB, 13/SO, 3/HR, 4.05/ERA
There may be more changes coming to the pen at some point. with the possible addition of Beatto and maybe Mejia to help address the pen.
The defense with the shuffling of players due to injuries has made it that much harder for guys to get settled in with each other. Something that shows itself most when I see how the team seems to struggle with communicating on the field. If they can just get a consistent lineup vs left and right handed starters that may help the situation.
The power of late has come from Hairston and Nieuwenhuis but if Davis can get his act together finally that will go a long way to help as well.
Injuries are what they are you just have to try and keep your main guys from getting hurt.
I read elsewhere about the Mets and their incredible number of one run losses. Just think what some better defense could have done in some of those games? I think defense needs to become more of a focus to support the pitching. Especially when you have so many lightweights hitting in the batting order.
We are a bad defensive team. Most of our position players are converted from another spot. Our minor leagues are looking very healthy. It is time to weed out citi field. Torres, Hairston, Rameres, Rauch, Francisco, Byrdak and Cedeneo are not long term solutions and should be shopped to contenders. These veterans could be valued role players on legitimate contenders.
Promote the AAAA type players to Citi for a last chance with the Mets. Stock Buffalo with our minor league studs. Let them learn to win together. Let the remaining occupents of Citi Field look over their shoulder.
1. One of the worst bullpens in baseball
2. Well below average defense
Need I go on?
Yes you do need to go on:
- Ike Davis’ sub par performance has hurt so far
- Ruben Tejada being out for so long as ABSOLUTELY hurt
- Daniel Murphy not hitting nearly as good as he can has hurt – last year he was outstanding in the clutch
- And as I noted before the lack of veteran leadership/veteran players has hurt
- Catching is not a strength
So yes you do need to go on
Lol, I may add,
– Lack of team speed
– Poor fundamentals
– Andres Torres sub par defense in CF and Collins keeping him there instead of Nieuwenhuis who’s played the position much better.
– Collins poor in game decisions are poor handling of the bullpen.
WOW.
LGM!
For starters they are a very young team and young teams have to learn how to play consistently.
Secondly, when was the last time you saw a team not named the Yankees win with so many left handed bats in the lineup? Other than wright there is no every day right handed bat that can drive in runs! I love Murph, Ike, Kirk, and Duda but i cannot see all four of them together on the mets in two years.
Thirdly, the young bats will provide power but not now. duda will be a 30great hr masher in the future along with ike.
fourthly (?) The friggin bullpen. And that may take a toll on the starters and the youngsters psyche before long
All good points, especially the left handed bat issue. We have too many left handed bats. Somehow they’ll have to deal one of them for a righty to balance out the lineup.
Could we make right field Yankee Stadium size? LOL