Offense, Not Bullpen, To Blame For Mets Second Half Swoon

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• Ernest August 8, 2012 at 3:48 pm

  I think the only people to be blamed at this point are us fans……We should all blame ourselves for actually thinking our beloved Mets were a playoff team. Nobody steals any bases. of the 3 guys with double digit homeruns, one is barely hitting over .200, another is a platoon player. I think our catchers have produced about 3 total homeruns and a combined .230 or so batting average………..and, oh yeah, Jason Bay keeps getting 4 at bats in a game for some reason….And since there is nobody offensively to come up from AAA, a great rotation of Santana, Dickey, Harvey and Wheeler probably won’t lead to a playoff game next year either……..Oh the life of a pessimistic lifelong Mets fan……..
• Peter R. August 8, 2012 at 5:53 pm

  When things were going good in the first half, the media, the talking heads and even the fans all said we needed a right-handed bat to sustain this offense. Everybody knew it wasn’t going to last. We rode Kirk when he had his rookie ride and saw just fastballs and Wright was dangerous. But the Mets did nothing. They were oblivious to the fact this wouldn’t last and that eventually Kirk would stop getting meatballs and with Wright the only right-handed bat in the lineup, there was no reason to pitch him down the middle. I almost choked after the ASG when Alderson said something along the lines of Jason Bay was going to be the right-handed bat we need to balance the lineup. That was his plan? We have like 3 or 4 GM’s and they are like the richest front office in MLB but I really have no idea where the foresight and vision is and if they are capable of delivering this team to the next level.
• Metsie August 8, 2012 at 8:41 pm

  It’s not the Lineup….
  It’s not the Bullpen…
  It’s not the Front Office…..
  It’s not the Starters…

  I guess we we must be winning the division the way every two days another post making an excuse to NOT BLAME THINGS ON is made!

  Everything must just be great!
  We are the best team in Baseball and nothing sucks except maybe Jason Bay?

  If you folks really need to feel better about where we are then I suggest a therapist not a blog!
  • Jim Mancari August 8, 2012 at 9:04 pm

    I definitely need a therapist. I’m still watching every inning of this team sucking.
    • Metsie August 8, 2012 at 11:53 pm

      LOL And Jim don’t take my bitching personally…
      I’m just real tired of hearing excuses for this or that…

      I think we have a pretty good idea of what works on this team and what does not.
      Now it’s all a matter of are we going to fix what isn’t working as good as it should or sit on our hands as we have been saying it might not be as bad as it appears and maybe in time that shit taste will mellow to just urine flavored!

      We know whats broke and the only question is anyone interested in fixing it or do they want to wait 5 years because they worry about what Wilpon has in the bank at the end of the year?
• Matt August 8, 2012 at 10:45 pm

  The offense will continue to be a problem for years to come. But hey – let’s let another offensive star walk. David Wright, you’re next. This ownership does not care about winning; only about paying back their debts.
  • Des August 8, 2012 at 11:02 pm

    When the final analysis is over, it will be concluded that the business of baseball runs the game of baseball. What’s wrong with that? NOTHING
  • srt August 9, 2012 at 8:04 am

    ‘This ownership does not care about winning; only about paying back their debts.’

    Couldn’t agree more.
    But you know, they could pay back those bets in one fell swoop if they’d just sell the team already…..

    As long as the Mets are broke and the Wilpons insist on hanging onto the team, I don’t believe much will change.
    • Alex68 August 9, 2012 at 8:07 am

      Well, don’t go to the games… Plain and simple.
      • srt August 9, 2012 at 8:29 am

        Judging by the looks of that sparse crowd last night, it’s going to be a ghost town at Citi very shortly.
      • Alex68 August 9, 2012 at 8:35 am

        Yeap… just like last year and the year before last..
  • Mex_17 August 9, 2012 at 8:09 am

    I don’t get the logic. We should have given Reyes a huge contract? How are the Marlins doing with him? Last place.
    • Alex68 August 9, 2012 at 8:17 am

      Mex, Phillies are in last place, MArlins in 4th.. SOon to overtake the mets. Point is, with reyes at the leadoff spot playing SS, with Tejada at 2B our defense and 1-2 spot in the lineup would’ve been much better, instead we have to watch guys like torres and even valdespin just destroy that spot there… Wright would’ve probably had 120 RBI by know.. this team is dead last in SB and we have ZERO speed in the lineup…
      • Des August 9, 2012 at 9:18 am

        Alex68 — I agree with most of what you’re stating, not all of it.

        Murphy has twice the doubles of Tejada and his defense has improved a lot. So why would Sandy and Terry, who wanted Murphy to play originally for his offense, now be playing Tejada and sitting Murphy?

        This season Murphy has .303/.347/.431 with 33 2B, 3 triples, 4 HR, and 7SB and 2CS
        This season Tejada has .321/.369/.391, with 16 2B, no triples, 1 HR and 1SB and 2CS

        In the area of bat discipline, Murphy has a K/BB ration of 1.93, while Ruben has a poorer 2.58.

        On defense, Murphy has committed 11 errors in 425 chances for a .972 Fld%
        On defense, Tejada has committed 9 errors in 271 chances for a .967 Fld%
        Both Murphy and Tejada have below league average Range Factors with Murphy the poorer.
        (Last night Tejada had another throwing error.)

        I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Ruben’s 2012 play, but I’ve also been pleased with Murphy’s.
• Amazin August 9, 2012 at 7:20 am

  Your headline needs to be fixed to ALDERSON; not players to blame……
  • Des August 9, 2012 at 7:50 am

    Amazin — Oops. We forgot that the 2012 game of baseball isn’t played between the lines. So how could it be the players are to be blamed?
    • Amazin August 9, 2012 at 8:55 am

      Of course Des, don’t blame the front office. Afterall what is its job?? In most organizations the job is to improve the talent on the field. See Des and all the Alderson lovers, that’s why just about every team with a chance to go to the playoffs makes moves to try to get over the hump. but not, etc our brilliant front office. We had a team playing exceptional ball despite having several problems. So our front office does what nobody else ever thought of. They sat on their butts and waited for the team to have a slump so they could have an excuse to continue their failed ways, their inability to judge talent, etc. They they further proved their incompetence by not dumping the has beens playing over their heads to build for tomorrow. They did nothing. Yes Des that’s why my statement was correct, unless of course you are going to tell us that we had a perfect team on the field that needed no improvements so the fault lies entirely with the players. You’re not going to do that are you? We’d expect that from a dolt like donal or jessup but you know the game.
      • Des August 9, 2012 at 9:24 am

        Amazin — I was just expressing another point of view and having a bit of fun. Yup our times are desperate. Last night was the worst. We lost in a football game score. So to one and all, let’s pull together and help our team get out of this mess. It’s all we can do.
    • Metsie August 9, 2012 at 9:00 am

      You forget who picks the guys he sendsbetween those lines!

      If a General sends the Staff from the Mess Hall in to do a job that requires battle hardened Marines, you don’t blame the Mess Hall staff for the failure you blame the General!
• Alex68 August 9, 2012 at 7:33 am

  Wrong on this article.. I get what you are saying, however, look at the big picture. The mets bullpen in the second half has been better, on games that are usually blowouts or the mets have no shot…
  Mets are 7-18 since the ASB with an 5.16 ERA, in 8 OPP the mets have 4 Blown saves, and most of them were during the first 10 games since the ASB, so who really know how much of a difference a revamped bullpen would’ve made.yes the mets haven’t hit, but then again, they are middle of the pack in BA, are 9th in runs in the NL. so while the offense hasn’t been great, to turn the focus away from what was the biggest problem troughout the season while the mets were in contension is just absurd.
  The FO should’ve helped this team to bring in at least a new face to show the players support. instead, the wanted a top prospect for hairston.
  • Des August 9, 2012 at 7:55 am

    Alex68 — By the way, you think it’s the bullpen, not the offense? Not both? You make excuses for four blown saves since most were in the first two weeks after the All Star break. Last time I looked, all the games count.
  • Alex68 August 9, 2012 at 8:06 am

    Bro, i get what you are saying, but we have play teams with good SP also. so it’s not like we could’ve gone 10 runs on each game you know.. Again, 4 BS in the first 10 games… We went 1-9.. Who knows what the outcome would’ve been had we won those 4 games. i am not saying the offense is not the culprit, i am saying that the bullpen has been all year, and to KNOW blame the offense and look the other way for the bullpen’s meltdowns is not right.
• Mex_17 August 9, 2012 at 8:02 am

  I totally disagree. The Mets were competitive in June, and then there was a ridiculous streak of games where the bullpen blew them all. After the relief pitching lost game after game after game, we suddenly dropped out of the race, and everyone knew it was over.

  At that point, the Mets hitting dried up as well. Now that we’re completely out of it, the bullpen is pitching halfway decent, and our offense still stinks.

  The bullpen pitching “ok” in August, when we are 12 games out, is like Reyes hitting a HR when the game is 13-0. It’s meaningless. Too little, too late.

  The story of 2012 is that the bullpen ruined a promising season. Would the offense had been this bad if we had a good bullpen earlier in the year? Maybe. But we’ll never know the answer to that, because our relief pitching ensured that we dropped out of the playoff race in July.
• Metstheory22 August 9, 2012 at 8:49 am

  It’s amazing that Keith Hernandez can tell what D. Wright is doing wrong and how he changed his swing and no one on the team sees it.
  Otherwise when something works (bullpen) the Starters don’t or offense goes south.
• Javi August 9, 2012 at 9:38 am

  This whole team has been a train wreck since the All Star break. They’ve always found new and exciting ways to lose games. For most of the year, it was the bullpen blowing games left and right. As a team, the Mets have 17 blown saves. Parnell, Francisco, and Rauch are the 3 biggest culprits with 5, 3, and 3 BLSV respectively. Had we actually won all those that our atrocious relief corps have blown for us, we’d be looking at a 70 win team right now.

  That doesn’t take starting pitching off the hook either. Collectively, the Mets are 12th in the NL with a 4.24 team ERA. When your pitching gives up more than runs per game, it’s hard for he offense to overcome, despite being 5th in the league in BA and OBP. The telling stat is that despite the fact that this team leads the league in doubles, it’s 10th in the NL in slugging, which confirms what we can see for ourselves that there is a serious power outage in Flushing.

  While the offense has to take it’s fair share of the blame for the team’s struggles, the pen has flushed our season down the toilet.
• Metfan Lou August 9, 2012 at 9:38 am

  Oh how those dreaded Yankee fans must be mocking us now. I just hope they have health insurance because sometimes when you laugh too hard you can injure yourself and get the hiccups too.
• K Maxx August 9, 2012 at 9:41 am

  Wrong. It’s not the offense or bullpen, it’s the architects who did a lousy job putting this team together. This front office is going through the terrible twos.
• Metstheory22 August 9, 2012 at 10:05 am

  As bad as we have been, there are still two teams below us. Happy to say, Marlins and Phillies.
  • Alex68 August 9, 2012 at 10:22 am

    The question is, with the marlins 2 games out and the phillies 3 games out will the mets hold that lead in the end of the season???
• Marco August 9, 2012 at 11:57 am

  Good analysis. But are we also witnessing the beginning of a Citifield curse? The mets have not won a home game since July 7.