Saturday night was not too kind to the struggling Curtis Granderson. The Mets right fielder went 0-for-4, striking out with the bases loaded to end the seventh and leaving the field to a chorus of boos.
Ironically, it was supposed to be his day as the Mets gave out Granderson bobbleheads to fans who were in attendance.
When he returned to the dugout, Terry Collins told Granderson he was pulling him from the game and the Mets skipper double-switched him out.
*** By the way, why did Collins let Granderson hit against the lefthander Antonio Bastardo if he was pulling him anyway and the red-hot Eric Campbell was on the bench? ***
Anyway, Granderson was given the day off on Sunday because “he needed to clear his mind a little.”
He finishes the month of August with a .147 average, going 16-for-109 with only two extra-base hits. Grandy is batting just .214 with 16 homers and 49 RBI on the season, and he’s owed $47 million more over the next three seasons.
“The one thing I heard about Curtis and we’ve seen it is that he can really be streaky,” Collins said Saturday. “We’re just hoping the last month (September) he gets in one of those hot streaks.”
August 28
Most of us refer to him as the Grandy Man, but one Mets team source called him the Invisible Man while speaking to John Harper of the Daily News. Of course we’re talking about right fielder Curtis Granderson.
“Remember, he was supposed to be our cleanup hitter,” the source told Harper. “The guy has been invisible.”
Granderson has had a couple of one-week hot stretches this season, but since the All Star break he is slashing at a .171/.261/.243 clip with a .504 OPS.
Among all right-fielders in baseball with 200 or more plate appearances, Granderson ranks:
- 35 with .217 batting average.
- 21 with a .322 on-base percentage.
- 27 with a .368 slugging percentage.
- 24 with a .689 OPS
Says Harper, ” To put it in perspective, Jason Bay had a better first season with the Mets, concussion and all.”
With three years left and $47 million still owed to him, the Mets must be concerned in his career worst production.
The Mets had hoped to recharge him by batting him leadoff, but he’s responded with a .210 batting average and .289 on-base in 235 such plate appearances.
