Mike Puma of the New York Post, reports that Terry Collins was yelled at five times a day by general manager Sandy Alderson regarding the team’s approach during Spring Training, according to a team source.
Alderson insisted that the team had to show the kind of selectivity at the plate that has been a hallmark of the general manager’s career.
As a result, the Mets are seeing 156.11 pitches per game in 2013, up from 145.82 in 2012, according to Puma.
That increase is being attributed to the team shunning the offensive philosophy that saw them struggle in the second half of last season, or so they say.
“It’s getting a good pitch to hit, and these guys are sorting through the pitches they are seeing to get something to hit,” Alderson explained to Puma.
“That approach is what really made us successful offensively in 2011 and the first half of 2012, and then we lost the approach. We couldn’t generate any offense in the second half of last year.”
The Mets have been doing surprisingly well, but is it a case of the philosophy or playing less than elite teams, or a combination of both?
Daniel Murphy, to use one example, seems to be much more aggressive at the plate than David Wright, and is enjoying a great start to his season.
I think 11 games into the season is not enough of a sample size to make any real determination, and if not for John Buck‘s tremendous exploits at the plate, things would be much different in the standings.
As I stated before the season started, the Mets had an easy schedule for most of April and so far they’ve won series against the Padres, Marlins and Twins, while losing a series to the much more superior Phillies among those teams. That was something I hoped they would do and expected going into the season.
Lets see how they do against the Nationals, Dodgers and Phillies during the next homestand that begins on Friday. And lets see what happens when Buck comes back to earth. We’ll know a lot more about this team, the outfield, and the rotation by the early part of May.
