New York Mets General Manager, Sandy Alderson has come out and to a point put his team on notice on their offensive performance. This team can no longer be a one trick pony as James Wagner of the New York Times spoke with the Mets GM and others regarding the hot topic.
“We’ve proven you can’t just rely on home runs to get offense over the course of a season,” Alderson said.
The Mets currently rank sixth in the majors in home runs and second in the National League, behind the first place Washington Nationals. In total though the Mets have scored just 250 runs, ranking 28th in the league. The only teams they have scored more runs than is the putrid offenses of both the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies.
The team has been atrocious with runners in scoring position this season, showing a severe lack of execution when it comes to situational hitting. With runners in scoring position, the Mets rank dead last with a batting average of just .210. The team more than anything needs to improve on moving the line forward when it comes to runners on base to generate runs. Mets outfielder, Curtis Granderson believes too much is being brought about how the team scores their runs.
“It’s interesting that there’s a lot being made about how you score runs,” Granderson said. “I’m not sure what the right way is. As long as you’re getting runs and getting them more than the other team to win, it doesn’t really matter how you get them.”
The bottom line is that the Mets need to manufacture more runs and bring their production to at least four runs a game to support their starters, who very rarely give up more than three. The team has to execute and begin to do so soon before the division slips from their grasp. Mets manager, Terry Collins knows he needs to get this offense moving in the right direction and soon.
“That’s how we’re going to get back in this thing wholeheartedly,” Collins said. “We seem to get guys in scoring position. We just need to get them in. We’ve got to start doing that.”
Entering play on June 19th, the Mets find themselves six games back in the standings. The Washington Nationals have shown no signs of letting up this year. It will be a battle to get back on top. Injuries have depleted this team, but the team has still managed to get runners on and in scoring position and now is the time to cash in and score some runs and win some games before it is too late.
