First, let me thank fellow MMO blogger Russell Zanca for the tip…
In this article by Kevin Kernan of the NY Post, Mets hitting coach Howard Johnson predicts a great night for leftfielder Jason Bay, who will return to tonight’s lineup after being benched for one game due to poor production.
Bay was benched last night. He worked with hitting coach Howard Johnson before the game and both feel they came up with an answer to Bay’s problem. In fact, HoJo predicted Bay will come back in a huge way tonight.
“I think he’s close, we’re trying to unlock some pieces,” Johnson said. “I wouldn’t be surprised [tonight] if he hits a couple of home runs.”
HoJo has come under fire in recent days for the Mets anemic hitting which reached a new low after 17 straight scoreless innings, and 14 straight games scoring three runs or less. During that stretch the Mets are batting .117 with runners in scoring position. That is not a typo.
While flying under the radar with a lackluster inaugural season with the Mets, Jason Bay is starting to feel the heat as he struggles to bear the burden of his $66 million dollar mega deal.
Last season, through the same amount of games played, Bay had 26 home runs and 80 RBI. His six homeruns now project to nine for the rest of the season. That’s less than half as many as the Mets got from left field in 2009 “before” they decided to upgrade.
Bay’s advocates have said he’s just a streaky hitter, however this has been a season long dry-spell.
While the Mets search for answers to their questions on offense, perhaps the biggest answer will be playing left field for them tonight.
