Nothing seems to be going right for the Mets.
The team is 10 games under .500, the first baseman is batting .147 and virtually no one is showing up to Citi Field.
It seems that every time the Mets fall behind, the game is over. Sure, the team has had a few exciting late-game wins, but there is very little fight right now.
One issue that has hindered the team is giving up three or more runs in a single inning. The Mets have done this 31 times this year, which leads the bigs.
On the flip side, the team has scored three or more runs offensively in an inning just 19 times.
Even if this team can get on some sort of hot streak (unlikely), it won’t be by overpowering its opponents. It would be by playing sound baseball and scratching out enough runs to win a close ballgame.
But if the team plans on changing its ways, limiting the big inning from a defensive standpoint is a good way to start.
Rallies happen; they are part of the game. Minimizing the damage though is key to winning – or at least staying competitive – in ballgames.
Other than Matt Harvey and Bobby Parnell, the Mets’ pitching staff has been very inconsistent. Scott Rice has been good lately, but collectively the unit has struggled.
The pieces for future success are on the farm, so we’ll just have to be patient until they are ready. But for the time being, the team is still responsible for at least providing somewhat of a decent product for its fanbase.
Because if they don’t, that fanbase will dwindle even further than it already has.
Every day we hear the same thing from Terry Collins, and who could blame him?
There have been times this year when the team has shown it can play exciting baseball, and now they just have to try to do that more consistently. Obviously as they’ve shown, that’s easier said than done.
Limiting big innings is a good start. This team is not going to score many runs, so the runs it does score are sacred.
There is still time, and there’s no better time than the present to turn things around.
