I know what you thinking.. How on earth could we spend the entire season talking about the bullpen…that woeful bullpen…and suddenly decide that the team’s offense should be the top priority this offseason? Heres why:
- Mets rank 8th in MLB with 1,169 strike outs.
- Mets rank 22nd in MLB on the year, hitting just .242 with RISP
- Mets rank 24th in MLB with only 407 extra-base hits, resulting in a .383 slugging percentage. Good for only 24th in MLB this season.
- Mets rank 25th in MLB with a .236 BA since the All-Star break.
- Mets rank 25th in MLB with 51 HR since the All-Star break and 26th overall with just 124 on the season.
- Mets rank 26th in MLB with a .301 OBP since the All-Star break.
- Mets rank 27th in MLB this season with only 71 stolen bases.
- Mets rank 29th in MLB with 204 runs scored since the All-Star break and only 25th on the year with 598.
And while I understand that each of these totals either directly relates to, or is significantly impacted by the teams’ terrible second half, the fact cannot be denied that the Mets lineup isn’t exactly executing at a high level. All the pitching the world doesn’t matter if the team can’t score runs. Just ask RA Dickey, who has only received an average of 3 runs of offense in support his Cy Young effort in his last ten starts.
While the blame for such totals should be distributed amongst the group, its the Mets outfielders who’ve been the most disappointing this season. Everyone knows the obvious, in the fact that Jason Bay has managed only 7 HR with just 18 RBI while posting an abysmal .153 BA, but the outfield as a whole has been much better, hitting just .235 as a unit. That’s a full thirty-three points lower than the infield, which has seen its catchers and first basemen hit .226 and .234 respectively.
I really don’t mean to throw stats at you all day, but the Mets can’t afford to field a strikeout prone, powerless outfield much longer. With the writing on the wall that both Wright and Dickey will factor the team’s direction into their decision making process, Lucas Duda can’t be the teams best hitting outfielder. It simply can’t be…
I’m not sure where they will find them, but the team must track down two, if not three, solid outfield options who can not only hit for average, but can respectfully patrol their position as well. I realize that those types of players don’t grow on trees, and I understand that both Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher will quite possible be out of the teams price range, but my lord has the current crop of players been bad.
This is a bad place to be for a team that was looking to have all the pieces in place once their premier pitching prospects breached the big league roster. Those pieces have started arriving, and with Matt Harvey and Jenrry Mejia (at minimum) set to break camp with the club next spring, the time is now to fix one of the all-around worst offenses in baseball. Once again Sandy Alderson has a tall task in front of him, or perhaps he has dug his own grave, but things can’t continue like this. Its simple, with pitching help on the way from within the system, the offense much take center stage this offseason.
Follow me on Twitter at @RobPatterson83
