Friday night, Mets manager Terry Collins made the decision to drop the struggling Curtis Granderson from the top of the lineup to the sixth hole. He made an inclination that this will be a longer-term move rather than a one-or-two-game banishment.
Granderson entered play Friday hitting a paltry .211/.313/.354. Since the All-Star break it is even worse, with Granderson hitting at just a .155/.240/.217 clip with just two home runs.
After being dropped Granderson had a multi-hit game, including cracking a three-run home run in the sixth inning.
This is the right move by Collins, albeit one that probably comes too late, as Granderson has been garnering all kinds of extra plate appearances hogging up the leadoff and number two spots and simply not hitting one iota.
Granderson’s spot in the lineup isn’t what has been sinking the Mets in the second half – maybe they’d have an additional win or two if he wasn’t getting all the extra PA, maybe not – but what Collins showed by waiting so long to make the move was just another reason to not want him back next season.
If you see a player struggling at the plate, move him down in the lineup so that he is not bogging down the offense and hoarding PAs that could be going to more deserving players (i.e.- ones that aren’t getting out 76% of the time they come up to the plate).
Whatever Collins’ motive was for keeping Granderson hitting as high in the lineup as he has all season long, especially during his recent struggles, is not rooted in trying to win baseball games. If it was, he’d have been dropped down long ago.
What’s worse is if Collins thought that keeping Granderson that high for so long was actually beneficial to the team – though it’s nearly impossible to fathom how that is possible. He can “find his swing” somewhere in a less important lineup slot.
A manager who is going to manage without the use of facts or logic is not one that should be managing at the major league level.
On the bright side, how about that Travis d’Arnaud?
By now much ado has been made about how since he was recalled from the minors, he has been mashing (I believe this is the technical term). His three hit performance on Friday night raised his batting average over .240 for the first time this season, and he is showing no signs of slowing down.
Is it a small sample size of success for d’Arnaud? Yes. But there is a lot of reason for hope. He is finally beginning to show the bat that scouts and prospect watchers promised while he was in the minors.
For some players – especially catchers – it simply takes longer to adjust to the speed of the major league game. Now that d’Arnaud has adjusted and began to relax things are starting to go well for him, and not just in the results, but in his process has improved and the eye test says he’s improved quite a lot. It should be fun to see him perhaps in this mode for the entire season in 2015 and what a boon it would be to get production like this from the catcher position, something the Mets have not had consistently since the days of Mike Piazza.
Joe Vasile is a play-by-play announcer residing in North Jersey. He is the voice of the Wilkes Colonels football and basketball teams. He won the 2014 Coastal Plain League Broadcaster of the Year with the Fayetteville SwampDogs baseball.
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Maybe Travis just got some good advice from the AAA manager who told him to stop worrying about working the counts and look for balls in his zone that he could drive. A subtle adjustment in attitude? Yes! But one that shows how a major league hitter should approach hitting. Let’s start a petition to have Collins be the motivational speaker in the minors. After all he still has one year left on his contract. That way the team wouldn’t be firing him and still have to pay his paltry salary.
Doubt it.
While Kirk N sits.
+1.
Noticed this of KN, and progression of his Isolated power
.124
.147
.247
in 458 career plate appearances, he has 13 HR. While ISO will vary, I think its clear he has the third best power stroke on this team right now behind TDA and Duda.
We get what Collins was saying: “I’ve had a lot of old managers tell me very flat out: ‘Be very careful playing young players because they’re going to make just enough mistakes to get beat.’ Some of the best managers in the game have told me that.”
The unsaid corollary is that young players get managers fired.
Marc Hermann, Newsday, 8/3/14
The Granderson situation (and Tejada before that, and CY before that, and Buck before that, and Bay before that…) is another implementation of Collins philosophy. Collins got innovative and batted Curtis first, and it actually worked for a while, but when it stopped working, he continued instead of trying another approach. Collins does not like to platoon and believes in a set lineup. That is all well and good for a winning team but a losing team should always be searching for the right combination to become a winning team. This basic philosophy of Collins does not belong on a rebuilding team of young players like the Mets.The philosophy has not worked in 2015 on a team that Sandy expected more of. I believe that Sandy is finally seeing this and there will be a new manager in 2015.
I’m not here to run a tryout camp,” Collins said. “I’m here to win some games.”
9/7/14 ESPN Mets
The young players playing now may be the players that win games in 2015 and beyond. If nothing else, there is an opportunity for them to get major league experience so that when the games do become important, they should not have those initial jitters if they are forced into playing because of an injury. In a lost season, a season that has shown no significant improvement in the record, these young players should be evaluated. Quotes, like the above, indicate to me that Collins is the wrong man for this team.
The idea that Collins has been given a Roster that can be deployed at his choosing is outlandish!!! Chris Young and Grandy were compulsory plays from the start of the year—-combine that with a lack of both flexibility and quality(3 1st basemen, 6 of’ers/no backup infielders……).
Collins will be fired for a good reason—There’s nothing to Sell in 2015 without firing him….. that’s just reality. I’ll spare my opinion of “Collins the Manager”, but it is time for him to leave.
It’s also time for the real solution….. spend some money and put some major leaguers on the roster!!!!
The best thing the Mets can do with Granderson is trade him to a team, that has a short fences, and small outfield. At those type of stadiums he is a good player. We have seen him struggle at the Mets ballpark all season. There is no reason to believe he would do better next season. The Mets should look to trade him, even if they have to “eat” part of his salary.
As for TDA, since coming back from the minors he has hit consistently better, no real big slumps. I only see his hitting improving. Maybe having Geren work with him in the off season will improve his defense. Also a few session at that training facility in Michigan. It did wonders for Duda, Tejada and Flores.
He was a good player for years with the Detroit Tigers and Comerica Park is absolutely terrible for hitters. I still think Granderson could be a decent player on this team next year.
Love the turnaround by d’Arnaud! First Half: 217 .292 .354 Second Half: .277 .325 .486 with last 21 games: .313 .368 .550
No one is talking about him for ROY, but if he keeps this up, he might be considered…..
Not with being one of the worst defensive catchers in all of baseball. Love the offense, but he’s just short of atrocious receiving in anything other than framing. Can’t handle things in dirt and can’t throw.
He’s top 7 in pitch framing.
And he leads the league in passed balls. He’s thrown more balls to center field trying to gun down runners. He does one thing well behind the plate, the rest is all well below muster.
PB come with good pitch framers. You gain far (and I mean far) more benefits from being a good framer than you do from the occasional passed ball.
He can’t catch or throw. No amount of framing fixes that liability.
Yeah. I mean why take enough interest in the game to actually understand that good pitch framing largely makes up for a great many sins.
good grief, thats ridiculous.
Good points. These are things that can be improved. I hope!
Joe … how small of a sample size is too small for TDA?
I look to the entire time period since his return and he continues to be on pace for a 25-30 HR as he has been for the last 200 ABs.
d’Arnaud’s Catching: He’s been barely adequate…maybe not even adequate. He doesn’t keep the ball in front of him. He’s a poor thrower….and that’s a minor problem, imho. As for “framing pitches”— I am baffled by his reputation in that regard. It’s simply not so important or observable—and I don’t See it!!! I believe it’s a myth.
all said…very pleased and surprised with the bat—I think he can block pitches better—if he’s adequate it’s a plus. Much more HR power than I expected.
It is important and it is observable.
From an Adam Rubin piece last offseason:
“According to Mark Simon of ESPN Stats & Information, d’Arnaud got a strike call on 84.5 percent of the pitches that were taken by batters and deemed to actually be in the strike zone. Buck got strike calls on only 77.7 percent of such pitches. The MLB average is 80.7 percent.”
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/80991/darnauds-framing-picture-perfect
There’s articles earlier this season that you can Google coming from FG, Fox Sports and Baseball Prospectus on the subject, as well.
Well said. The stat does need a little more ‘chasing’, though, since framing is also very dependent on the home plate ump. I’d like to see those numbers normalized against each umps overall tendencies.
Joe,
I agree and applaud your entire argument but do have to add that it just may be a coincidence that Collins moved Granderson on the day an article surfaced that claims his job isn’t safe according to “an insider”, but I can’t see how it can be a coincidence. Collins’ smugness and thumbing his nose at the fans and his younger players should have been his downfall two years ago. This glacier of an organization has tested our loyalty and our patience.
Any other business would have closed its doors by now. This is how the Mets have done business during the Alderson administration and the only reason I refuse to attend a game no matter how convenient it was for me. I cannot support this arrogance. I hope the ownership fails miserably because as a business owner, accountability ultimately is placed on my head. Any owner that doesn’t care about his customers will fall sooner or later.
I agree 100%.
Can somebody help me out?
The other night Collins let his pitcher bat with two outs and the bases loaded. The Mets managed to hang on by only one run after Stanton homered.
I didn’t see any criticism of Collins’ move (or lack thereof). Did I miss something?
It was Carlos Torres. He was trying to get one more inning out if him to get to Mejia in the 9th. The bullpen was strapped due to injuries and unavailability of Black, Familia, and Edgin, and Collins was looking to get another inning out of Torres. Sometimes we can follow his logic, but those moments are oh so rare!
Thanks for your comment. With the expanded roster there were other options in the bullpen, I think.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a manager operate in the fashion which Collins has done all season. The only real question is how many of his actions are dictated by the front office.