From 15-5 to 24-21 to 36-30 and now to 36-35, the 2015 Mets are an absolute question mark when it comes to deciding whether or not this team is actually a major league team- never mind a playoff team. The past five games have been the most disappointing stretch all season and it’s hard not to see why. The final game against the Atlanta Braves was all too predictable; zero runs with an impeccable Matt Harvey start and a double play with a runner in scoring position to end the game. The Mets have officially hit rock bottom. If there is anything worse than this, it would be a dip below .500. The Mets need to make some changes that had to be finished yesterday. Here are the three obvious problems and potential solutions.
Problem #1) The Mets cannot hit the baseball
This problem especially hurts the most considering every Mets fan watched the hitters dominate opposing pitching in Spring Training. The lack of offense was fine for a little while because the pitching was dominating, but now it is not (more on that later). It has gotten ridiculous. For goodness sake, the team got no-hit and nothing’s changed. Have the Mets forgotten about that? To make matters worse, every game seems as if they could get no-hit again. Not even the addition of Travis d’Arnuad has helped and keeping Kevin Plawecki on roster hasn’t added anything at all. At this point it somehow seems normal to keep the .177 hitter Eric Campbell in the lineup. This writer is at a loss for words.
Solution: Fire Kevin Long
On Monday Kevin Long said this, “When you’re going through it, it always seems like it’s the worst ever. But we’ll come through it. We’ll be fine.”
We’ll be fine? Seriously? It’s too late for that. The Mets are not going to be “fine” as he calls it; the Mets offense is absolutely unacceptable. It is an excuse for Major League production especially for a team that hopes to find itself in the playoffs. If it were up to me, Long would have been fired 5 minutes after the no-hitter in early June. Instead tt just seems to get worse and worse. They couldn’t score in the Rogers Centre or against the Atlanta Braves bullpen. This is just an absolute atrocity and they are spitting in the face of Mets fans. This team needs to focus less on the homeruns, which they are clearly swinging for, and try to get timely doubles and singles.
Bottom line: Kevin Long needs to be fired. Time for a new voice to be ushered in.
Problem #2) The Mets apparently cannot play defense
This was expected. Wilmer Flores is still playing shortstop. This was an experiment that has clearly worked from an offensive standpoint, but his defense is not acceptable. It would be one thing if David Wright and Daniel Murphy were still on the roster, but they aren’t. The Mets are simply acting moronic in their infield defensive alignments every single day.
As a side note, what ever happened to starting Ruben Tejada at shortstop during Jon Niese starts? That might have helped the Mets countless times.
Solution: Move Flores to third base, Tejada back to shortstop, and switch Michael Cuddyer with Curtis Granderson.
The Mets have the ability to simply move Flores to his left or right and subsequently move one of the best defensive shortstops in the major leagues to his best position. I can guarantee that almost every double play will be made and it will cause a lot less problems. A defensive alignment of (left to right) Flores, Tejada, Murphy/Dilson Herrera, and Lucas Duda is not terrible by any means. In addition, the arm of Granderson is not good. Please Terry Collins, switch Cuddyer and Granderson to enable more outs to be made at home plate.
Problem #3) The Mets pitching has been inconsistent (in recent days)
Harvey, Jacob deGrom, and Noah Syndergaard: that sounds like a big time rotation trio and it has been fairly successful. With the exception of Harvey having Tommy John surgery hangover and Syndergaard still improving on the road, they still stand as a wonderful big three. It remains hard to truly complain about a 42 year-old having an inconsistent season, but his last eight starts (6.50 ERA) are a far outcry from his first six (2.90 ERA). To his credit, he usually keeps the Mets in the game and is mostly affected from three awful starts. Niese has been plagued by terrible defense and does not have the bulldog mentality to forget about it, so he just needs an improvement behind him. The problem has been the bullpen. The absence of Jeurys Familia plagues Collins and the rest of the bullpen. The problem has not been bridging the gap to Familia, but rather finding pitchers who can get the one important out.
Solution: Correctly utilize Sean Gilmartin and Jack Leathersich & Hansel Robles and Bobby Parnell.
Collins has been criticized for years for his inability to form a well-functioning bullpen, but he was making strides in 2014 and early 2015. At this point, he panics without Jeurys Familia. The problem has clearly been his obsession with placing either Alex Torres or Carlos Torres in big situations (i.e. runners on second and third with one out in the eighth). A. Torres belongs in the set-up role to pitch an entire inning-from start to finish while C. Torres should be placed in long-relief roles (extra innings or blow-outs). Collins should have figured out that his relief ace has been Gilmartin all along. Yes, he blew the game against the Braves, but that is because he hasn’t been exposed to the situations yet. Gilmartin and Leathersich should be getting the big outs in the 7th/8th inning, not a Torres. In addition, the Collins should be realizing that Hansel Robles and Parnell are the perfect set-up men, not one-man relief. Finally, if Familia is out, just use Parnell to close; it’s not that hard.
No matter what anyone says, the Mets have a good squad. The utilization of almost every player has been tainted this season and it has fueled the 36-35 season. The Mets need to make the proper decisions to make the team better. In the end, Mets fans didn’t wait nine years to finally have a great roster and then watch it go to waste because of poor coaching, atrocious defensive alignments, and terrible in-game management decisions.
Ruben Tejada is merely an adequate defensive SS. Fair, decent. But on this team, he looks like Ozzie.
An adequate defensive shortstop? I don’t think so. I’m no Tejada fan, but he has quietly been one of the better defensive shortstops in the National League since 2011. Tejada probably deserved the Gold Glove in 2012 over Jimmy Rollins. He was atrocious in 2013 and the stats don’t look good this year because of his exposure at third base.
Don’t undersell Tejada defensively, he is quite the defensive guru.
I. side with James. Tejada is an average defensive SS. Wilmer is a poor one. Yes Tejada should play SS over Flores but Ruben is not anything approaching a top defensive shortstop.
Firing Long really puts the blame on the wrong place.
He’s just a hitting coach. That’s it, that’s all. Some people bought the hype that he was going to make a big difference, but of course he wasn’t.
Because: He’s just a hitting coach.
It’s the hitters that matter. And the GM who put them on the roster.
+1 James
Just the hitting coach? BS!!! Coaches have the power to ruin playerers with bad advice. Absolutely every bat in the lineup is taking too long looping swings. Someone is pushing for power where shorter more level swings would give them a better chance at quality contact.
Did you hear the one about Travis D going back on the DL?…geeze
It just makes you wonder if this team is cursed…..
Just the owners. They deserve it
Problem # 1 – Jeff
Problem #2 – Fred
Problem # 3 – Saul
Solution – sell, sell, sell.
And no, I am not holding my breath.
+1
+2
Oh stop it. Fire another pitching coach? Funny how the Ysnkees hit with him there. You absolutely cannot ffire the hitting coach again without firing Terry. We need a mgr whio can motivate, I mean what else is his job, to make out the lineup card and get thrown out of a game a few times a year? It’s over for him.
What is the point of firing Long? The Mets will not do anything significant other than promote Matz. They won’t make a deal. They won’t fire Collins. The Wilpons will never sell because they are the key piece of their real estate. Conforto won’t be promoted yet. d’Arnaud is hurt again.
Not sure if firing Long would be the best solution. Even firing Collins wouldn’t help, as the organization would probably bring in a coach similar to Collins. Not too sure if switching Granderson and Cuddyer would help. Cuddyer has looked great in left, and Granderson has better speed, but I definitely agree with switching Flores and Tejada. The team should be playing as if Wright is not returning this season.
OK. Wright, Murphy & TdA, three of your best hitters, are on the DL. Three more, Lagares-Duda-Cuddyer, are reportedly plaining injured That’s 6/8 starters and you conclude the problem is the hitting coach. not using their Rule 5 acquisition correctly, and I forgot what else already (it doesn’t matter).
You want to blame SA for not burning the farm for replacements, fine–that’s at least a semi-rational; opinion. Wilpons sell? Sure, make it happen–Steve Wynn buys the team and moves them to Las Vegas. Everybody happy?
Everyone including Nelson Doubleday
Then MLB will have Michael Bloomberg buy the Ray’s and bring them to the new Shea Stadium.
Although they couldn’t Hit……………………..
…………they couldn’t Field Either
Julian the Met’s Do Not Have a Good Squad! Everything depended on Everyone staying healthy. Unrealistic? Maybe. They’re terrible up the middle defensively. What a shock! Are we surprised by their inability to make routine plays? So firing Long is going to make the Plawecki’s and Campbell’s of the world become ,300 hitters? Cream isn’t the only thing that rises to the top. Pitchers eventually become mentally fatigued knowing they’re not going to get any run support. Why is it that the obvious moves you mentioned are not even mentioned by Collins. The asinine favorable match-ups for any lefty in the pen is consistently back-firing on TC. So he simply washes his hands and points his finger at the pitcher’s inability to execute with favorable situations. Nothing is going to change for the rest of the season with this moron guiding (I use to the term sarcastically) the team to another sub .500 season. Fire the hitting coach? How about fire the GM? This is on Sandy. This is his mess. How did you expect Flores to perform? He’s been yanked around in the minors from position to position. He has slow feet and Murphy is the Statue of Liberty at 2nd base. Put yourself in the pitchers place. You get the ground ball you need to get out of the inning and instead you wind up with the bases loaded and here comes Collins to take you out of the ball game! The Met’s are a lost cause. Third place? The FO is lucky the Marlins are in disarray. But then again so are the Met’s. Don’t worry Alderson is preparing the Met’s to win in 2016.
Yes, the Mets can’t hit. The GM refuses to make any upgrades when it is obvious Herrera and Plawecki are not the answer in 2015 and need to reestablish themselves at AAA. It may be trading some of your lower minor league pitchers for a temporary fix. He already passed on Uribe for a pitcher he DFA’d. The GM could also do something bold and trade Syn or Matz in a packge for an established impact bat. They need someone else in the lineup that can produce
an 800 OPS. It is the GM’s responsibility to solve this problem.
The Mets can’t play defense. Jon Niese can attest to that ! Any GM that went into the season with Murphy/Flores and Cuddyer/Grandeson had to be aware that
the offensive production had to offset the defensive liability. The corner outfielders are not producing offensively to their previous standards. The GM needs to bring in a better corner outfielder and accept that his two free agent signings are going to get less playing time. The fact that Tejada has reemerged as a ballplayer should be used as an advantage. He should be playing SS. Flores should move to second and Murphy goes to 3B when he gets back. Uribe sure would have helped the past few weeks. This problem also is for the GM to solve since he is the one forcing the Flores issue at SS.
The pitching has been inconsistant. 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 losses don’t look like inconsistancy. It looks like lack of hitting. The improper use of the bullpen falls squarely on TC. The fact that the GM extended TC with this obvious chronic problem makes it the GM’s responsibility to solve this problem.
It looks like the GM is ultimately responsible for these problems so he should fix them or ownnership should fire him. But that won’t happen because MLB allowed a debt ridden, underfunded team to operate a National League franchise in their largest market.
Actually, Plawecki has played much better lately, and looks much more comfortable batting. Agree on Herrera. Send him back down. Yes, at least move Tejada to SS and Flores to 2B. Not going after Uribe (for Gee!) was a mistake. I wouldn’t trade Syndergaard or Matz, but Niese should bring a batter, which would free up a spot for Matz.
Collins never should have put Granderson in RF and Cuddyer in LF, and the former player should never start vs. LH pitching. He looks silly up there most of the time in those situations. Fire Terry and give us Wally finally. I doubt Backman would have pulled deGrom the other night, for one thing.
And the fans will soon stop coming to Citi again with this boring, incompetent team, and bad manager. They will never spend much anyway, even with increased TV revenues, attendance, and insurance money.
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What a vicious cycle Metsense. Everyone claims they want to win but none of the 3 principals are on the same page. TC is Fred’s choice. A relic from the past who comes at a very affordable salary. A complete farce of a manager. Alderson was recommended by the Commissioner and was hired to reduce the payroll. The Wilpons just want to survive and hang on because of their financial irregularities with their good friend Bernie Madoff. Please note that nowhere is winning listed as a top priority.