Once again the Mets could do nothing against a Padres starter with a big curve, as they fell to San Diego, 2-0, Friday night.
- There’s more ammunition for those who think Tim Teufel is a bad 3B coach. He opted to send a runner home with one out and there’s no way to sugar coat it — it was a bad call. With the team’s trouble scoring runs in this series, you can make a case for being aggressive. But this call wasn’t aggressive, it was just bad as he was out by 10 feet. Second and third with one out would have been okay in this situation.
- However, the play was not without some controversy. The catcher applied the tag to Cabrera but at the end of the play the ball came loose. Terry Collins correctly called for a replay but the call was upheld. What’s not clear is if the play was upheld because it was ruled the catcher held on long enough or if Cabrera was ruled out because he never touched the plate. Both Gary and Ron thought after looking at the replay that the catcher did not hold the ball long enough. We needed an NFL ref explanation.
- Noah Syndergaard didn’t have his best stuff but kept the game close and didn’t really deserve a loss. He finished with 6 IP, 2 ER, 2 BB and 5 Ks.
- The bullpen added two more scoreless innings, including a nice frame from Jim Henderson, as he struck out two.
- One odd managerial decision in the game. With two outs and no one on base and trailing by two in the eighth inning, Collins sent up Michael Conforto as a pinch hitter. Then in the ninth, with two runners on base when a homer would have given the team the lead and a double would have potentially tied the game, Conforto was already used, leaving Collins to send up Alejandro De Aza, instead. De Aza struck out to end the game.
- The Mets have now lost back-to-back games for the first time since April 11-12. They are 2-4 in their last six and have scored just 16 runs in that stretch, with eight of them coming in one game.
From Adam Rubin
Since Petco Park opened, Pads have better home win % vs. Mets than any other opponent — 28-14, .667 if win tonight.
With a loss tonight, the #Mets will have won only one of 13 series against the #Padres that’s been played at Petco Park.
They miss Travis, and especially miss his bat vs. LHP.
Also, DW used to crush LHP, but I think that ship has sailed.
Always felt this team needed a classic platoon type RH bat for these situations.
Not sure we are getting our money’s worth out of De Aza, though I haven’t checked the math.
Good point about the PHers, Brian. I was looking at team batting stats for all of MLB recently, sorting through the numbers, and saw that the Mets were (at the time) at the top for fly ball rate. Doesn’t play in Petco, particularly. And also, hitting below .150 as PH. I see that as a problem in a three ways: 1) Subs not getting enough playing time, so they are stale when sent to the plate; 2) TC not always creating the ideal match-ups; and 3) Bench just not that awesomely great in the first place.
Another stat I noticed was DW’s when there’s no runners on, compared to runners on base. It’s night and day. To me it’s not just a matter of failing with RISP, it’s a seriously flawed batter who pitchers can deal with in tight situations. Team is short at least one RH bat.
I really miss Travis. When he went down — with a torn rotator cuff! — I thought, “Uh-oh, this could be a long, long while.” He’s got a borderline arm in the first place. This is a big worry, because Plaw basically sucks.
Lacroy of the Brewers is going to be a key catch this July, he’s signed through 2017, but I suspect the Nats are going to snag him. Seems like Sandy’s relationship with the Brewers might be a little strained — and, yes — not sure the Mets want to pay a huge price to trade for a catcher. We shall see.
James,
I don’t think a team needs eight bats to win, but rather a team needs eight people working together. The Mets have a rigid approach of long ball. If is doesn’t work, we’re stuck. When it works, we’re celebrating. I haven’t seen a Mets game in almost a week, but reading Brian’s version of Tuefel’s decision makes it a bad decision. Also, sending Conforto up with two outs is certainly a Mets move because getting de Aza on and expecting a two out rally is a stretch, but getting a long one from Conforto is more probable. I get it.
Truth is the Mets have a passive offense, in they wait for something to happen. They need to add a little aggression in some manner, even if it’s their approach. Here is what I read following Thursday’s game, compliments of Chistopher Zaccherio on MMO giving his analysis of the Mets loss:
1. Mets Hitters Need to Get the Bat Off the Shoulder
Colin Rea isn’t a flame thrower blowing 96 mph fastballs past hitters. Rea doesn’t have a devastating sinker/two-seam fastball inducing groundball after groundball. So, why were Mets hitters taking so many four-seam and two-seam fastballs early in at-bats?
During Rea’s eight innings pitched, Mets hitters took a fastball for a called strike in 0-0 or 1-0 counts in fourteen of their twenty-eight at-bats against Rea. In other words, in 50% of the Mets at-bats against Rea, they had viable fastballs to swing at to produce a good opportunity for a hit but instead, the Mets hitters didn’t even attempt a swing!
So far this season, Rea does have an issue throwing strikes as his walks per nine rate is average of 3.57 is considered poor by FanGraphs MLB standards but MLB hitters have to be prepared to aggressively swing at fastballs early in an at-bat regardless of a pitchers past control issues.
“Also, DW used to crush LHP, but I think that ship has sailed”
He has a ..958 OPS against LHP this season. Last year it was 1.023,
Name, you are good at reading stats, but the sample size is ridiculously small and — you should know — absolutely pointless.
I wrote about my sense of the player.
The sample size is small but it shows a continuation of what he’s always been – a guy who performs really well against LHP.
You can have whatever sense you want. But right now your sense is not based on anything concrete.
“but the sample size is ridiculously small and — you should know — absolutely pointless.”
And yet here you are pointing out Wright’s splits with and without men on base.
Exactly right Gus, and I agreed with the MMO article.
“So, why were Mets hitters taking so many four-seam and two-seam fastballs early in at-bats?” — I have been complaining about this for some time. It puts us in pitchers counts a lot, and when we only score by the HR, then its fish for anything and swing for the fences. Its imbalanced and quite frankly unsustainable. Sure, piling up 12 runs in an inning is fun, but that was 12 of 13 total runs scored in 1 inning. Otherwise there was a lot of zeros, which strikes me as a symptom of the all-or-nothing home-run ubber alles approach Alderson so dearly loves. When the HRs dry up, as they inevitably do, then everyone is looking around wondering why theres only 3 crappy hits in the box score.
Ive made no secret that I find this brand of baseball detestful, but all I care about is Ws and the Orange and Blue. It makes losing to nothing-special pitchers and teams like the Braves and Padres agonizing to watch. Once we begin to face real serious pitchers, this will become even more pronounced of an issue.
““So, why were Mets hitters taking so many four-seam and two-seam fastballs early in at-bats?”
Colin Rea came into the game averaging 4.2 walks per 9, including a 3 walk game the previous outing. Through the minors it was always in the mid 3s, so he’s had control issues throughout his career.
The game plan must have been to try to work this guy.
When the book on you is that you don’t throw strikes and you do it, you should credit the pitcher more than blame the hitters.
And unless that guy can chart statistically that the Mets hitters actually took more fastballs than usual, i don’t think i can take his word face value.
Being unknown by fans is one thing…being unknown by hitters is an advantage. Rea Threw a pretty good game, and he’s a young guy who might be on to something. He also benefited by several early “At’em Balls.
Pomeranz was also competitive…he has been stingy with Hits, and he’s worked around walks. He has a WHIP of about 1.
Don’t look for the Mets to do different things…hopefully, they will do what they do better,