N.Y. Mets: Another Swing and a Miss

From the desk of:  HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

NEW YORK METS: The Amazin's Have Three Credits Left Before Their 11-Game Winning Streak Fails to Matter.

Q:  After 45 games, what have we learned?

A:  Superb pitching will not be enough to sustain a competitive level of play unless the position players pull their weight at the plate.

The Mets offense has truly become a sad state of affairs.  As of Sunday night, here's where they rank in relation to the rest of their Senior Circuit competitors:

• Average 14th
• OBP 13th
• SLG 15th

• Hits - 13th
• Doubles - 13th
• Home Runs - 11th
• Runs Scored - 13th

• Walks - 8th
• Stolen Bases - 13th
• Strikeouts - 6th most

Those are hardly competitive numbers.  In fact, they're even worse against the league's best competition.  Until they play the Dodgers, that list includes the National, Cardinals, and Pirates.  You could arguably include the Cubs on the list.  Despite getting swept in Chicago, I opted not to because while they're 5th in batting, they only rank 7th in ERA.  So, they would only serve to belabor my point.

The Cardinals own the league's best ERA.  The Mets entered their series against the Pirates with the league's 2nd best ERA, but fell to 3rd over the weekend behind Pittsburgh.  The Nationals sport the circuit's 5th best ERA.

There's really no need to over complicate this.  At present, the Mets sport a .234 team average.  But against the aforementioned three, here's how they fared:

• In 7 games against the Nationals, they faced the whole arsenal of Max Scherzer (2) Jordan Zimmermann, Stephen Strasburg (2), Gio Gonzalez, and Doug Fister.  They batted 47 for 229 (.205), with 14 walks, and 63 strikeouts (27%).

• In 4 games against the Cardinals, they faced John Lackey, Michael Wacha, Carlos Martinez, and Jaime Garcia.  They went 28 for 136 (.206), with 15 walks, and 30 strikeouts (22%).

• In 3 recently completed games against the Pirates, they faced Gerrit Cole, A.J. Burnett, and Francisco Liriano.  They went 20 for 95 (.211), with 3 walks, and 36 strikeouts (36%).

• The overall tally: 14 games, 95 for 460 (.206), with 32 walks, and 129 strikeouts (28%).

Those are some feeble numbers folks.  

As you'd expect, the Mets have gone a combined 5-9 against the Nats, Cards, and Bucs.  And, if I include the Cubs, then the Mets own a 5-13 record against the N.L.'s top competition to date.

Their dearth of offensive production comes at a time when Travis d'Arnaud and David Wright have been on the disabled list since mid-April.  The other components, however, have been playing regularly and hitting poorly.

• Travis d'Arnaud was the team's leading slugger when he went down on April 19th, while David Wright was knocked out of action on April 14th after just 8 games played.

In truth, offensively speaking at least, the Mets are 26th (MLB) in runs scored, and have become one of the most boring teams to watch in all of baseball.  Their record is now 24-21, and trending downward with haste.  They have three credits left before their 11-game winnings streak fails to matter.  The Mets are 11-18 since the Yankees snapped their string back on April 24th.

As an owner, all this would be concerning to me, but, when you're burdened with the Wilpon'$ problem$, I guess yawn inspiring baseball doesn't even make the list of top three things to fret about.

Mike