 Tuesday, June 26, 2007
The Problem with the Mets
Good pitching shuts down good hitting. The Mets have good hitting and average pitching, so it is no wonder why they are in first place in the NL East. The problem is that they are prone to slumps as well as vulnerable in a 7 game series against good pitching. We have seen good pitching shut down the Mets over the last month as their offense has struggled. Now that the Mets have returned to their winning ways (but not ended their offensive slump) let's review the problem. Most Mets fans are in denial and think everything is ok and just a few injuries caused the June meltdown. I argue that the problem was much more fundamental, remember they only had 3 hits in the 11 inning victory last night. Yes some key injuries are hurting the Mets right now, most noticeably Mosis Alou. Alou was hitting .318 and with his plate discipline he provided great pop at the bottom of the order. It seemed that early in the season Alou was always on base. As much as Jose Reyes was the spark plug, Alou was the fuel injector. Losing Chavez was no help either. (On the bright side, at least Gomez is given some big league playing time which will help him transition to an everyday player in 2009.) There is something else missing. That something is Carlos Delgado. In my opinion, Delgado was the reason the Mets were as good as they were in 2006, and why I was so upset in 2005 when the deal did not work out to get him here. Delgado's effect on Carlos Beltran both personally and with bat protection sent Beltran's numbers through the roof last year. Delgado was a big bat, if you got past Beltran you then had to face Delgado, then Wright, then Green. Now the Mets are missing that big threat. The good news is that this is most likely just a slump, but without Delgado producing a few key injuries or other slumps leads to disaster. Right now there is a lot of pressure on Delgado, so hopefully when Alou and Chavez return by the all star break some of that pressure will be lifted. When the monster comes out of his cage, the NL better watch out. Hopefully he comes out soon. Posted by Steve in New York
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