The Ghost Of Situational Hitting Past

So I had mentioned last night that one of the things that needs to happen for the Mets to succeed in the second half of the season was Asdrubal Cabrera getting hits with runners in scoring position. Screw it, I’m going to quote myself and to hell with you if you find me narcissistic. I mean, you’re right, but to hell with you anyway:

I think he’s been fine all season, but his three hits brought his average up to .267. And he is one of the big culprits when it comes to the Mets’ problem: hitting with runners in scoring position. His average in that situation is .196, while he’s hitting .286 with nobody on. Of course, if Jose Reyes continues to go 0-for-5 in front of him, he isn’t going to get a lot of chances with runners in scoring position. But Cabrera’s situational hitting deficiencies have been stark. If he can pick that up, the Mets will be fine.

So when Cabrera came up with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh inning in a 2-2 tie, it was fairly obvious to me that this was your ballgame. It was cute how the story of the ballgame up until that point seemed to be “OMG, the Mets manufactured their two runs on sac flies! They’re not relying on the home run!” Which I’m going to double down on and say that this is the stupidest thing I’ve heard. Travis d’Arnaud hits a fly to left off the end of the bat and that’s good because small ball, but if he hits the same ball square and it goes 50 feet further, all of a sudden it’s indicative of a larger problem. That seems to be the vibe I get from the booth, where home runs are met with great calls followed by comments about how we’re relying on the home run, as if it’s a choice for anybody when they go up to the plate.

For example, here’s what’s hysterical: Last year Juan Lagares hit a home run and SNY wondered “are home runs going to be the next piece of the puzzle for Juan Lagares?” Now this year, Lagares’ importance is due to the fact that he does things other than hit home runs. Yes, it’s great that Lagares can make things happen. But you see how ridiculous this is? Hell, in the seventh inning he was asked to manufacture runs by bunting, and it worked. But it didn’t get them any runs.

Here’s the bottom line: If the Mets hit with RISP, then the percentage of runs scored on the home run goes down. And nobody gets snotty about the home run anymore, and nobody clamors for manufacturing runs. They manufactured two runs. They weren’t going to manufacture five and no team should be expected to. They should get hits when they matter. And that brings us to Cabrera, who had his chance to put the Mets ahead. He swung wildly at a curve ball to start the at-bat, but then put a good swing on the ball and drove what looked like a gapper to left. But Cody Asche made a sliding catch to end the threat. And in my mind at that moment, the game.

Sure enough, the Phillies scratch together runs in the seventh and eighth, and the Mets went down meekly in the ninth with Alejandro De Aza making the last out which I think has happened in every Mets loss this year. All because a converted third baseman made a great catch on a well struck ball by Cabrera with runners in scoring position. Neither home runs nor sac flies had anything to do with anything.

Today’s Hate List

1. Cody Asche
2. Jared Eickhoff
3. Aaron Nola
4. Mickey Moniak
5. Whoever else the Phillies drafted. Stupid Phillies.