Wednesday, May 21, 2008By Mike Steffanos
Game 42: Braves 6 - Mets 1
Game 43: Braves 6 - Mets 2
There has been a ton of criticism of this team. The effort has been questioned, the manager has been raked over the coals, and the General Manager is getting heat over what a payroll of over $130 million has provided in actual talent. All are justified to some extent, but it seems to me that the simple, harsh truth is that this Mets club cannot hit well enough to compete.
Certainly there are other weaknesses. The bullpen beyond Billie Wagner has been inconsistent. The starting pitching has had its ups and downs.
But what has hurt the Mets throughout the first 1/4+ of the schedule has been an offense that has repeatedly shown itself to be ineffective. The quality of the at bats varies from game to game, but has generally been a disappointment.
The reason the Mets sit at 22-21 and dropped both games of yesterday's double header is the lack of offensive production. You can analyze managerial decisions, individual plays and the performance of some of the regular scapegoats. The bottom line is this team is to easy to pitch to when anyone who is throwing the ball even moderately well is standing on the pitching mound.
This is what I was talking about yesterday when I mentioned how tired I was in writing about this. You could take the above words and apply them to the majority of losses this season. Moreover, I don't see this club making any sort of move in the standings with the roster as currently constituted -- no matter who is manger. Feel free to add your comments.
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Comments (2)
100 per cent correct mike.43 games into season only church and schneider are at or above lifetime batting averages.nobody hits with men on.willie should go, but without some new hitters, we are dead in the water.
Posted by gsparber | May 21, 2008 7:16 PM
It just keeps going from bad to worse, can we get a Mulligan.
Posted by L.J. Phipps | May 22, 2008 8:12 AM