Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
It may be time for the New York Mets to face the facts that their patience approach at the plate just isn’t paying off. The stats don’t lie: the Mets aren’t getting on base, they aren’t scoring runs and they aren’t winning games.
In theory, a patient approach at the plate isn’t a bad idea. It forces opposing pitchers to throw strikes, it forces opposing pitchers to throw more pitches and leave games earlier, and it allows hitters to be more selective and pick out the perfect pitch to drive.
But, the organizational philosophy to be patient has not paid off this season the way it did in the first half of the 2012 season.
The Mets are last in all of Major League Baseball in total hits, and they are among the bottom five teams in in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. Everything the Mets are trying to accomplish with their approach at the plate is backfiring.
The young players on the Mets roster have had the most problems with the approach, as power hitters Lucas Duda and Ike Davis have struggled more than anyone. Both Duda and Davis are over-thinking at the plate and neither has shown the correct amount of aggressiveness to square up balls and drive them, with Duda being too passive and Davis being too aggressive as he tries to break out of his profound slump.
Patience is a nice philosophy to teach, especially with young hitters while they work their way through the farm system. However, putting such a strict philosophy in place on a young roster that hasn’t developed in the minors by following a team-oriented approach is simply not working out for the Mets.
It’s fine to continue to develop minor league players to be patient, but forcing young players to change what got them to the big leagues is not the way to go.
The Mets don’t necessarily need to scrap the philosophy altogether, but they need to let their players relax a little more and not think so much when they’re at the plate. With the way their season has gone, taking a more relaxed approach and letting the hitters swing away can’t hurt.
Bryan Zarpentine is a New York Mets writer at www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @BZarp and add him on Google+.
