Skip to main content

Their Walks Are Off

Jose Reyes isn't the only one with a walking problem. Mets pitchers have it too.

After 48 games last season, Mets pitchers had a 3.38 ERA
After 48 games in 2008, Mets pitchers have a 4.08 ERA

One of the reasons for this: Met pitchers are walking batters at an alarming rate, 4 per game. They are on pace to set franchise records for walks issued, both total, and unintentional. The previous mark was held by the 1999 team, but that squad didn't have the defensive issues that this one did (another subject for another time).

Disregarding intentional walks, because those are strategic in nature, Mets pitchers are on pace to unintentionally walk 608 batters this season. That's a significant increase from earlier in Willie Randolph's tenure.

Unintentional Walks Issued
Previous 3 seasons

2007 530
2006 488
2005 448
>> 2008 Mets on pace for 608 unintentional walks

Now, 608 unintentional walks would be a bad tally by itself, but combine that with this: Mets pitchers are on pace to hit 88 batters with pitches this season. That would break the team record (set in 1968) by 20.

Too many free baserunners create a lot of problems, especially when you're a team that is as deficient in what I'm calling inch-efficency (the ability to make plays decided by minute amounts) as the 2008 Mets.

Besides the obvious game-situation issues, lots of walks mean lots of pitches, which means more fatigue, which means potential struggles as the season wears on. It has also become very painful to watch the likes of Maine, Perez, and Pelfrey struggle to find the strike zone, even more reason for fans to express their impatience towards this team. The problem is not only with the starting rotation. Last season, Aaron Heilman walked 2.1 batters per 9 innings. This season, he's walking 4.8.

So while there's all this talk about Willie Randolph's job security, or lack thereof, that doesn't address this issue in any way. Perhaps Rick Peterson needs to consider a change of approach for his staff, lest he soon be walking off the job unvoluntarily as well.

True Metwalks know...Oliver Perez enters Monday leading the NL with 37 walks. Three Mets have led the NL in walks for a season: Mike Torrez (113, 1983), Ron Darling (114, 1985), and David Cone (82, 1992)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Best Games I Know: Phillies (Updated)

  The best wins against the Phillies in Mets history …   May 5, 2022 – Mets 8, Phillies 7 The Mets score 7 runs in the 9 th inning to overcome a 7-1 deficit and win in Philadelphia.   April 29, 2022 – Mets 3, Phillies 0 Tylor Megill and 4 Mets relievers combine on the second no-hitter in franchise history.   September 22, 2016 – Mets 9, Phillies 8 (11) The Mets tie it in the 9 th on a Jose Reyes home run and win it in the 11 th on a 3-run home run by Asdrubal Cabrera.   July 17, 2016 - Mets 5, Phillies 0 Jacob deGrom pitches a one-hitter. Only hit is a single by Zach Eflin in the 5 th inning.   August 24, 2015 – Mets 16, Phillies 7 David Wright homers in his first at-bat in more than 4 months. The Mets hit a team-record 8 home runs.   July 5, 2012 – Mets 6, Phillies 5 The Mets score 2 runs with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9 th to beat Jonathan Papelbon. The winning run scores on David Wright’s bloop down the right field line.   August 13

The best Mets ejections I know

When you think of the Mets and famous ejections, I'm guessing you first think of the famous Bobby Valentine mustache game, when after Valentine got tossed, he returned to the dugout in disguise. You know it. You love it. I remember being amused when I asked Bobby V about it while we were working on Baseball Tonight, how he simply said "It worked. We won the game." (true) But the Bobby V mustache game of June 9, 1999 is one of many, many memorable Mets ejection stories. And now thanks to Retrosheet and the magic of Newspapers.com , we have a convenient means for being able to share them. Ever since Retrosheet's David Smith recently announced that the Retrosheet ejection database was posted online , I've been a kid in a candy store. I've organized the data and done some lookups of media coverage around the games that interested me post. Those newspaper accounts fill in a lot of blanks. Without further ado (and with more work to do), here are some of my findings

Trip(le) Through Time

In their illustrious history, the Mets have had one 'Triple Crown Winner,' so to speak and I'm not talking about the typical meaning of the term. I've gotten some queries recently as to whether a walk-off triple is even possible and I'm here to tell you that it is. There has been one, and only one, in Mets history, though I don't have the full explanation of circumstances that I would like. It took place against the Phillies on September 10, 1970. This was a marathon game that would have fit in perfectly with those having taken place so far this season and allowed the Mets to maintain a temporary hold on first place in an NL East race oft forgotten in team history. It went 14 innings, with a tinge of controversy in a negated Ken Boswell home run, a thrilling play by Bud Harrelson, who stole home in the third inning, and some stellar relief pitching, in the form of five scoreless innings from Danny Frisella, aided by Tim McCarver getting thrown out in a rundown b