With spring training games just around the corner, many fans are wondering what to make of this team.
Obviously, I think it would be too soon to just make judgements based on names. This isn’t a video game (As much as I love MLB The Show), so anything can happen. Whether you take injuries, breakout seasons or any other factors into account, we could get an excellent result from somebody we expect nothing out of (Jason Bay, Mike Pelfrey) or we can get terrible results from people we expect positive (David Wright, Ike Davis.)
For me, I am watching out for the little things. Last year, this team made way too many mental errors. One of the main culprits, Angel Pagan, was dealt away to San Francisco, and I was thrilled to see him go. While he was aggressive, he often overthrew cutoff men, or made silly baserunning mistakes. Sure, he had improved from the season before, but I don’t think he was worth the headache.
At the plate, I think we need to see players take more on the first pitch, especially after batters before them walk. If you’re one of those people who thinks that the pitcher will be so desperate to throw a strike, that a meatball will be next, I think you’re silly. Batters need to be patient and work counts. The better they do that, the less time the starter will be in the game. This way, we could get to the vulnerable place of many teams in the National League, and that’s the bullpen.
In the field, just make the plays. Errors will happen, no doubt, but make smart baseball decisions. Don’t give away free runs (Mike Pelfrey.) The Reyes to Tejada transition should be almost as interesting as watching Daniel Murphy play second base without getting himself run over.
For the pitchers, it’s simple. First pitch strikes. And for goodness sake, do not throw a first pitch change up. When there’s nothing to base it off of, it looks like Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball without the knuckle. Think Henry Roengardner from Rookie of the Year, except Hato will not swing and miss for the Mets.
They just need to play smart baseball, and that’s one of the things Terry Collins stresses more than anything. If you do the right thing, you’ll play. Don’t think about playoffs, but if this team does things right, I agree that they should compete throughout the season.
Thoughts?
