The LoHud Mets Blog

Pagan struggling

April

Angel Pagan is coming back to Earth. He’s not in the line-up this afternoon.

Pitchers are working Pagan away with change-ups.

“I’m not being as patient,” Pagan said a few minutes ago. “I have to swing at my pitch and not his pitch.”

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 26th, 2008 at 11:19 am by John Delcos.
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7 Responses to “Pagan struggling”

Roger April 26th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Just wrote this up, hope you enjoy (kind of long).

During the off-season many people argued with me that the Mets had the best offense in the NL East. I think I had the Mets second, behind the Braves?, but then after some bias consideration put the Mets first. At the time I thought the Mets would have a solid lineup, but guys like Ryan Church and Brian Schneider would be holes in the bottom of the lineup. Turns out these are the ONLY two regulars hitting over .300. Lets take a look at just how bad this offense has been this year.

1. Jose Reyes: .247/.277/.404 2 HR 9 RBI 4 2B 2 3B 4 SB

~The power numbers actually aren't that bad. But a .277 OBP is unacceptable. When the leadoff man isn't getting on consistently your going to struggle to score runs. Period.

2. Luis Castillo: .261/.354/.275 0 HR 4 RBI 1 DB 6 SB

~Luis has actually started to hit the ball better (besides last night), but the thing that Reyes needs to learn from Castillo is that even when he's not hitting, he's getting on base. O, and I know Luis is a "Slap" hitter, but come on a .275 Slugging Percentage?

3.David Wright: .284/.422/.580 4 HR 20 RBI 10 2B 3 SB

~Last week David Wright was the second hottest hitter in the NL (behind Utley), and was hitting .350. He's something like 0-his last-16, and in April, that's going to kill your average. I think David is being a little bit too patient at the plate, taking pitches that he should be crushing.

4. Carlos Beltran: .221/.368/.403 2 HR 11 RBI 8 2B 2 SB

~Beltran started the season on fire with like 7 doubles in his first 6 games, but has really, really, struggled since. He's playing with some neck pain, but if he's healthy enough to play you gotta hit. At least he's still playing his gold glove defense, and his head is still in the game.

5. Ryan Church: .337/.402/.446 2 HR 15 RBI 3 2B 1 SB

~Ryan Church has been the only consistent bat in this lineup. I know the power numbers don't look great, but this guy hits the ball hard every time up, and he's been hitting in the clutch.

6. Carlos Delgado: .195/.287/.268 1 HR 9 RBI 3 2B

~Yeah, Delgado is about done. I mean when your a "power hitter" and your slugging percentage is lower then your OBP ~~which is below .300~~ there's something wrong. I really don't think Delgado has anything left, and I feel this team would be better off without him.

7. Angel Pagan: .280/.349/.373 0 HR 12 RBI 7 2B 2 SB

~Like Keith said yesterday.. Pagan had to win his job in spring training, so he'd been on a tear since February. It looks like he's finally cooled off, and it's only a matter of time before Alou comes back and he loses that job. Pleasant surprise.

8. Brian Schneider: .309/.391/.309 0 HR 8 RBI 0 2B

~Brian has definitely played past my expectations, but I'm concerned over the lack of power. As you can see his average -.309- is the exact same as his slugging percentage. The reason for that is that he doesn't have an XBH all season. He usually hits for some power, so maybe it'll come along.

Time to average it all out..
The Mets (regulars) are hitting .266 as a team with a combined 11 HOMERUNS (1.37 each), and 88 runs batted in (11 RBI each). They've hit 36 doubles (4.5 each) as a team and stole 18 bases (2.25 each).

Inconsistent offensive production, leads to bad play. If you don't score runs, your pitchers have to pitch that one run could win or lose them the game. This Mets offense right now only scores runs if someone is hot. Once that hot streak runs out, they slump, until someone else heats up. They're not hitting collectively, and they're not hitting in the clutch. It's not a good sign, and though I expect guys like Reyes/Wright/Beltran to pick it up, there are obvious flaws in the lineup.
sloppy April 26th, 2008 at 11:45 am
You sure wrote a lot when all you had to say was "Mets offense sucks"...
RG April 26th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
That's a nice summary, Roger. What caught my eye especially is this "This Mets offense right now only scores runs if someone is hot. Once that hot streak runs out, they slump, until someone else heats up." As the saying goes, when you're hot you're hot. But when they're not they still have to find a way. It's like a good pitcher can still win a game even if he doesn't have his good stuff. It takes a lot of mental toughness to get through these droughts. From what I've seen so far this team doesn't have it. Collectively they seem to have this "Oh don't worry. It'll all get better" feeling, which is way too complacent an approach.

What do they need? I don't know. Every guy is different. Some guys might need a day off, some might need more time at BP, some might need less. Some guys might need a pat on the back, others a kick in the butt. The manager and coaches should know what buttons to push. And the players, especially the veterans, should know what they need, or at least what has worked in the past.

This isn't a great team, but it's a good team and should be playing better. What's killing me is not the losses but the way in which we've lost. Put up a fight, for crying out loud.

Let's go Mets!
JM April 26th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Pagan is back to being a scrub. You're an ignoramus if you don't want Alou back at this point.
tomg April 27th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Roger, the mets first in offense?. Before the season started just in the national league east I had the braves first and the phillies second. I can't believe anybody would see it differently. Break it down position by position.
Roger April 27th, 2008 at 11:31 am
At the time I saw Delgado as a .260 20 90 player, not a .180 I suck player.
Roger April 27th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Also, it will probably happen still, but I was expecting Reyes to be on fire out of the gate.

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