Asdrubal Cabrera
After tonight’s loss, the only person angrier than Mets fans was fake tough guy Mark Teixeira.
In an interview earlier in the year with Carton and Governor Chris Christie, he admitted he would never charge the mound, but he sure is good at pulling a hissy fit.
Whether it's yelling at his own 3B coach or screaming at Matz, Mark Teixeira is one doofy angry guy. #Yankees #Mets pic.twitter.com/gTUYGiTym5
— ESNY (@EliteSportsNY) August 4, 2016
He would then have a very late slide into Neil Walker because sliding late into a defenseless player is tougher than being a man and facing off against Steven Matz.
It’s hard to imagine Matz throwing at Teixeira even though Teixeira hit a three run homer off of him in his prior at bat to break a 3-3 tie. Matz hadn’t had pinpoint control since he’s been dealing with the bone spurs, the ball was at Teixeira’s feet, and it was an extra base runner with the Mets trailing. In this pennant race, the Mets need all the wins they can get, and they’re not sacrificing games to exact revenge on a .195 hitter.
Regardless, the Mets should not have been in that position. They were tattooing Yankees starter Chad Green starting with Curtis Granderson delivering the keynote address:
It was his 18th leadoff home run with the Mets breaking his tie with Jose Reyes.
Granderson has a terrific night going 1-3 with two runs, one RBI, three walks, and a home run. The rest of tur a Mets offense? Not so much.
Wilmer Flores was halfway to a Joe Torre (four GIDPs in one game) by the third inning. He killed a first inning bases loaded rally by grounding into an inning ending double play. In the third it was only runners on first and second when he grounded into his inning ending double play.
In the second, it was Walker who killed a rally with a double play. Given the amount if base runners were left on base, you knew it was going to come back and haunt the Mets. The Mets should’ve score much more than three runs in the first three innings, but what else is new?
The team was 2-12 with runners in scoring position including Michael Conforto striking out in a big spot in the seventh when he represented the tying run, and Granderson had scored a run on a James Loney ground out to make it 6-4. He was amongst the biggest culprits of the night as six different Mets would leave multiple men on base:
- Neil Walker (2)
- Yoenis Cespedes (5)
- Jay Bruce (3)
- James Loney (2)
- Michael Conforto (5)
- Wilmer Flores (5)
Between that and Matz allowing six earned over six innings of course the Mets weren’t going to win this one.
To make matters worse, Teixeira would get the last laugh. He got into Hansel Robles‘ head with Robles thinking Teixeira was stealing signs. Robles lost his concentration and his cool leading to a Starlin Castro infield RBI single to Robles. No, Asdrubal Cabrera doesn’t make that play.
After an uncharacteristically poor performance, Robles was pulled while Teixeira and the third base coach were laughing at him. After Josh Edgin walked in a run against Didi Gregorious, the only batter he faced, there would be three runs charged to Robles making it 9-4.
That’s where it would remain as Luis Severino came on and shut down the Mets allowing one earned on one hit and one walk with five strikeouts in 4.1 innings. Walker would homer off Tyler Clippard in the ninth to provide some window dressing in a 9-5 loss.
With Daniel Murphy going off again for the Nationals, the Mets are a season high 8.5 games out of first place.
Game Notes: Bruce is now 0-8 with one walk and three strikeouts to begin his Mets career. Despite Collins’ you hit you play philosophy, Alejandro De Aza, Travis d’Arnaud, and Matt Reynolds would sit. Cespedes shot an 83 before the game, and he would go 1-5 with two strikeouts in the game.
One thing that is lost when evaluating a player is their impact on the clubhouse. The one thing we all saw with Juan Uribe with the Mets last year was he was a great clubhouse presence.
He was the guy who walked into the clubhouse, and he suddenly owned the place. He was blaring the Backstreet Boys on the stereo. He felt comfortable joking around with everyone including Captain David Wright. He also was on hand to remind everyone that baseball is the greatest sport in the world. It takes a well equipped man to act this way, and as we found out this year, Uribe is that kind of guy.
The two time World Series winner’s impact on the 2015 Mets was understated. He kept that team both loose and focused. He helped that team win the division and go to the World Series. Uribe was having a similar impact on the Indians’ clubhouse this year until his release:
Tough part of the game: Juan Uribe has been designated.
Juan is a true pro. We loved him here and will miss him. pic.twitter.com/ieeWXvBW5y
— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) August 1, 2016
The reason why Uribe was released is he hasn’t been very good this year hitting .206/.259/.332 with nine doubles, seven homers, and 25 RBI in 73 games. That matches the lackluster production he had with the Mets in 44 games when he hit .219/.301/.430 with nine doubles, six homers, and 20 RBI. Fact is, Uribe is a 37 year old player who shouldn’t be playing everyday, nor should he be relied upon to provide offense. What you want him for is his presence.
The Mets also should want him due to their rash of injuries.
The Mets have already lost Wright, Jose Reyes, Lucas Duda, and Asdrubal Cabrera to injury. No one can guarantee when or if any of these players can return. In the interim, the Mets have unproven, but playing well, Matt Reynolds at shortstop alongside hot hitting, but still susceptible to right-hand pitching, Wilmer Flores at third. The short bench makes the Mets play James Loney everyday despite him being unable to hit left-handed pitching. Additionally, the Mets are now carrying Ty Kelly on the bench.
At a minimum, Uribe is a much better option off the bench than Kelly. Also, with his ability to play both second and third, he opens up some platoon options thereby allowing the Mets to maximize their offense against left-handed pitching (even if he’s been better against righties this year).
Overall, given the current state of the Mets, Uribe is a viable option for the Mets. He’s even more attractive when you consider how valuable he is in the clubhouse. Once he’s available, the Mets should go out and bring him back for another World Series run.
Editor’s Note: this was also published on Mets Merized Online
With Brandon Nimmo being the guy almost traded away in the Jay Bruce trade, he was supposed to be the guy who hit the big homer tonight. In the second inning, Wilmer Flores reminded us all that it was his schtick:
The homer gave the Mets a 1-0 lead they would relinquish in the fourth inning on a Logan Verrett wild pitch allowing Didi Gregorious to score from third. The Mets would fall behind 3-1 in the fifth. Brett Gardner doubled to right hitting the side wall permitting Rob Refsnyder to score from first. Gardner would come around to score on a Jacoby Ellsbury RBI single.
The Yankees should have been up by more, but Gardner killed a first inning rally with his legs:
The final line for Verrett would be five innings, four hits, three runs, three earned, three walks, and two strikeouts.
The Mets got one back in the bottom of the fifth featuring their two young left-handed outfielders. Nimmo pinch hit for Verrett. He didn’t get his homer, but he hit a single to start a rally. He came around to score on a Michael Conforto one out RBI double off CC Sabathia. It was Conforto’s first ever regular season extra base hit off a left-handed pitcher. Conforto only got the chance because Justin Ruggiano was forced to leave the game with an injury.
That set the stage for Matt Reynolds in the sixth.
Flores led off with an excuse me infield single off Yankees reliever Richard Bleier. Travis d’Arnaud, who was not traded for Jonathan Lucroy, hit an opposite field single. d’Arnaud quietly had a good night going 2-5 with a run scored. That run scored would be on an absolute bomb off Reynolds’ bat giving the Mets a 5-3 lead.
The Mets would lose the lead with Terry Collins getting a little too cute in the eighth inning.
With two lefties leading off the eighth, Collins turned to Jerry Blevins to start the inning. Blevins allowed a leadoff walk to Gardner before striking out Ellsbury. Collins then turned to Addison Reed, who is traditionally poor with inherited runners. He was again tonight.
Brian McCann greeted Reed with a single sending Gardner to third. Ronald Torreyes would take second on a wild pitch. Gregorious would have a terrific at bat flaring a single into left field scoring both Gardner and Torreyes tying the game at 5-5. It was the first run Reed has allowed since June 23rd.
Jeurys Familia struggled himself in the ninth. He couldn’t get a feel for the strikezone, and he was giving d’Arnaud a workout spiking his sinker. He was completely bailed out by Curtis Granderson who chased down a ball by the right field line flat of robbing Aaron Hicks of an extra base hit and possibly an RBI.
Familia navigated his way out of the inning despite allowing the one out walk to Austin Romine. Romine stole second with Familia not paying him any attention. Romine could’ve taken third as d’Arnaud skipped it past Reynolds and into center field, but Romine didn’t notice it in time. Despite all that, Familia bore down and get out if the inning.
Seth Lugo, the last man in the bullpen, wouldn’t be as lucky. He issued a four pitch walk to Ellsbury, and Mark Teixeira beat the shift with an opposite field single. Ben Gamel laid down a sac bunt Lugo fielded. However, he would reach safely as Rene Rivera, who was double switched into the game, somehow directed Lugo to go to third. Lugo couldn’t get the speedy Ellsbury at third. He would later score on a Starlin Castro sac fly to make it 6-5.
That set the stage for new Yankee closer Dellin Betances. He was greeted with a Loney double, and he would move to third on a Reynolds sac bunt. It would take a home run to score Loney from third on s fly ball to the outfield. You’re also giving an out to Betances, who is a great reliever.
Alejandro De Aza was then hit by a pitch. He took off for second on a Rivera ground out to Betances. Betances froze Loney and got Rivera at first. Granderson would then strikeout to end the game. The sac bunt was a strange move at best.
It was an ugly 6-5 loss helped again with some odd late game Collins decisions.
Game Notes: Steven Matz pinch hit for Erik Goeddel in the sixth, and he drew a pinch hit walk. He was needed to pinch hit as the Mets were playing short due to trades, Yoenis Cespedes being unable to play with his quad injury, and the Mets refusal to DL Asdrubal Cabrera for one reason or another.
Today had the feeling of a death knell to the season. Noah Syndergaard couldn’t put batters away, had an early escalating pitch count, and he blew a 3-1 lead.
Furthermore, Asdrubal Cabrera had to leave with a knee injury in the first inning adding his name to the ever growing list of the year’s injured players.
The Mets then fell behind 4-3 as Jerry Blevins had a rare tough outing. Of course, part of that was the genius of Terry Collins walking Josh Thole-esque .239 hitting Tony Wolters to face Carlos Gonzalez, who hit the go-ahead sac fly. Right then and there, it looked like the Mets were going to get swept by the Rockies and fall 3.5 games behind the Marlins in the Wild Card race.
Then, there was finally a sense of life from a player who has seemed washed up for three months now:
Neil Walker, who has been hitting .235/.316/.343 since May 1st, hit a three run home run off Boone Logan to turn a sure fire 4-3 loss into a 6-3 win. The home run was reminiscent of Wilmer Flores‘ walk off home run that breathed life back into the Mets season.
It seems like Walker is breaking out of this slump at a time when the Mets desperately need it. During the four game set against the Rockies, Walker was 9-16 with a double, triple, homer, and four RBI. That includes today game with him going 3-4 with four RBI falling a double short of the cycle.
From there, Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia do what they do and preserved the 6-4 victory. For at least one day, the Mets season seems intact, and we can all dream the Mets can add a difference maker at the trade deadline.
Game Notes: Kelly Johnson came in for Cabrera. He played third, and Flores took over at short. Johnson and James Loney would score on the Walker home run.
Logan Verrett did his job tonight with his quality start. Verrett allowed five hits, three earned, and three walks with seven strikeouts in seven innings.
The Cardinals scored all three runs in the third beginning with Verrett issuing a lead off walk to the opposing pitcher Adam Wainwright. Lead off walks are bad, but lead off walks to the opposing pitcher are worse. Wainwright would come along to score on a Matt Holliday two RBI double. By the way, remember when the Mets thought Jason Bay was a better option in free agency? Holliday would come around to score on a Matt Adams double.
For a while, it seemed as if the Mets were going to lose this game 3-1 as they were leaving everyone on base:
The exact amount of runners the Mets have left on base tonight. pic.twitter.com/PABb6JIbSN
— Michael Mayer (@mikemayer22) July 28, 2016
From the first until the seventh, the Mets were 1-11 with the usual culprits failing to deliver. The only hit was a first inning RBI single off the bat of Neil Walker scoring James Loney. It really seemed that the Mets would need a miracle to score another run.
The miracle happened in the bottom of the seventh. Alejandro De Aza would hit a pinch hit single, and Travis d’Arnaud, who led off the inning with a single, would go from first to third. Naturally, as there were runners in scoring position, Curtis Granderson and Asdrubal Cabrera would strike out. Cabrera struck out looking on a pitch inside that might’ve been a ball, but it was too close to take.
At this point, the Mets had runners at the corners with Yoenis Cespedes at the plate. If something was going to happen, you knew it would be with Cespedes at the plate. First, it was a wild pitch getting past Yadier Molina allowing d’Arnaud to score and allow De Aza to get to second. For what it’s worth, three years ago, Molina stops that ball. He really is a shell of hseof behind the plate.
The Mets were down 3-2 and still needed Cespedes to deliver. He would work out a 3-2 count, and he would foul off three straight pitch. Then on the ninth pitch:
Gary Cohen: Cespedes hasn't hit a home run in 3 weeks. Wainwright hasn't given up a home run in 2 months. The pitch pic.twitter.com/NgSr4CvDcF
— In Mets We Trust (@InMetsWeTrust) July 28, 2016
Just like that it was 4-3. There was extra satisfaction that Cespedes gif the big hit. There was even more with Wainwright having the meltdown. From there, Addison Reed locked down the eighth putting the Mets and Verrett to win the game.
Then it finally happened Jeurys Familia blew a save. He had saved 36 straight to start the year and 52 straight dating back to last year. He would issue a one out walk to Jedd Gyorko, who after yesterday, is becoming a Mets killer. He would score from first off a Molina RBI double to deep center past defensive replacement Juan Lagares.
Familia was so close to getting out of it. There were two outs after a Jeremy Hazelbaker fielder’s choice led to Familia nailing Molina at third. Mike Matheny would pinch run Kolten Wong. Wong stole second ahead of d’Arnaud’s throw. He would score on an Aledyms Diaz bloop double. 5-4 Cardinals.
In this game, you saw the big difference between these two teams. The Mets cannot hit with runners in scoring position, and as such, they need homers and wild pitches to score runs. The Cardinals are the best team in baseball with runners in scoring position. They were 3-9 with runners in scoring position, and they scored four of their five runs with two outs.
It’s the slimmest of margins between these teams, and the Cardinals ability to hit with runners in scoring position that put them ahead tonight and ahead of the Mets by a half game now in the Wild Card standings.
Game Notes: The Mets just had six straight games against the Marlins and Cardinals, who are two of their main competitors in the Wild Card race. The Mets went 3-3 in that stretch. Jose Reyes missed tonight’s game with an intercostal strain. He’s expecting to miss the next few games. Walker woke up a bit at the plate going 3-3 with a walk and an RBI.
You knew it was going to be a strange day when Keith Hernandez showed up during the first end of the doubleheader wearing an Underdog shirt:
We would then see Noah Syndergaard give up an unearned run in the second when Syndergaard made an errant throw allowing Yadier Molina to score. The Cardinals scored a run that inning without a ball leaving the infield. Perhaps stranger than that was seeking Jedd Gyorko hit a two run bomb to left the following inning to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead. For the day, Syndergaard would pitch six innings allowing three runs, two earned, and three walks with eight strikeouts.
Of course, all of the Mets offense would come off a Rene Rivera two run homer in the fourth. After that hilarity would ensue.
There was Curtis Granderson of all people throwing out a runner at the plate (with the really throw from Kelly Johnson). It’s bizarre that the Cardinals sent Matt Adams, who just might be slower than James Loney. It’s even stranger when you consider that earlier in the game the human windmill Tim Teufel held Jose Reyes at third when he could’ve scored off a Yoenis Cespedes two out double.
Speaking of Cespedes, he had quite the juggling act in the outfield in the sixth:
Then there were the curious decisions like Terry Collins keeping Wilmer Flores on the bench while sending James Loney and Johnson up to bat in the eighth against Cardinals lefty Kevin Siegrist. They weren’t able to muster a rally.
The Mets would start a rally in the ninth with a Granderson leadoff single off new Cardinals closer Seung-hwan Oh. That rally would end when Granderson tagged up on Cardinals center fielder Tommy Pham after a deep Cespedes fly out:
Stop it, Pham. https://t.co/QUYrvtDqs6 pic.twitter.com/3sl2LVk3MG
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) July 26, 2016
After a Loney fly out, the Mets lost 3-2. The second game of the doubleheader would be much calmer, but it would still nevertheless be strange.
For starters, the spark plug of the Mets offense in the game was Alejandro De Aza. De Aza would go 1-1 with a double, a walk with two runs. Even more bizarre is that he would be driven in both times by Asdrubal Cabrera.
In the third, Cabrera followed a De Aza double with a double of his own striking an 0 for his last 697,597,475,491 streak (actually, it was 0-32). In the fifth, Cabrera would hit a sac fly to score De Aza from third.
The other run would score when Loney hit into a fourth inning double play scoring Flores. Flores was on third because he hit a leadoff double, and he moved to third when Randal Grichuk flat out dropped a ball in right field off the bat of Neil Walker. Considering how he’s been playing lately, it’s just about the only way Walker can reach base. He would go 0-2 with a walk on the night.
These three runs were enough for Bartolo Colon who was terrific tonight after pitching to a 7.36 ERA and allowing batters to hit .338/.386/.662 against him over his last three starts. Naturally, on this night, Colon only allowed one earned on three hits with no walks and eighth strikeouts. Of course, he would out pitch Syndergaard tonight in the Mets 3-1 win.
Finally, in the sixth inning, things began to calm down. Collins made a curious decision to allow Colon to bat in the sixth with the bases loaded and two outs. Collins eschewed the chance to blow the game open.
Then in the eighth and ninth, Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia shut down the Cardinals to preserve the win.
After all that craziness, the Mets and Cardinals split the doubleheader. The end result was nothing changed between them in the Wild Card standings. The Mets stayed a half game up on the Cardinals with the runner game tomorrow.
Game Notes: Josh Smoker was called up to be the 26th man in the second game of the doubleheader. He would not make an appearance.
On a typical Sunday, I’ll catch the first few innings on the car radio. Not today. We got out of the house earlier than usual to ensure we’d be home in time for my son and I to watch not only the Mets game, but also Mike Piazza‘s induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Everywhere we went, Mets were talking about how excited they were for both an important game against the Marlins, but also to see Piazza join Tom Seaver as the only Mets players in the Hall of Fame. My son got caught up in the excitement as well singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and “Meet the Mets.” However, he was most excited when he got his lemonade. Check that, he took my peach jalapeño sticking me with the Strawberry one.
It’s a big Mets day, I’ll call it my Darryl Strawberry one.
Naturally, we started with the Mets game as Piazza wasn’t at the podium. By the way, God bless whoever created picture-in-picture. The Mets game got off to a great start with Michael Conforto showing that he just might be able to play well in center field:
Then, in the third, Jose Reyes would hit a two out RBI triple scoring Conforto, who was actually in scoring position. The Mets had a 1-0 lead, and soon it would be time to tune in to watch Piazza officially become a Hall of Famer:
His speech was perfect.
He touched on everything you would want him to touch upon. He spoke glowingly about his boyhood idol Mike Schmidt and how Johnny Bench was the standard bearer at the position. He thanked everyone on the Dodgers including Tommy LaSorda, Eric Karros, and Tom Candiotti. He talks about how great it was growing up as a Dodger before talking poignantly about what it meant to him to be a Met.
He talked about how John Franco welcomed him into his home and gave him his #31. He talked about his on and off the field relationship with Al Leiter. He spoke about how clutch Edgardo Alfonzo was making it easier for him to do what he did, which was hit big homers including the post 9/11 home run.
But like the most of the speech, Piazza deflected the attention away from himself. Instead, he talked about the real heroes were those that gave their lives on 9/11. Much like the moment he hit that home run, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house – Cooperstown, yours, and mine.
His acknowledgment of Mets fans was also touching. It’s something that’s not always seen in Hall of Fame speeches. It was touching to hear he loved us as we loved him.
All while this was happening, Steven Matz was back in form, and he was mowing down the Marlins. I barely noticed him pitching six innings allowing four runs, none earned, and two walks with six strikeouts. By the time, I was fully re-engaged in the game I mostly ignored in the picture-in-picture, Hansel Robles was on the mound.
Robles did what he has done for most of the year and shut down the opposition. He seems to have been given the seventh inning job, and he has it locked down.
In the top of the eighth, the Mets finally got some insurance. Yoenis Cespedes singled home Alejandro De Aza, who had reached base on a wild pitch by Kyle Barraclough after striking out. Seriously, how else would De Aza reach base? James Loney singled home Curtis Granderson. The Mets seemed poised for more after a Kelly Johnson walk. However, Asdrubal Cabrera hit into a force out with Cespedes out at home (initially ruled safe, but it was overturned on replay) making him 0-32 in his last 32 at bats with runners in scoring position. Juan Lagares then lined out to end the rally.
Lagares had come on for defense in place of Conforto in the seventh. Conforto has played well before the seventh showing he could be a viable option going forward. He also had a nice day at the plate going 2-2 with a run scored.
After eight, it was 3-0 Mets which was a lot more support than Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia needed. Reed and Familia shut the door giving the Mets a 3-0 win putting them a half-game behind the Marlins. It was Familia’s 34th straight save this year and 51 straight dating back to last year.
It put the end to what was a great day to be a Mets fan.
Fun fact: Giancarlo Stanton absolutely crushes Jacob deGrom:
How do you hit the scoreboard in that park? It’s bigger than Yosemite. That ball travelled 441 feet, and it gave the Marlins a 3-2 lead.
Stanton would follow with an RBI single in the fourth expanding the lead to 4-2. On the year, Stanton is 5-5 with three homers against deGrom this year.
It was part of a night that saw deGrom get chased early from the game. In his prior starts, his velocity seemed to be increasing, but in the fourth inning it dropped to the 90-91 MPH range. After he departed in the fourth, Seth Lugo would walk Marcell Ozuna and Derek Dietrich back-to-back thereby walking in a run which was charged to deGrom. deGrom’s final line would be 3.2 innings, 10 hits, five earned, one walk, and five strike outs. This outing would raise deGrom’s ERA from 2.38 to 2.76.
For his part, Lugo would finally allow his first earned run in the majors when Prado hit a fifth inning RBI single scoring Adeiny Hechavarria.
It should be noted Lugo was double-switched into the game along with Alejandro De Aza as Terry Collins seems to be the only person remaining who has faith in De Aza. De Aza took over for Juan Lagares, who started the game despite the Marlins starting the right-hander Jose Fernandez. Lagares was presumably starting as Yoenis Cespedes is still dealing with the quad, and the Mets didn’t want to see Curtis Granderson in center again.
Eventually, the game got out of hand. As a result, we got to see Antonio Bastardo pitch two innings only allowing a run (minor miracle). It got out of hand enough for Collins to put Michael Conforto in center in the bottom of the sixth. He would get only one chance catching an Ozuna pop out with aplomb.
Conforto getting an opportunity in center was about the only good thing that happened on the night. Jose Reyes continued his struggles against righties going 1-5. Asdrubal Cabrera channeled his inner Gregg Jefferies going 0-2 with runners in scoring position stretching his streak to 0-31 (Jefferies was 0-37). Neil Walker continued to be Neil Walker. All that combined, and you get a 7-2 loss.
Game Notes: The Mets two runs came off a Cespedes third inning RBI single followed by a James Loney sacrifice fly.
Time and time again, we have all seen the Mets fail to get a base hit with a runner in scoring position. It should come as no surprise to anyone that the Mets woeful .207 team batting average with runners in scoring position is the worst in all of Major League Baseball. It is 53 points lower than the .260 league average and 89 points lower than the St. Louis Cardinals .296 team batting average with runners in scoring position. It gets worse. The Mets have a .288 team OPB with runners in scoring position, which is again the worst in the Major Leagues. This is 49 points lower than the league average .337 OBP with runners in scoring position, and it is 90 points lower than the St. Louis Cardinals league leading .378 team OBP with runners in scoring position.
At this point, what usually follows is a debate between traditional fans and fans that follow more of a stats based approach. Traditional fans believe hitting with runners in scoring position is a real skill set, and if a team is unable to hit with runners in scoring position, a team will be unable to score runs. Stat based fans will tell you hitting with runners in scoring position isn’t an actual skill, and like anything else, everything tends to regress to the mean. Regardless of your point-of-view, all fans tend to subscribe to the back of the baseball card concept wherein players tend to play to their seasonal averages on a year-in and year-out basis. With that common ground in mind, here are how the current Mets players have fared with runners in scoring position along with the amount of times they have come up this year with a runner in scoring position:
| Player | PA | 2016 | Career |
| Asdrubal Cabrera | 70 | .180 | .256 |
| Eric Campbell | 19 | .125 | .168 |
| Yoenis Cespedes | 70 | .254 | .301 |
| Michael Conforto | 56 | .250 | .256 |
| Travis d’Arnaud | 24 | .182 | .224 |
| Alejandro De Aza | 23 | .050 | .294 |
| Lucas Duda | 34 | .185 | .235 |
| Wilmer Flores | 41 | .297 | .270 |
| Curtis Granderson | 73 | .274 | .242 |
| Kelly Johnson | 50 | .214 | .261 |
| Ty Kelly | 10 | .111 | .111 |
| Juan Lagares | 21 | .158 | .271 |
| James Loney | 37 | .281 | .302 |
| Brandon Nimmo | 11 | .200 | .200 |
| Kevin Plawecki | 30 | .240 | .274 |
| Jose Reyes | 8 | .167 | .285 |
| Matt Reynolds | 12 | .250 | .250 |
| Rene Rivera | 31 | .259 | .235 |
| Neil Walker | 75 | .254 | .276 |
| David Wright | 38 | .226 | .293 |
* Kelly Johnson’s stats includes his 2016 stats from his 49 games with the Braves this year
While much of the ills of the season has been pinned on Campbell, Kelly, and Reynolds, the three of them have combine for only 41 plate appearances with runners in scoring position. To that end, another scapegoat, De Aza, has not hit whatsoever with runners in scoring position. These four batters have combined for 63 plate appearances which is still less than the plate appearances the either Cabrera, Cespedes, Granderson, or Walker have had individually this year.
Of that group, Granderson is the only batter who is hitting well with runners in scoring position. In fact, he is the only one who is hitting higher than his career average with runners in scoring position. Considering the fact that Cabrera has not gotten a hit with a runner in scoring position since April, it should be no surprise that he is the biggest culprit of the group.
The one encouraging sign is that most of these Mets players are underachieving with runners in scoring position. If these players finish the rest of the year producing at the rate they have done throughout their careers, this Mets team will start to score many more runs.