Don't Swing 'Til You Gotta
Posted: Sun Jun 09, 2024 10:27 pm
I was at my wife's piano recital today, so I didn't get to participate much in thread. I followed along by phone, though, and I laughed and laughed and cried and laughed again.
Yesterday, the Mets were rallying for a ninth-inning comeback. One out and the bases were loaded, J.D. Martinez swung, put the ball in play, and the game was quickly over on a ground-ball double-play.
Today, the Mets were rallying for a ninth-inning comeback. NONE out and the bases were loaded. There we go again, BUT ... on a 2-2 cutter down by the his shoe tops, Francisco Lindor swung and missed for strike three. At least he had the wisdom or what have you to take strike one, but strike three was a chase, but hey, he had two strikes and presumably did what he could. And he didn't hit into a double-play!
But there we were again. One out and the bases were loaded. Pete Alonso was up this time, fortunately with J.D. two batters away. Alonso DID swing at the first strike he saw, foolishly enough, but rather than grounding into an inning-ending double play, he fouled it off. He didn't chase anything out of the strike zone, though, and so was fortunate and skillful enough to STILL BE ALIVE when he got hit by a 2-2 cutter.
The Mets scored the go-ahead run, by NOT swinging.
Brandon Nimmo kept the damned bat on his shoulder for all three strikes. Useless, huh? NO! IT WASN'T! For you can't hit into a double play if you don't swing, so even though he struck out looking, he was still alive when José Alvarado and J.T. Realmuto conspired to let a pitch get away, allowing another run to score.
The Mets went up by two runs — and this second run was the ultimate margin of victory — again by NOT swinging.
J.D. Martinez then came up again. The need to stop swinging wasn't as urgent, because first base was open with two outs, so the double-play was totally not in order. So, I'm not going to give J.D. grief for swinging at the first pitch he saw, but he did and he grounded out.
But it was not swinging — at least until they had to — that won this game for the Mets. And that's what I'm saying. Aggressively taking is the skill they have been lacking. They had a guy who threw 99-100 up there with the bases loaded and no out in a tie game. Letting the pressure be on him and forcing him to throw strikes was the way to go.
And that's got to be the strategy. Don't swing until you gotta. Especially in the middle of a rally. This "Three and oh may be the only pitch to hit" garbage is killing them. Make the opponent throw strikes. Make the opponent throw every pitch possible. With everybody on a pitch count and teams insanely protective of the amount of usage each of their pitchers sees, every game is a war of attrition. Every inning is a battle in that war. Ever batter is an engagement.
The takeaway from baseball organizations in Moneyball was to try to be an early adopter with the next revolution. Shifts or launch angles or whatever. What they failed to realize is that they never maximized the advantages of the original Moneyball revolution. Take pitches, avoid outs, get on base, and runs will add up in given time.
When facing a monster throwing the ball through walls at 100 mph, but not hitting his targets, it's totally the way to be.
Somebody did manage to end the game and ruin his team's comeback by swinging at a pitch outside the strikezone and hitting into a double-play, but fortunately, it was Nick Castellanos, and not anybody on the Mets.
So please, Mets, try not to swing until you gotta. It's not swinging that spared you the embarrassment of leaving the E.U. without a win.
Sorry about the long post, if you read this far. I probably should have paid more attention to the piano recital.
Yesterday, the Mets were rallying for a ninth-inning comeback. One out and the bases were loaded, J.D. Martinez swung, put the ball in play, and the game was quickly over on a ground-ball double-play.
Today, the Mets were rallying for a ninth-inning comeback. NONE out and the bases were loaded. There we go again, BUT ... on a 2-2 cutter down by the his shoe tops, Francisco Lindor swung and missed for strike three. At least he had the wisdom or what have you to take strike one, but strike three was a chase, but hey, he had two strikes and presumably did what he could. And he didn't hit into a double-play!
But there we were again. One out and the bases were loaded. Pete Alonso was up this time, fortunately with J.D. two batters away. Alonso DID swing at the first strike he saw, foolishly enough, but rather than grounding into an inning-ending double play, he fouled it off. He didn't chase anything out of the strike zone, though, and so was fortunate and skillful enough to STILL BE ALIVE when he got hit by a 2-2 cutter.
The Mets scored the go-ahead run, by NOT swinging.
Brandon Nimmo kept the damned bat on his shoulder for all three strikes. Useless, huh? NO! IT WASN'T! For you can't hit into a double play if you don't swing, so even though he struck out looking, he was still alive when José Alvarado and J.T. Realmuto conspired to let a pitch get away, allowing another run to score.
The Mets went up by two runs — and this second run was the ultimate margin of victory — again by NOT swinging.
J.D. Martinez then came up again. The need to stop swinging wasn't as urgent, because first base was open with two outs, so the double-play was totally not in order. So, I'm not going to give J.D. grief for swinging at the first pitch he saw, but he did and he grounded out.
But it was not swinging — at least until they had to — that won this game for the Mets. And that's what I'm saying. Aggressively taking is the skill they have been lacking. They had a guy who threw 99-100 up there with the bases loaded and no out in a tie game. Letting the pressure be on him and forcing him to throw strikes was the way to go.
And that's got to be the strategy. Don't swing until you gotta. Especially in the middle of a rally. This "Three and oh may be the only pitch to hit" garbage is killing them. Make the opponent throw strikes. Make the opponent throw every pitch possible. With everybody on a pitch count and teams insanely protective of the amount of usage each of their pitchers sees, every game is a war of attrition. Every inning is a battle in that war. Ever batter is an engagement.
The takeaway from baseball organizations in Moneyball was to try to be an early adopter with the next revolution. Shifts or launch angles or whatever. What they failed to realize is that they never maximized the advantages of the original Moneyball revolution. Take pitches, avoid outs, get on base, and runs will add up in given time.
When facing a monster throwing the ball through walls at 100 mph, but not hitting his targets, it's totally the way to be.
Somebody did manage to end the game and ruin his team's comeback by swinging at a pitch outside the strikezone and hitting into a double-play, but fortunately, it was Nick Castellanos, and not anybody on the Mets.
So please, Mets, try not to swing until you gotta. It's not swinging that spared you the embarrassment of leaving the E.U. without a win.
Sorry about the long post, if you read this far. I probably should have paid more attention to the piano recital.