The Mets are a weird team. How else can you explain a team that twice goes from teetering on the brink of a season washout only to bounce back with mini miracles like three consecutive shut outs against a powerhouse Phillies team?
I can’t explain it. Just like I can’t explain the Yankee’s in ability to get a big hit. Look at A-Rod last night. With runners one out in the first inning, runners on first and third, he grounded into a double play. With a runner on second base in the sixth inning, no one out, Yanks trailing by two, he popped up to second base. In the aggregate on the season the Yankee clean up hitter is batting .385 with runners on, .450 with runners in scoring position. But A-Rod’s production in these spots–like the team’s as a whole–is patchy. He’s O-5 with runners on second and third, and 2-12 with runners on second.
If any one hitter’s ability to drive in a run is going to be patchy–and that’s inevitable with humans–his teammates are going to have to fill in the patches. That’s not happening either. Teixeira is having a horrible year. His .245 batting average with runners on, as poor as it is especially for a #3 hitter, is at least better than his .216 batting average over all.
Cano remains the surprising lone bright spot among Yankee run producers, batting .301 with runners on, and .320 with runners in scoring position. After a slump he seems back on track batting .375 over his last 7 days, but with only 2 rbis–the two lone Yankees runs batted in last night.
Why do teams go into funks like this, when they never seem to get a big hit with runners on? Who knows. But it sure is frustrating to watch.
