The Mets’ offensive woes have befuddled everyone this year, even team owner Steve Cohen.
After the team’s 3-2 loss late Tuesday night, the first-year owner took to Twitter Wednesday morning in an attempt to rationale just what is plaguing this team — a bold move to do so on social media where the masses aren’t hard-pressed to make their two cents heard.
“It’s hard to understand how professional hitters can be this unproductive,” Cohen wrote. “The best teams have a more disciplined approach. The slugging and OPS numbers don’t lie.”
They certainly don’t. The Mets rank 26th out of 30 teams in Major League Baseball with a .380 team slugging percentage while their OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) is 24th at .693. Furthermore, they rank 28th in runs scored per game.
The offense has been especially inept over their last 19 games, in which they’ve only won five of them, averaging 3.3 runs per game. When it comes to driving in runs, they’ve been even worse, going 4-for-41 (.097) during a five-game losing streak that was carried into Wednesday night’s series finale against the San Francisco Giants.
Prior to Wednesday’s game, they sat 4.5 games back of the first-place Atlanta Braves in the NL East just 17 days after holding a 3.5-game lead in the division on Aug. 1.
As for the team’s approach, Mets manager Luis Rojas spoke on Sunday night about how hard he and his staff are working to try and get this team out of its funk.
“Our hitting coaches work really hard every day, trying to find different things to improve things,” Rojas said. “I’m committed to that. I’m a part of that process. I’m talking to the players, asking what they see, because I’ve known them for years… These guys are good hitters. We’ve seen it in the past. We’re working… we’re doing everything in the book.”
From a player’s perspective, slugger Pete Alonso — who has been the Mets’ most valuable bat as of late — doesn’t have many qualms about his team’s preparations.
“People want results and that is the nature of the beast, and I totally understand that. But we’re giving it our all out there and I’m so proud of how every single game we’re in it,” he said. “We’re locked in, we fight, we scrap, and unfortunately, sometimes, we come up short. It’s frustrating, but leaving it all out there and the amount of heart that we have is special.”
So continues the overarching consolation of great team chemistry. But that means nothing in the standings, and there is an obvious disconnect here, whether it’s Rojas and Mets hitting coach Hugh Quattlebaum completely derailing the offense or players simply not heeding to the coaching staff’s request.
Either way, Cohen’s dissatisfaction is bubbling to the surface — and it will only fuel rumors that changes are on the horizon for a team that is woefully underperforming.
