Over the last fifty years, the New York Mets have been the National League team here in New York. Just like any other sports franchise, the team has its good years and its bad. Over the last five seasons, however, things haven't really looked too good for the Orange and Blue in New York. Ever since moving into the new home, Citi Field, in 2009, the Mets haven't had a winning season. In fact, the team hasn't won more than 80 games in a year since 2008, when they managed to win 89 games. That's bad enough. Now factor in what has gone on this season. Sure the Mets added some pop to the lineup by adding Curtis Granderson, who has put up good power numbers in past seasons. Yet it really hasn't helped the team out, as the team sits at 20-25 on this early year, and are just 9-14 at home. This of course has lead to a very big question: who, or what, is wrong with the New York Mets?
Now some critics have gone to say that the ballpark has something to do with it. Since the Mets moved into Citi Field back in 2009, the team has a home record of 200-227, which puts the teams home winning percentage over the last three full seasons at .424, which is 28th in all of baseball. Meanwhile, the rest of baseball is averaging a .509 winning percentage in their home parks. Some critics are saying that the park isn't working for the team, even though the fences at the stadium have been not only moved in, but lowered, since it was opened in 09. People have been complaining that it's the park that is causing the Mets to struggle as much as they have the last few seasons. I know the team hasn't hit for much power at home, but that's where the problem lies. The problem lies in the team itself. Here's what I mean. Take a look at where the Mets used to play, Shea Stadium. Shea, much like Citi Field, most people would agree, was a pitchers ballpark. Yet while at the old park, the Mets had some good offensive years, even making the World Series four times while playing there, winning the fall classic twice. During those golden years at Shea, the Mets were able to, during the good years at least, put a baseball team on the field that could be able to produce in that ballpark. The Mets haven't really been able to do that here.
It's not the park that's causing a problem for the Mets, its the Mets that are causing the problem. In fact, there are two things I see wrong with the Mets right now. One is their attitude towards playing in their ballpark, and two is how management is viewing their baseball team and building a team. Lets first start with the players that are here right now shall we.
Lets look at the roster that's here right now. The three biggest bats the Mets have in their lineup, as far as power is concerned, are David Wright, Curtis Granderson and Lucas Duda. Wright has two homers, both of which have come at home. Wright is known for being an opposite field hitter, he likes to go the other way when he hits. Since going to right center field, its 390 out to the deepest part of that park, its tougher for Wright to hit one out there than it ever did at Shea. So instead of trying to really hit for power and worry about hitting the ball out, just worry about hitting the ball in general. Same thing can go for Granderson and Duda too. Don't worry about hitting for power, focus more on average than hitting for power when playing at home. Out of the everyday starters on this Mets team, only Daniel Murphy and Juan Lagares are hitting over .300 to this point in the season. They aren't hitting for power, but they are getting on base and creating scoring chances. It's the rest of the team that is having trouble. Don't focus on the long ball just hit the ball and the runs will come. Bringing in the fences at Citi Field won't change the Mets hitting. If the Mets want to hit better at home, they need to change their attitude and approach to hitting at home.
It's not just the current team that has a responsibility to hit at home, management plays a role in it too. In baseball, as in any other sport, you should be able to build your roster around playing at home. They call it home field advantage for a reason. A big part of success in baseball is playing to your home field, as you play 81 games a year at home. Your supposed to dominate at home. The Red Sox have the Green Monster at Fenway, and for years have been able to build teams around that park to be able to play well at home. Same thing goes for the Yankees at the Stadium. There are short porches at Yankee Stadium, thus they have built a team that can pull the ball to those short porches. All great teams are able to build their baseball clubs to fit and play well at home. When the Mets used to play at Shea, they were able to get teams together, at times, that could really play, and hit, well at home.
This Mets team is not built to play at Citi Field, and the blame for that falls strictly on the shoulders of General Manager Sandy Alderson. A really smart baseball team, management to be more specific, should to adapt its roster to its surroundings. Citi Field is a pitchers park, something the Mets have indeed stockpiled on, even though some of those top arms are currently injured. But you need to be able to score runs, something this Mets team has trouble doing at home. Alderson tried to build the club around the long ball, which as we have seen doesn't work at Citi Field. The park is not really geared towards power hitters, no matter how much the team tries to change the park.
Chaning the ballpark won't really help the Mets. Changing the Mets attitude at the plate and building a roster that can be successful at the park will help the Mets. The Park isn't the problem, the team's attitude is!
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