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April 13, 2005
Mike Piazza: Slumpin’ or Finished?
With Mike Piazza off to a horrendous start (currently hitting .130 with two extra-base hits in 23 at-bats), the question must be asked: is Piazza in a slump, or has he finally reached the dreaded “Wall” that all catchers eventually hit? I just can’t remember Piazza ever looking this helpless at the plate. 40 Responses to “Mike Piazza: Slumpin’ or Finished?”Leave a ReplyYou must be logged in to post a comment. |
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I hope not. :(. He does look lost at the plate….but I don’t think he’s quite done. I don’t have any justification for that, probably just hope. But I think he’ll give us something this year when it’s all said and done.
He’s not finished, but he has also hit a wall. He’s just not the same hitter anymore…
I have a little bit longer thoughts coming out soon on this topic.
Obviously on the down side but not done. Can we play a couple of weeks before we declare someone done? Besides a couple of ab’s where he does that check swing on breaking pitches, his ab’s have been solid, results have sucked.
Still intimidates though, Clemens 4 pitch walked him during his second ab tonight with a runner on.
You don’t remember the second half of last season?
Mike is finished he has 1 RBI and thats 2 less then reyes(the leadoff guy)and 5 less then matsui who is not exactly hitting the cover off the ball.Hes killing us in the cleanup spot and it might be time willie makes a change.
I don’t think he’s finished. He’s not striking out a lot more than usual and he’s still walking at a decent clip. Just give him some time and he’ll be fine.
One thing to keep in mind about Mike Piazza, is that he’s made a career out of defying the odds. He was drafted late as a favor, a player without a real position and probably no future. Instead he found a position, learned it well enough, and became one of the greatest hitters in the game, while playing a position that’s not known for it’s offense. Then he came to NYC, and people thought he could not survive after his first two weeks of playing so poorly, instead he managed to get hot and thrive and go on to carry this team for the next 6-7 years.
Now he’s at an age where, catchers are SUPPOSED to wear down and deteriorate. Well this isnt any normal catcher, and I think to count him out after a week into this season is premature. On the other hand though, maybe that’s what he wants you to do, because it gives him yet another chance to defy the odds. If there’s a player at that position that could do that, it’s him. So give him some time. I think personally he’ll come out of it, and have a great year.
Finished or not, he’s absolutely killing the team batting cleanup - just check his LOB stat. They can’t afford to have him batting in that spot for much longer. At this point I’d take just about anyone else batting cleanup.
Mike had the same start in 1994, and in 2003. To call him done is premature. How was Jeter’s start last year?
There’s a big difference between a shortstop in his prime starting slow and a catcher in his mid-30s doing the same. It’s still early, of course, but it could get late awfully quick in the NL East.
Read and weep.
mike’s into a couple of tough outs. small sample sizes being what they are, if just 3 balls (bloops, liners, whathaveyou) dropped in for singles, he’s got a .260/.370/.521 line.
Do the Mets have a plan going forward for the C position? I don’t like what I see in the organization at that position. It has been basically accepted that this is Mike’s last year and what do they have, Ramon Castro?, Mike DiFelice?
Steroids.
Do the Mets have a plan going forward for the C position?
jesus flores. but that’s not until 2008.
i’d bet even money ramon hernandez is the stopgap.
Where’s Kelly Stinnet when we need him?
p.s. where are the Kris Benson updates? None of the NY papers have updated his progress and date of return. Are we in for another Heilman train wreck?
Yes Josh Beckett vs Heilman friday night “sigh”
Meh. I’m sure Beckett will come up with a blister or something soon. Not the most durable guy.
What do you think will be greater: number of runs scored v. Heilman or number of strikeouts recorded by Beckett?
Plus, he’s never been very good at throawing out base-stealers, but jeez, every throw now reaches second base on about 7 hops.
Oops, throwing
Do the Mets have a plan going forward for the C position?
jesus flores. but that’s not until 2008.
I’m rooting for Yunir Garcia. He hit 270/386/446 with 38 walks in 260 PAs in Low A- last year. And though its obvious he has problems with hitting for average, his plate discipline is one of the best in the system (in 838 career PAs he has drawn 134 walks). The scouting reports I’ve read on him also say he’s very solid behind the plate.
If Mike Jacobs bounces back from his injury-affected 2004, he will likely be next in line.
Wright is probably best suited for the cleanup hitter spot on the team right now and he hasn’t had a full year in the majors. This is a problem. Also it didn’t take long for Willy to realize he should not be batting 8th. I am not sure where all those “Baby” comments came from. Reyes is younger and in the lead off spot. Wright is probably a better leadoff hitter too. Nobody puts Baby in the 8 spot. I hope they can address this need at the allstar break. Floyd should be in traction by then so we will have a spot open.
Jacobs has been moved to first base. Nothing in this organization makes sense.
Actually, Jacobs is switching back between first and catcher. The Mets are only using Jacobs at first until they’re confident that he’s healthy enough to handle catcher full-time.
As to whether or not that makes any more or less sense is another story.
Nobody puts Baby in the 8 spot
Good to see that Brian S. is comfortable enough with his sexuality to throw in a Dirty Dancing reference in a sports blog. Now if only his mom would stop complaining about the Patrick Swayze posters in his bedroom….
R.I.P. Jerry Orbach.
Wright is probably best suited for the cleanup hitter spot on the team right now and he hasn’t had a full year in the majors.
i’d be happy with him in the 2, 3, 4 or 5 spot.
Also it didn’t take long for Willy to realize he should not be batting 8th.
all it took was a cameron DL stint.
Jacobs has been moved to first base. Nothing in this organization makes sense.
this made no sense to me. he’s probably not good enough defensively to be an everyday catcher…but he’s also probably not good enough offensively to be an everyday 1b. there arne’t many lefthanders with pop who don the tools of ignoranace. seems to me he should be groomed as a backup C/1b and they seem to be moving more towards the fulltime 1b. it’s bad enough that they’re ruining his value, but as i just commented in the free heath bell thread, it also means that they’ve buried brett harper (and his .821 SLG) back in the FSL where he has nothing to prove. and while im not high on tyler davidson, he does have some upside and this is his last chance to realize it…and it puts him on the bench behind mike carp in low-A.
it’s time to cut bait on brazell. we’ve got a glut of 1b.
I’m rooting for Yunir Garcia. He hit 270/386/446 with 38 walks in 260 PAs in Low A- last year. And though its obvious he has problems with hitting for average, his plate discipline is one of the best in the system (in 838 career PAs he has drawn 134 walks).
he was also 22, which is a little old for low-a. but catchers do come along slowly.
on garica, he’s got to prove last year wasn’t a fluke. it was *way* out of character for him.
Yr-Level BA/ISOp
04-SAL .270/.176
04-NYPL .167/.100
03-NYPL .177/.083
02-APP .233/.134
01-VSL .244/.138
00-VSL .141/.047
99-VSL .228/.076
did he learn all of a sudden to hit for average and power (in addition to an always present plate patience)? we know BA can be flukey. his power spike was fueled almost entirely by a HR surge (9 2bs, 10 Hrs). he didn’t cut back on strikeouts at all (72 in 222 AB), so it’s a bit tough to buy that he all of a sudden became a much better hitter out of nowhere. this year will tell us a lot. the early returns in the FSL? 3-for-12 with a homer, 4 K’s and 5 BB’s.
Piazza, after today’s game:
LOB: 15 (2nd most on team)
RLISP, 2 out: 6 (most on team)
OPS: .493 (worst among starters)
Throws to second that hit the ground/mound/runner/outfield: way too many
OK, the last one I’m just being bitter. But what other major league cleanup hitter has those numbers?
I hope he snaps out of this real soon.
Sadly, after watching him, I think he’s finished… He has these bitch swings that don’t have the power and the intensity that they used to.
Time for a new blog, dudes. “Aaron Heilman just threw a 1 hitter. Is the world still round? Discuss.”
I said it all spring, and I’ll say it all summer: Mike’s through. His production has been consistently down for four years in a row, the age and the injuries and the stressful defensive position and the horrible second half last year are all serious negative indicators. It’s the most predictable decline phase since Kevin McReynolds.
I haven’t a clue who should be catching. I just know that whoever it is, including Mike, should be hitting no higher than 7th in the batting order.
whats this I hear about Piazza trade talks being revisited? It was a tease on ESPN Insider which I don’t have.
Piazza is on the down slope of his career and the mets need to find someone that is younger and more valuable. If I was Piazza I would just go to the AL and DH for the rest of my career. This is no slump, Piazza is at the end of his baseball days and the mets seriously need to consider trading him. Honesty I don’t know who would want him, but lets face it, Piazza’s days of being the mets stellar catcher are over.
Piazza is not done. He mashed the ball in Spring Training, and now he’s slumping. In the Spring, he hit .400 and slugged .733. If you were to combine his stats from spring and the season so far, you’d get numbers that look like they came from his prime- .313 with a .588 slugging pct. I don’t necessarily think he should be hitting cleanup, but I’m not that disappointed with what I’ve seen from March 1 thru today. Plus, we all remember how pathetic Piazza can look during his slumps, even during a monster season. He’ll be fine.
Jason Metsgeek has an answer to my question
http://www.nj.com/weblogs/mets/index.ssf?/mtlogs/njo_mets/archives/2005_04.html#057848
Mike must have read this post - since 4/13 he is on a five game hitting streak (3 multi-hit), has 1 HR (that traveled to the moon!), 3 2bs, 5 RBIs, 2 runs scored, raised his average over 100 points and jumped his OPS by over 200. Not too shabby.
And, until someone proves otherwise, Mike is the only clean-up hitter the Mets have.