Paul Articulates – It’s all about the base

In the roster reconstruction that has unfolded under the Steve Cohen – Billy Eppler regime, it appears that speed and base running savvy has become more of a priority.  This makes me very happy, as I think that small ball is a very exciting part of the game.  And let’s face it – there will never be as many balls flying out of Citi Field as in that “other stadium” in the Bronx. 

In the first spring training game I watched with Starling Marte in the lineup, he demonstrated the value of speed and aggressive base running by swiping a base, and then sprinting home on a bloop hit without wasting an instant of indecision on whether a fielder could reach it – he just knew!  

We saw a little bit of this last year, when Francisco Lindor would steal a base or take an extra one on a hit ball to infuse some life into a languishing offense.  The problem was he just couldn’t get on base enough last year.  This year I expect him to spend a lot more time touching bags, and sometimes four in the same short trip.

This year it seems like more of a team approach.  Of course Marte and Lindor are fast, but they’re also baseball smart as are some of their slower colleagues like Escobar and Guillorme.  My hope is that they share some of that wisdom with guys like Brandon Nimmo and Mark Canha and really turn up the heat on opposing defenses. 

Dynamic base running puts a great amount of stress on opposing pitchers and catchers.  This leads to other opportunities like more bases on balls, more runners on base, and eventually more hittable pitches when there are no open bases.  Not all the Mets are speed demons, but when you have runners in scoring position ahead of hitters like Cano, Smith, Alonso, and McNeil the result should be more runs on the board.

This isn’t the first time the Mets have had speed in the lineup – there have been teams in the past with older versions of Rickey Henderson, Vince Coleman, or Rodger Cedeno and also the Reyes years that we witnessed deliberate theft on the field.  However, these years are few and far between.  Last year the Mets were 24^th of 30 teams in total stolen bases.  They have been in the bottom third of the league in stolen bases every year since 2014 when Eric Young stole 30 bases and Juan Lagares swiped 13 to lead the Mets to a still-unimpressive 12^thplace finish.

I’m not predicting a full reversion to small ball by the Mets or by any other team in baseball, as the prevailing trend is still the launch angle and the long ball.  

However, if the Mets can use this new-found speed to their advantage in the right situations, it can easily lead to more wins.  Their pitching is a strength, so just a few more runs per game than last year’s anemic stats can really go a long way.  “Let’s Go Mets” will now have an emphasis on the word GO!