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#Mets’ speed, approach at plate putting ‘pressure’ on defenses

“Mets’ speed, approach at plate putting ‘pressure’ on defenses”

The Mets’ offense leads the league in frustrating opposing pitchers. 

There are few bigger annoyances than a typically softly struck ball that does not even reach the outfield somehow resulting in a single. Ten times against the Giants on Monday and Tuesday, Mets batters recorded infield singles. 

The Cincinnati Reds have 15 infield singles all season. 

The Mets, who are middle of the pack in home runs, have found different avenues toward scoring runs. A team that has gotten more athletic, makes consistent contact and runs hard has hustled its way to a vaguely record-setting pace. 

The Mets lead the majors with 56 infield hits, dwarfing the rest of the league (in second, entering Thursday’s play, was Cleveland with 39). Through the Mets’ first 46 games, 10.1 percent of their ground balls have resulted in infield hits, according to FanGraphs, which would be the highest percentage for a team since the website began tracking the statistic in 2002. The Rays led the majors last year at 8.8 percent. 

Brandon Nimmo legs out a single, stretched into a triple after a throwing error against the Giants.
Brandon Nimmo legs out a single, stretched into a triple after a throwing error against the Rockies.
Getty Images

“Just trying to put pressure on the defense,” Brandon Nimmo, who has legged out seven infield hits, said Wednesday before the Mets lost the rubber game in San Francisco. “Go ahead and pass the baton, however that may be. If you put the ball in play, you give yourself a chance, especially with speed like Jeff [McNeil] has, like I have, like Starling [Marte] has. It opens up holes in other places.” 

Marte leads the club with nine infield hits, which was one shy of the major league high. The Mets got more athletic by importing the outfielder, who is not finding his way on base through walks but is compensating with his speed, which puts pressure on opposing infields regardless of how hard he hits the ball. 

The pressure was literally applied to Giants third baseman Kevin Padlo on Tuesday, when a sharply struck ball from Marte bounded up to Padlo’s chest and kept a seven-run eighth-inning going. 

Nimmo said the Mets have been coached to “try to hit the ball 95 miles per hour-plus or walk” — notably, not to chase fly balls that might become home runs. 

“We’re not exactly trying to lift the ball,” said Nimmo, whose Mets will begin a three-game series at Citi Field against the Phillies on Friday. “Obviously it’s nice, it hits you home runs and everything. But for this team, even just putting it in play gives you a chance. 

“[Speed and infield hits are] something to fall back on when you’re not feeling great.” 

The Mets have been giving themselves a chance more than almost anyone: Their 19.6 percent strikeout rate was second-best, trailing only the Cardinals, entering play Thursday. 

Among qualified hitters, McNeil’s 9.9 percent strikeout rate was No. 4 in all of baseball. Constantly putting his bat on the ball and possessing good speed out of the left-handed hitter’s batter’s box that ranked as the 31st-fastest in MLB have helped him total eight infield hits, which has brought his average up to .321. 

Another important component toward scratching out hits is the fact the Mets hustle. Teams that feel they need to squeeze out every hit rather than waiting for a home run cannot afford to waste potential base runners. 

Starling Marte hits a single during the Mets' loss to the Giants Tuesday.
Starling Marte hits a single during the Mets’ loss to the Giants on Tuesday.
AP

In Tuesday’s eighth inning, the Mets needed Mark Canha (eight infield hits) to sprint hard to first on a sharp grounder that Padlo couldn’t field; needed Nimmo to bust out of the box to reach on a chopper to the left side; needed Nimmo again to hustle to second and reach safely to make Marte’s grounder to third a single. 

The hustle, contact, athleticism and mindset have them on a pace to be the most annoying team for opposing pitchers in obliquely recorded MLB history. 

“The identity of this team is not to just shock and awe, everything or nothing, hit home runs,” Nimmo said. “The identity of this team is to grind, to pass the baton on to the next guy, and don’t try to do more than you can.” 

— Additional reporting by Mike Puma 

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