" What is the reason for Bay's struggles ?"
Last night Jason Bay snapped his 0-23 skid when he dunked a single in the fourth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Later on in the game he hit a shot to center field that was caught, but at the time looked as if it had a chance to leave the park.
So far in his year and a half Mets career Jason Bay has been an enigma. When the Mets signed him before the 2010 season he was coming off one of his best years. He had 36 homers with the Red Sox , and hit for a high average. Last year in a injury shortened season, Bay only hit six homers. So far he has just one.
There are multiple reasons why this could be happening to Bay.
Has playing in the cavernous Citi Field gotten into his head ?
Has Jason Bay “peaked” at the age of 31 ? I mean he his reminding me of Shawn Green in the twilight of his career ( mostly a singles and doubles kind of hitter).
Or is Jason Bay playing injured ?
Out of all these scenarios I have to go with the last one. It is quite possible that the strained rib cage muscle never fully healed, and is nagging at him – or maybe this is something a bit more sinister.
Remember just after Bay signed with the Mets in the winter of 2010, Peter Gammons insinuated that the Red Sox were scared to re-sign Bay to such a big contract ( in terms of money and years) because they felt that both of his knees were shot.
If this is true then it can quite possibly explain Bay’s struggles at the plate when it comes to his power numbers.
To read Peter Gammons quotes check out the article from January 28th of last season by the NBC Sports “Hardball Talk” blog written by Aaron Gleeman by clicking here. It is worth the read and it might make you despise Omar Minaya a tad bit more.
And with that said… HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!
Mets alumni celebrating a birthday today includes:
Spot starter/middle reliever for the ’66 Mets, Gerry Arrigo is 70 (1941).
Reserve infielder from 87-’91, Keith Miller is 48 (1963) .
Reserve outfielder from the ’95 season, Damon Buford is 41 (1970).
The New York Mets signed free agent Tug McGraw on June 12, 1964. Tug would become one of the best relievers of his generation – and a Mets legend .
New York Mets traded starting pitcher, Rob Gardner and catcher, Johnny Stephenson to the Chicago Cubs for starting pitcher, Bob Hendley on June 12, 1967.
The Los Angeles Dodgers signed reserve outfielder, Danny Heep of the New York Mets as a free agent on June 12, 1987. It is a little known fact that Danny was the first designated hitter in Mets history. It came during the ’96 World Series against the Boston Red Sox .
The New York Mets traded reserve outfielder, Wayne Housie to the Milwaukee Brewers for middle reliever, Josias Manzanillo on June 12, 1993. Josias would go on to pitch four season with the Mets, going 4-4 with two saves and a E.R.A of 4.21 .
The New York Yankees claimed reserve outfielder, Darren Bragg of the New York Mets on waivers on June 12, 2001.
Mo Vaughn is lazy like a Sunday morning !
9 comments
metsfan4decades
6/12/2011-11:38am at 11:38 am (UTC -4)
Bay is an enigma to me at this point.
Comparing him to Green is interesting but even Green contributed with the Mets somewhat. He might not have been hitting HRs but he wasn’t as god awful as Bay has been.
Injury is another possibility but….Bay looked bad beginning of last year. All of us kept waiting for him to break out, figuring it was the new team, new park and just needed time to settle in. He never did look good and continued to be pretty useless until he got hurt.
This year it just looks like he picked up where he left off beginning of last year. If he’s injured, then that injury had to be there from the beginning and is continuing. Somehow, I don’t think that’s it.
Wish I knew what the problem is and I’ll bet Bay does too. Even Keith commented last night that he purposely stayed away from him saying Bay’s had too many people now trying to help and he’s tried too many things. Said he needs to get his head on straight himself and get back to whatever it was that made him successful to begin with. And that might be the kicker. That ‘it’ might truly be gone for Bay even though he’s on the young side of deteriorating skills to that extent.
stickguy
6/12/2011-11:42am at 11:42 am (UTC -4)
I am sure he probably has something nagging, but just about every player does. sore calf, something like that, but nothing that could explain the sheer magnitude of his suckitude!
plus, he was a mess last year too, so that does not support the case this year.
but, if it is enough to get a phantom DL stint, I am all for it.
hazmet
6/12/2011-11:52am at 11:52 am (UTC -4)
I’m sticking with he’s got postpartum depression at this point as I hit on all these points earlier this week in a thread. Last night watching Bay take that hanging flat curveball with guys on 2nd & 3rd to try to work out a walk and instead taking strike 3 nearly sent me into full tirade. Instead it sent me to wondering what 4 Mets would be on the Mets version of Mt. Suckmore. Certainly Bay is there in my book. My personal 4 are:
Jason Bay
Oliver Perez
Bobby Bonilla
Vince Coleman
I could see Mo Vaughan on there but the Mountain may not be able to support his massive profile….
Prismo
6/12/2011-11:54am at 11:54 am (UTC -4)
Absolutely haz!!! That pisses me off too. He’s lost all form of aggression at the plate, and seems content to go 0-4 with a BB every night.
stickguy
6/12/2011-12:15pm at 12:15 pm (UTC -4)
Mo can BE the mountain.
and Prismo, hitting has a huge mental component to it, and it does seem that he is a mess there too. And that does show up in taking fat pitches but swinging at crap.
Almost better that it is mental. Sometimes that can fix itself overnight (such as one good game or a big hit relaxing him, then going off on a tear).Mechanics are harder to fix (especially quickly).
the scary part is that a loss of skills (bat speed, hand/eye coordination, etc.) is not usually fixable!
rustyjr
6/12/2011-12:19pm at 12:19 pm (UTC -4)
He did take one for a ride last night – unfortunately it was caught
kingman 26
6/12/2011-12:29pm at 12:29 pm (UTC -4)
Yes sir, and with the extra power of PEDs that’s a homer in 2005–2009.
I know I am probably wrong about this, but I have yet to hear a better explanation.
He still runs and fields well, so it is not his knees.
njstuckintx
6/12/2011-12:18pm at 12:18 pm (UTC -4)
If he is “injured” ship him to the minors to sort it out and let Fmart or Duda play every day vs. righties and lefites.
kingman 26
6/12/2011-12:28pm at 12:28 pm (UTC -4)
Cannot see Bay’s knees being shot turning him into a guy who now has 0 XBH in his last 70 plate appearances! SEVENTY!! This is so amazing and should be the lead on ESPN every day!
His SLG is .278!!!
Also, he still is pretty darn good in the field.
Sorry, but to me, the only reasonable explanation remains his being a PED user from 2005–2009. No proof sure, and he does seem like a good guy, but he hasn’t “declined quickly”–the speed of his decline is like going over Niagara Falls in a rocket-propelled barrel.
And I think Danny Heep was also the first DH with the initials “DH.”