Latest news with #RISP
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Frustrated' Mets owner Steve Cohen addresses team's struggles, tweets a message to fans
Steve Cohen is sharing in the New York Mets players and coaches' frustrations amid a stretch of 13 losses in 16 games. On Monday morning, after the Mets were swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates in three games, the Mets owner voiced in his discontentment in a tweet to the team's fans. Advertisement Cohen said: "Tough stretch, no sugarcoating it. I didn't see this coming. I'm as frustrated as everybody else. We will get through this period. Our injured pitching will come back over the next few weeks. It is unlikely the team's hitting with RISP will continue at this weak pace. Keep the faith!" Since June 12 before their home series with the Rays, the Mets were 21 games over .500 and held a 5.5 game lead in the National League East. Heading into a three-game series with the Brewers, beginning Tuesday at Citi Field, the Mets are 48-37 and trail the Phillies by one and a half games in the division. Advertisement Despite boasting the three-headed monster of Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Pete Alonso at the top of their lineup, the Mets offense has largely been average through the first 85 games. They have scored the 13th-most runs and have the 18th-best team batting average in Major League Baseball. One of the Mets' biggest flaws, as Cohen addressed, is their production with runners in scoring position. As a team, the Mets are batting .217 with runners in scoring position, the second-worst figure in the league. Injuries have taken a toll on the Mets' starting rotation since before the season began when Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas went down with injuries in spring training. Montas returned last week, while Manaea is due to make his fifth rehab appearance early this week. Kodai Senga is making progress back from a low-grade hamstring strain as a rehab assignment looms, while Tylor Megill is on the shelf with a right elbow strain. Griffin Canning was lost for the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon on a play against the Braves last week. This article originally appeared on Steve Cohen tweets about NY Mets' struggles and sends message to fans
New York Post
2 days ago
- Sport
- New York Post
‘Frustrated' Steve Cohen breaks silence on his free-falling Mets: ‘Didn't see this coming'
It can't get much worse for the Mets right now. Team owner Steve Cohen has been fairly silent and stagnant throughout the Mets' brutal second half of June, but he finally had some words Monday morning amidst the absurd struggles. 'Tough stretch, no sugarcoating it. I didn't see this coming,' Cohen posted to X. 'I'm as frustrated as everybody else. We will get through this period. Our injured pitching will come back over the next few weeks. It is unlikely the team's hitting with RISP will continue at this weak pace. Keep the faith!' Mets owner Steve Cohen attends the baseball game against the New York Yankees, Saturday, May 17, 2025. AP New York Mets' Pete Alonso lies in the batter's box after getting out of the way of a high inside pitch on June 29. 2025. AP The Mets have won just three games since June 13, going 3-13 in that stretch. They are coming off perhaps the most concerning losses yet in this weekend's series sweep at the hands of the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates. The 35-50 Pirates won all three games at PNC Park in Pittsburgh — and not a single one was close, with the Mets losing 9-1, 9-2 and 12-1, respectively.
Chicago Tribune
6 days ago
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Chicago baseball report: Why Cubs are keeping Dansby Swanson in No. 5 spot — and Grant Taylor's rare feat for White Sox
The Chicago Cubs have a chance to salvage a series split against the division-rival St. Louis Cardinals after dropping the first two in the four-game set. Left-hander Matthew Boyd stopped the Cubs' three-game skid by limiting the Cardinals to three hits and no walks in six innings in an 8-0 win Wednesday. Shota Imanaga returns from the injured list to start Thursday's finale before the Cubs head to Houston, where former Astros Kyle Tucker and Ryan Pressly return for the first time since departing in the offseason. The Chicago White Sox continue their stretch against the National League West. Having just completed a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Sox welcome the San Francisco Giants to Rate Field on Friday. Then they head to Los Angeles to begin a three-game series Tuesday against the Dodgers. Every Thursday during the regular season, Tribune baseball writers will provide an update on what happened — and what's ahead — for the Cubs and White Sox.A manager always has choices to make when constructing the batting order. For Cubs manager Craig Counsell, figuring out who to go with in the No. 5 position has lately been among his daily considerations. Dansby Swanson has predominantly hit in the five spot since the beginning of June, and he's batting .240 with a .269 on-base percentage in that span, including two hits in Wednesday's blowout win over the Cardinals. When asked about continuing to have Swanson bat fifth, Counsell pointed to the shortstop's numbers versus left-handed pitchers and his power. By slotting him between lefties Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch, there's potential for a platoon advantage for Swanson over the course of a game. 'And then the power, it's one swing of the bat that can change the game,' Counsell said. Swanson's struggles with runners in scoring position have been noticeable, though. His .141 average in such situations is the ninth-lowest among the 275 big-league hitters with at least 40 plate appearances with RISP. Only 27 players have more plate appearances with RISP than Swanson's 90, which ranks third on the Cubs behind Seiya Suzuki (97) and Crow-Armstrong (91). Comparatively, Suzuki and Crow-Armstrong own .325 and .329 averages, respectively, in those spots. 'Really all year I've been pretty bad at it, to be honest,' Swanson said of his performance with RISP. 'I think a lot of it is being able to simplify and focus on hitting the ball hard somewhere and good things will be able to happen. 'I'm not really holding my end of the bargain up right now in that regard, and it's definitely something that frustrates me and I've got to be better.' Grant Taylor said he 'was a little surprised' Sunday afternoon at Rogers Centre. 'Steven (Wilson) was on the mound (in the bullpen), warming up to go in the game,' Taylor said. 'Bullpen call, I thought it was going to be confirmed him going in because he was already throwing. They run down and tell me I'm in. 'No time to think, just get up there and start going. Kind of realized while I was out there, 'Oh, this is a save opportunity. This is pretty cool.'' Taylor earned the save, the first of his big-league career, by pitching a scoreless ninth in the 4-2 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays. It was an active weekend for the right-hander, who served as the opener Friday. It was his first major-league start. 'I think I'm more surprised about the open than I am the save,' Taylor said. He became the sixth White Sox pitcher since 1969 to both start and finish a series and the first since Jimmy Lambert on May 22-24, 2023, in Cleveland, according to STATS. Also according to STATS, Taylor became the third Sox pitcher since 1969 to start a series opener and earn the save in the finale, joining Dennis Lamp (July 29-Aug. 1, 1982, vs. the Boston Red Sox) and Francisco Barrios (Aug. 20-22, 1976, vs. the Baltimore Orioles). 'He looked great,' manager Will Venable said. 'The same stuff that we've seen in every one of his outings and the same kind of composure and confidence. He's been put in a couple different spots now and has responded well.' Taylor threw 12 pitches Sunday, six of which reached at least 100 mph. He topped out at 102.2. 'That was a lot of fun,' Taylor said of the save opportunity. 'Excited to try to do it again.' The Sox have used a major-league-high 53 players this season (27 pitchers, 26 position players). There was an expectation home runs would come at some point for Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner. Perhaps not three months into the season. Hoerner and the Miami Marlins' Xavier Edwards had been the last two qualified big-league hitters without a home run before Hoerner went deep in Tuesday's loss. The two-run homer just cleared the left-field wall to cut the Cardinals lead to one run. 'It felt great,' Hoerner said. 'You want to be able to impact the game in every way, and we've talked about how I can do that for a long time. And obviously adding power is the part of my game that there's the most clear room for improvement, but nothing too different from my end.' Known for his contact-hitter profile, the long ball hasn't been a staple of Hoerner's game as a big-leaguer. He has hit only 30 in 2,534 plate appearances spanning 623 games. Entering Tuesday, Hoerner was the first major-leaguer since the Pittsburgh Pirates' Francisco Cervelli in 2010 to record at least 31 RBIs with no home runs through his first 74 games. 'Nico's having a nice offensive season,' Counsell said. 'Sometimes when you're in a good place and you had a good night (Tuesday) night … it's kind of a matter of time. You just get a ball in the air and hit it to the right spot to get one.' Kyle Teel said getting called on to play left field in the 10th inning during the second game of a June 19 doubleheader against the Cardinals was 'like riding a bike.' 'Played outfield in college, played for the collegiate national team in left and right field, shag out there all the time,' Teel said afterward. 'So I was just hoping they would hit me the ball.' While a ball didn't come Teel's way during his one inning in the outfield, the catcher is ready to do whatever he can to aid the Sox. 'I take pride in my athleticism, and wherever the team needs me at any point, I'm willing to go,' he said. The focus, manager Will Venable said, is behind the plate. 'I don't think another position is something that we're considering right now or at any point,' Venable said Tuesday. 'Those guys (Teel and fellow catcher Edgar Quero) have a lot to learn and there's plenty of opportunity for them to do that.' 'I feel like I've been kind of close for four years there. Sometimes you kind of wonder if it's ever going to happen, but I'm very grateful and I'm a product of the people around me. It's a cool thing, but getting a 'W' tonight is even better.'
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Yankees' RISP Troubles Continue
Yankees' RISP Troubles Continue originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Runners in scoring position. It's an important stat in baseball because the ultimate goal for each team is to win games. In order to win games, you must outscore your opponent. And to outscore your opponent, you need to take advantage of the opportunities presented to you during the course of the game. It's far easier to score when you have runners in scoring position than it is when you don't. Advertisement For the New York Yankees, this season has been a struggle when it comes to successfully bringing runners home who are in scoring position, especially in the month of June. The latest example is their 0-for-12 performance against the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night. New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge reacts after striking out against the Baltimore Orioles on June 22, 2025, at Yankee Stadium.© Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images Looking beyond just the one game, they rank last in MLB this season in runners left in scoring position per game, with an average of 4.06 runners per game. Over their last three games, that number is even worse at 5.67. These troubles are especially pronounced away from Yankee Stadium, as their road average is 4.47, as compared to 3.68 at home. (Stats courtesy of In all fairness, those numbers are weighed down by a particularly bad recent stretch. During their last 12 games, the Yankees have an OPS of .391 with RISP. That's the worst mark in The League over that span. Advertisement As reported by The Athletic's Chris Kirschner, Manager Aaron Boone said the following about his team's struggles with RISP, 'I mean, baseball…You're going to have those stretches. I think, overall, we've been pretty good in those areas. I thought (Monday) our best at-bats were getting on base and putting the pressure on. They had them swinging and missing tonight when we had really good opportunities to score. That's where we want to be a little better.' If they don't get better fast, then they're going to watch what little is left of their AL East lead completely evaporate. Related: Yankees' Slugger Aaron Judge's Strikeout Rate Rises In June Related: Who Should Be the Yankees' Closer? This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 24, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Mets' sloppiness, RISP struggles to blame for unsatisfying series split with Dodgers: 'We gave that one away'
The lasting images from the Mets' vexing 6-5 road loss to the Dodgers on Thursday afternoon were snapped during an eighth inning that unraveled. Moments before the reigning champions scored the go-ahead run on a two-out single from who but Michael Conforto, the tying run crossed the plate on an ill-timed double-clutch grab and errant throw home from Brett Baty. But the Dodgers' three-run rally wouldn't have been possible if the Mets made the most of some prime scoring opportunities before the late-inning meltdown. Despite smacking three home runs, which helped them climb to an early 4-0 lead that briefly seemed comfortable, New York once again struggled to break a game open. They finished 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position, and left 13 runners on base. Advertisement Of the 13 baserunners, 10 were standed through the first six innings. Perhaps the Mets' frustrations boiled over in the sixth, when a one-out rally with two in scoring position was squandeed by a Jeff McNeil strikeout that stunningly turned into a double play with Starling Marte tagged out at third, leaning too far off the bag. The Mets looked poised to take three of four games at Chavez Ravine and send a clear message to the Dodgers. They were just five outs away from making another statement. Instead, they were forced to settle for an unsatisfying split due to mental miscues and recurring RISP woes. "We felt like we gave that one away. We were sloppy today. We didn't play well, and it cost us there," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said after the loss. "Those two games that we lost, we could've won. They did some good things too, but they made some mistakes. That's a good team. And when you're giving extra bases, extra outs, they're going to make you pay." While the Mets haven't lacked offense this season -- they entered Thursday ranked 11th in MLB in total runs and seventh in on-base percentage -- their inability to capitalize with traffic on the basepaths has been a hindrance. The four-game set in Los Angeles didn't show the big picture, as they overall hit a solid 11-for-36 (.305) with RISP, but their season average now sits at .220. The mark ranks bottom-five in the league. Advertisement "We had a couple of chances to add on, and we couldn't cash in," Mendoza said. "When you continue to give those guys a chance and give them an opportunity to come back, they're going to make you pay... Early on, we had two chances -- bases loaded, one out and second and third, one out -- and we didn't get any runs there... I just felt like it was a game that got away from us." Of course, the Mets can find solace in how they stacked up with the Dodgers in seven games this season, and pose a legitimate threat in a competitive National League. Perhaps there's no better time to solve the RISP problem than this weekend, as the Mets are slated to face the lowly Rockies at a very hitter-friendly Coors Field.
