Command Issues Continue to Plague Mets Pitching Staff

As if it wasn’t already apparent, the postseason has intensified the New York Mets pitching staff’s pre-existing command issues.

After leading the National League with a walk rate of 9.6% during the regular season, the Mets have paced the league in that same stat in October as well (12.1%). They were able to eke past the Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card Series without their control issues popping up, allowing just five free passes over 26 innings. Additionally, New York was able to limit the damage in the NLDS by exploiting the Philadelphia Phillies’ propensity to chase out of the zone despite giving up 4.04 walks per nine.

When tasked with facing a club like the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS, however, who recorded the most walks in the NL (602) to go with a chase rate of 25.7 that tied for the lowest in the league, that same formula was destined to come back and haunt the Mets. The team has ceded 31 walks over the first four contests of the series, tying them with the 2017 Chicago Cubs for the most over any four-game stretch in postseason history.

The Dodgers have not permitted New York to “nibble” and pitch on the fringes of the strike zone in hopes of inducing weak contact or whiffs. Instead, they’ve remained patient throughout and consistently been awarded with hitter’s counts, resulting in 30 runs and an .813 OPS as they sit just one game away from the World Series.

With a WHIP of 1.91 versus Los Angeles, the Mets have essentially let multiple runners reach base per inning. A contributing factor within that equation is that their pitchers have struggled to put away hitters, facing 22 more than the Dodgers have, consequentially taxing both the rotation and the bullpen.

New York still has time to turn things around, but the clock is ticking. Four teams have successfully completed a 3-1 comeback in the NLCS, and if the Mets want to become the fifth, they’ll have to adapt and remedy their lack of command before their season is put to bed.

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