A footnote in history

Morning Dose: Thursday, May 22

☀️ GOOD MORNING:

On May 7, 1995, New York Mets starter Jason Jacome served up four runs on seven walks in an 8-4 loss to the Reds. I bring this up because just as that game is lost in history to another event that occurred on the same day — Reggie Miller scoring 8 points in 9 seconds at Madison Square Garden — last night’s Mets win will likely fade into obscurity, overshadowed by the Knicks inexplicably out-choking their own history and suffering the greatest collapse in franchise history.

😭 Don’t worry, we will still talk about the Mets (and we have plenty to cover), but I couldn’t possibly open this newsletter without mentioning what we witnessed at the Garden last night. I will let Jonathan Macri take the heavy task of trying to explain it.

Something worth remembering: If there’s one thing that lingers in our minds from the Mets’ 5–1 win over the Red Sox on Wednesday, it will be Brett Baty’s performance. Kept in the lineup against a tough left-hander because of his defense, Baty showed his swing is ready for any matchup, lining a single in the second to drive in the game’s first run, and later roping an opposite-field double off a southpaw reliever to drive in two more.

RISP: The Mets finished the game 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position, two of those hits coming off the bat of Mr. Baty. Manager Carlos Mendoza tried to spark the offense by inserting Starling Marte between Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto at the top of the lineup. While Lindor collected two hits, the change did nothing to help the struggling Soto and Pete Alonso, who combined to go 1-for-8 with five strikeouts.

TYLOR MEGILL rebounded nicely, striking out 10 Sox hitters before running into trouble in the fifth. He was bailed out by Huascar Brazobán, who struck out the dangerous Alex Bregman with the bases loaded to escape the jam.

📊 STANDINGS: The Phillies are having a time with the Rockies, scoring 25 runs on 46 hits over the first three games of their current series. It’s helped Philly win six in a row and build a 1.5 game lead over the Mets.

☕️ Grab your coffee for your morning dose of Mets Fix!

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Box Score | Full Standings

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📊 NEW STATCAST DATA!

Statcast released new data this week to give us insight into each player’s swing. We have three new metrics to tell us what our eyes have been trained to see as “uppercut” or “flat” swings, and how each swing impacts contact.

🔹 NEW METRICS: Before we look into what these metrics tell us about the Mets, let’s give a brief definition of each.

• Swing Path (tilt): This is the swing’s shape, or the angle of the swing while approaching the ball. It is what defines it as an uppercut or flat swing.

• Attack Angle: If swing path measures the angle approaching the ball, attack angle tells you what happens at the point of contact. It is the vertical angle at which the bat is traveling as it impacts the ball. It is a great timing metric.

• Ideal Attack Rate: Putting attack angle in context, the “ideal” attack angle is the percentage of a hitter’s swings with an attack angle between 5-20 degrees at the point of contact.

I still don’t get it. Mike Petriello does a nice job summarizing Ideal Attack Rate:

When hitters talk about “keeping the bat in the zone longer,” they don’t mean moving the bat slowly. They mean matching their attack angle to the plane of the pitch, or what Williams was talking about when he wrote “A slight upswing … puts the bat flush in line with the path of the ball for a longer period.”

Proof in the data: Since the 2023 All-Star Game, there is a stark difference in the results from an ideal attack angle swing versus all other attack angle swings.

via Baseball Savant

GIVE ME SOME EXAMPLES: The best way to begin to understand this new data is to look at a few examples. I say “begin to understand” because we still don’t really know what all of this data means. We can highlight some obvious points and make educated guesses. Part of the reason MLB releases this dataset to the public is so researchers can do their thing in drawing more definitive conclusions.

🍎 Who has the biggest uppercut on the Mets? If you’re looking for an old-fashioned swing-for-the-moon swing, look no further than José Azocar. The depth outfielder has the steepest recorded swing on the team this season. You can see how he used it to turn a low pitch into a blooping single against the Phillies. Among the regulars, Starling Marte and Brett Baty both have pretty steep swings. So does Jesse Winker, as you might have guessed.