When you think of Rickey Henderson, a few things may come to mind. Some words such as arrogant, selfish, talented, Hall-worthy, narcissistic, and incredible may be thrown in. But “coach”? I highly doubt it.
When you think of Rickey Henderson, a few things may come to mind. Some words such as arrogant, selfish, talented, Hall-worthy, narcissistic, and incredible may be thrown in. But “coach”? I highly doubt it. But no matter what we think, the Mets have decided that Rick Down, the hitting “coach” is no longer needed, and that Rickey Henderson can adequately do his job.
My use of parentheses in the last sentence is due to the nature of the job at hand. Can the hitting “coach” really do much? Why does Rick Down, who never played in the major leagues, know more about hitting then Willie Randolph? Or Howard Johnson? Or Tom Nieto? Or Keith Hernandez? Or Carlos Delgado? Or Ray Ramirez? Or Gary Cohen?
The point is, the hitting coach has little effect on the actually hitting of the players. He might be able to point out something here or there, he is not really working non-stop with the players and adjusting their entire approaches at the plate. He is essentially an extra bench coach. His job is nowhere near as important as the pitching coach’s. A player may listen to Rick about something in his swing, but at the end of the day, it is basically all up to the guy at bat. We have never heard about some scrub turn his career around thanks to a new stance the hitting coach taught him. So if the hitting coach isn’t necessary, why is he around?
Well, it is taboo to take away such a standard tradition. So if a team wants to have a hitting coach, they better get some use out of him.
That is why hiring Rickey Henderson was a good idea. Rickey has clearly helped Reyes not only at the plate (in terms of patience), but has helped Reyes learn how to read pitchers better and steal bases more effectively. If Rickey can do the job of tutoring Reyes, then I could barely care about losing Rick Down. Although you may also hear some complaining about this move, designating Julio Franco for assignment may be the best Mets move of the season thus far. Franco was a black hole on the Mets bench. Willie used him way to often, and now the Mets just need to send David Newhan back down before their bench becomes solid once again. Franco hit .200/.328/.260 before he was basically released, and was horrid all season. His OBP was okay, but was ready for a decline.
Last year, he batted .273 but only had a .330 OBP-clearly this season was an anomaly. His low slugging average and inability to play any position besides first (at least well) made him a horror of the pine. With a .236 EqA, Franco had not right being on the Mets in the first place. Of course, the Mets now need a replacement on the bench. The optimal choice will probably be Andy Tracy, but he is apparently hitting to well to be called up.
Instead, the Mets have signed UT Marlon Anderson to a minor league deal. Anderson, who had a surgery before the season and one in May, only had 26 at-bats this season for the Dodgers. Last year, Anderson hit a very good .297/.354/.513 while splitting time between the Nationals and Dodgers.
In his year with the Mets, he hit .264/.316/.391 and played first base, second base, right field, and left field. His versatility is exactly what the Mets need. But maybe the best news from the bench is that Sandy Alomar Jr. hasn’t been sent back down just yet. With Aloma
r around, the number one pinch hitter would be Ramon Castro. Finally, the Mets would get some use out of a guy who is hitting .295/.349/.538 (slugging great while playing in a pitcher’s park like Shea). Maybe Paul LoDuca, who right now doesn’t even deserve to start, should get worried. And finally, I don’t know if I am exactly happy Jose Valentin hurt his hand when he punched a wall in Puerto Rico, but I sure hope we see some more Ruben Gotay.
