At the start of the offseason, the Mets addressed their disatrous baserunning by removing Razor Shines as third-base coach and Luis Alicea as first-base coach. Here was Jerry Manuel's take at the time:
[Manuel] said, 'The traffic on the base paths was not what we wanted it to be,' when speaking of Shines and Luis Alicea, who was let go from the staff entirely.
So how will the Mets upgrade their coaching situation on the bases? From Metsblog:
According to an on air report from WFAN, Razor Shines will move to coach first base, Chip Hale (previously with the D-Backs) has been hired to coach third, and Dave Jauss (previously with the O's) will be Jerry Manuel's bench coach.
So Shines, who helped run the Mets out of numerous scoring chances while coaching at third, now gets to work his magic at first?
Last year, the problem was that Met runners kept getting thrown out at home by 15 feet. This year, the Mets won't have that problem - the runners won't be in a position to score from third base because they will have been thrown out at second trying to stretch singles into doubles.
Moving Razor Shines from third-base coach to first-base coach is like removing the trainers because of all the injuries - and making them strength and conditioning coaches.
The 70-win Mets need to make a lot of changes. Is it too much to ask to keep baserunners away from Razor Shines?
Showing posts with label Razor Shines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Razor Shines. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Mets lack Razor's edge
With what passes for a lineup these days, the Mets know that runs will be hard to come by. But does that mean that every runner must automatically be sent home?
In the third inning, with one out and Jeremy Reed on second, Luis Castillo singled to center. As Reed rounded third, third base coach Razor Shines, who had been furiously waving Reed home, suddenly stopped waving and briefly held up his hand.
Reed kept going. The throw was up the line, but arrived when Reed was still a good distance from the plate. Reed tried to go around the catcher, but was out.
Had Shines successfully held Reed at third, the Mets would have had one out, men on second and third, and Fernando Martinez coming up, followed by the heart of the order, David Wright and Gary Sheffield. Instead, it was two outs, man on first, potential rally killed.
Shines can change his mind as the play develops, but once he does, he's got to sell it a lot better. How about at least using both hands? Instead, Shines seemed uncertain that he really wanted Reed to stop.
But this sort of thing happens so often with the Mets these days that one wonders if Shines is under orders always to wave the runner home if there is even the slightest chance. The hit was to shallow center, directly to center fielder Nate McLouth. McClouth got to the ball and threw home. The play did not develop in an unexpected way. Yet there was Shines frantically waving Reed home, and seemingly ambivalent about holding him up.
The current Met team cannot afford to have runners thrown about by a substantial margin in just about every game. Maybe if it's two outs and the bottom of the order is coming up, and these days, the bottom of the order is pretty much the bottom half.
But if the third-base coach is too aggressive, those instructions ultimately come from the manager. Has Jerry Manuel told Shines, send them no matter what?
I hope that is not the case. But Manuel does make some odd moves. Tonight he started Ramon Martinez at short over Wilson Valdez, even though Valdez has been the better fielder and hitter. It was reported on the game broadcast that Manuel did so because he wanted them both to get a shot at staying on the roster.
Just because it is a spring training lineup does not mean it should be played like a spring training game. Just play the one you think is better.
Besides, with Alex Cora back, once Jose Reyes returns, won't the Mets get rid of both Valdez and R. Martinez? Let Triple A figure out which one is best.
The way things are with the Mets these days, it should be no surprise that R. Martinez decided the issue by dislocating his finger.
But before that, he came up with two outs and a man on third in the second inning and grounded out. While there's no assurance that Valdez would have done any better, Manuel's lineup experimentation meant that, in one of the few times the Mets had a runner on third, the batter was six for his last 40.
In the third inning, with one out and Jeremy Reed on second, Luis Castillo singled to center. As Reed rounded third, third base coach Razor Shines, who had been furiously waving Reed home, suddenly stopped waving and briefly held up his hand.
Reed kept going. The throw was up the line, but arrived when Reed was still a good distance from the plate. Reed tried to go around the catcher, but was out.
Had Shines successfully held Reed at third, the Mets would have had one out, men on second and third, and Fernando Martinez coming up, followed by the heart of the order, David Wright and Gary Sheffield. Instead, it was two outs, man on first, potential rally killed.
Shines can change his mind as the play develops, but once he does, he's got to sell it a lot better. How about at least using both hands? Instead, Shines seemed uncertain that he really wanted Reed to stop.
But this sort of thing happens so often with the Mets these days that one wonders if Shines is under orders always to wave the runner home if there is even the slightest chance. The hit was to shallow center, directly to center fielder Nate McLouth. McClouth got to the ball and threw home. The play did not develop in an unexpected way. Yet there was Shines frantically waving Reed home, and seemingly ambivalent about holding him up.
The current Met team cannot afford to have runners thrown about by a substantial margin in just about every game. Maybe if it's two outs and the bottom of the order is coming up, and these days, the bottom of the order is pretty much the bottom half.
But if the third-base coach is too aggressive, those instructions ultimately come from the manager. Has Jerry Manuel told Shines, send them no matter what?
I hope that is not the case. But Manuel does make some odd moves. Tonight he started Ramon Martinez at short over Wilson Valdez, even though Valdez has been the better fielder and hitter. It was reported on the game broadcast that Manuel did so because he wanted them both to get a shot at staying on the roster.
Just because it is a spring training lineup does not mean it should be played like a spring training game. Just play the one you think is better.
Besides, with Alex Cora back, once Jose Reyes returns, won't the Mets get rid of both Valdez and R. Martinez? Let Triple A figure out which one is best.
The way things are with the Mets these days, it should be no surprise that R. Martinez decided the issue by dislocating his finger.
But before that, he came up with two outs and a man on third in the second inning and grounded out. While there's no assurance that Valdez would have done any better, Manuel's lineup experimentation meant that, in one of the few times the Mets had a runner on third, the batter was six for his last 40.
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