59 infield hits by Mets . . . is it luck, or is there a reason?
Brandon Nimmo #9 of the Mets follows through on a first inning infield single against the Seattle Mariners at Citi Field on Friday, May 13, 2022. Credit: Jim McIsaac
LOS ANGELES — If chicks dig the long ball, who digs infield hits?
Well, not Eric Chavez. But he’ll take ‘em.
“I’ll take any hit,” he said, laughing. “But we are extremely lucky. Infield hits are extremely lucky . . . It’s hard to explain. It’s not the Mets. It’s just luck.”
If infield hits are lucky, the Mets have been something more than that.
In one of the more bizarre and apparently random trends of their highly successful season, they led the majors — by a lot — with 59 infield hits entering play Friday. That is more than one per game. Next are three teams, including the Padres, whom the Mets visit next week, and the Phillies, with 42.
So what’s up with that?
Let’s rule out one theory, via Chavez: The Mets do not emphasize merely making contact and putting the ball in play.
“The emphasis has just been not to do too much — not necessarily putting it in play, because we do want guys to hit the ball hard,” he said. “Putting the ball in play kind of suggests giving up the at-bat. We definitely don’t want that mentality. But at the end of the day, good, hard contact — we’ll take our chances with that. But with the infield hits, we’ve been extremely lucky.”
The Mets’ offensive philosophy (and, really, most any team’s offensive philosophy) has two primary objectives: Hit the ball hard or draw a walk.
Hitting the ball hard is better than hitting the ball weakly. But hitting the ball weakly is better than not hitting the ball at all. Chavez is fiercely anti-strikeout, even — or especially — in a modern baseball environment that has become numb and accustomed to rising strikeout numbers.
“The goal is not to strike out. It’s not to have a fear of striking out. But just not accepting it. ‘Oh, it’s OK.’ To me, it’s not OK,” Chavez said. “At the end of the day, we do prefer our guys to put the ball in play, but that’s definitely not just the goal. That’s just the byproduct of not trying to do too much. I definitely wanted to stay away from strikeouts. It’s just one of those things where it’s just not very helpful.”
So if you can’t hit the ball hard, at least hit it softly. If you hit it softly — a mis-hit — it could turn into an infield hit. Those are happy accidents.
“Let’s say if you’re not feeling great that day — and there’s going to be plenty of days like that — you might not be perfect,” Brandon Nimmo said. “So if I’m able to mis-hit it but at least put it in play, it gives me an opportunity with my speed and with [Starling] Marte’s speed to be able to get on base.”
Speed might have something to do with the Mets’ infield habit, at least in the cases of Marte, who is sixth in the majors with nine infield hits, and Nimmo, who is tied for 18th with seven. But it doesn’t so much explain the leaderboard presence of Mark Canha and Jeff McNeil (both tied for seventh with eight).
All these infield hits have helped to boost the Mets’ batting average to .265, second (behind the Rockies’ .267) in the majors. But that isn’t their only offensive trick. They were tied for second with a .741 OPS and eighth with a .405 slugging percentage.
Chavez expects the infield hits will decrease in frequency, because that is just how these things go. Easy come, easy go.
“It comes more from taking and accepting however you feel that day or however you feel against that certain pitcher and trying to battle your butt off and see what you can make of it,” Nimmo said. “If that’s a mis-hit and you end up getting a base hit out of it, great.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
