Why the Mets shouldn't dig the long ball

We all know the slogan: chicks -- and luxury box owners -- dig the long ball.

Moving the walls in at Citi Field is supposed to make the park more prone to home runs. It's supposed to help David Wright turn into a consistent power threat again, and, just perhaps make up for the loss of Jose Reyes. The long ball is an oft-cited area of concern for the Mets who finished 13th out of 16 teams in the National League with only 108 homers. And the tweaks to Citi might just increase that total.

But consider this: putting aside the flashy home run, will the new Citi Field actually be more friendly for Mets hitters? After all, the Mets didn't do too badly last year despite playing their home games at Citi:

-  .335 team on-base percentage was second in the league
-  9.0 walk rate led the league
-  Strikeout rate of just 17.1 percent was third best
-  .264 batting average was second best

But here might be the most surprising stat: the Mets' .725 on-base-plus-slugging percentage was sixth best in the NL and actually ahead of Philadelphia's .717 mark. The .725 OPS was also best in the NL East.

Despite the fact that the Phillies play in a band box and the Mets play in an amphitheater, Philadelphia out-slugged the Mets just .395 to .391.

This is despite Carlos Beltran hitting 15 home runs and driving in 66 runs to lead the Mets, and Reyes being the only player to score more than 68 runs (he had 101).

This is despite Ryan Howard launching 33 homers, Raul Ibanez hitting 20 more and John Mayberry, Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino each hitting 15 for the Phillies. Despite Howard's 116 RBIs and Ibanez's 84. Despite Howard, Rollins and Victorino all scoring at least 81 runs.

Even without the big time traditional stats of home runs, RBIs and runs, the Mets ended up outscoring the Phillies 718-713.

The one area where the Phillies truly conked the Mets over the head was pitching. By almost any stat they came out ahead, and their staff ERA of 3.02 was over a run better than the Mets' mark of 4.19 (13th in the NL).

Moving in the fences at Citi Field likely isn't going to fix that number.