Saturday, September 13, 2008

Hard Hitting Coverage

The Mets' offense is now second in the NL in run scoring in 2008. The last time the Mets finished a full season that high in the league in run scoring was 1990, when they led the NL in runs. The Mets also led the NL in runs for three years in a row, 1986 through 1988. Those were the only other times in franchise history that the team fininshed higher than third in the league in run scoring.

Part of the reason for the Mets' limited number of times near the top of the NL in runs is the constraining effect Shea has long had on run scoring. By way of example, the Mets are way behind the Cubs this season in overall run scoring. The Cubs as the top run scoring team in the NL are averaging 5.34 runs per game to the Mets second place number of 4.99 runs per game. But the Mets are actually outscoring the Cubs in road games, 5.08 runs per game to 5.00 runs per game. At Wrigley, the Cubs have scored an average of 5.65 runs per game, compared to the Mets' average of 4.90 runs per game at Shea.