picture courtesy of sportsillustrated.cnn.com
There is the unwritten rule of "Don't take your offensive struggles to the field". Very often it happens, a player is having some issues seeing the ball at the plate, is unhappy over being called out on strikes or is simply thinking too much about his next at bat while he is on the field. A routine plays ensues, and it is taken for granted, resulting in either a fielding or throwing error. This happens too much, and recently may be the case with perennial NL SSs Troy Tulowitski and Jose Reyes.
Tulowitski is coming off an NL Gold Glove and a ridiculous offensive start to the 2011 season. Mets fans will remember a four game series last April where Tulowitski homered in all four games and was impossible to get out. He has not enjoyed the same success this season, hitting just .244 (10-41) with 1 HR, 6 RBI, 1 2B and 1 3B. The numbers are not alarming by any stretch of the imagination. He will get into a grove soon and this part will soon be forgotten. What is harder to understand is his struggles defensively, making 6 errors in his first 11 games. He is a fundamentally sound player who is clearly in a funk playing the field right now.
Reyes could be trying too hard to live up to his new contract. He has hit .226 (12-53) with a respectable 3 2Bs, 2 3Bs and 2 RBI. But, he too has struggled in the field, making 5 errors in 13 games. Reyes is on pace to blow away his career high of 18 errors in a season. While with the Mets, there were times that he would allow his offense to effect his defense.
Players like Pablo Sandoval, Starlin Castro and Dan Uggla are on the same leaderboard as Reyes and Tulowitski. The only thing is, it is Tulowitski and Reyes who are leading the league. This is not expected to last. But it would be nice if the error streak stopped before the hitting streak started. Both players are better than that. They are franchise players. Franchise players are unbreakable and never allow this to happen.
Perhaps this is too early to make such assumptions. It could be a coincidence that Reyes and Tulowitski are having trouble at the plate and, in a separate issue, have made a couple errors too much. Time will cure that. But, one things for sure, the longer the defensive problems continue, the worse both of these players look.
Tulowitski is coming off an NL Gold Glove and a ridiculous offensive start to the 2011 season. Mets fans will remember a four game series last April where Tulowitski homered in all four games and was impossible to get out. He has not enjoyed the same success this season, hitting just .244 (10-41) with 1 HR, 6 RBI, 1 2B and 1 3B. The numbers are not alarming by any stretch of the imagination. He will get into a grove soon and this part will soon be forgotten. What is harder to understand is his struggles defensively, making 6 errors in his first 11 games. He is a fundamentally sound player who is clearly in a funk playing the field right now.
Reyes could be trying too hard to live up to his new contract. He has hit .226 (12-53) with a respectable 3 2Bs, 2 3Bs and 2 RBI. But, he too has struggled in the field, making 5 errors in 13 games. Reyes is on pace to blow away his career high of 18 errors in a season. While with the Mets, there were times that he would allow his offense to effect his defense.
Players like Pablo Sandoval, Starlin Castro and Dan Uggla are on the same leaderboard as Reyes and Tulowitski. The only thing is, it is Tulowitski and Reyes who are leading the league. This is not expected to last. But it would be nice if the error streak stopped before the hitting streak started. Both players are better than that. They are franchise players. Franchise players are unbreakable and never allow this to happen.
Perhaps this is too early to make such assumptions. It could be a coincidence that Reyes and Tulowitski are having trouble at the plate and, in a separate issue, have made a couple errors too much. Time will cure that. But, one things for sure, the longer the defensive problems continue, the worse both of these players look.
picture courtesy of picturesdepot.com
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