The Mets Leave 1,600 Men On Base

Based on some stats from ESPN.com, the Mets are on pace to average leaving 10 men on base a game this season.

10 men a game.

That's over 1,600 men being left on base for the entire season. And you wonder why we missed the playoffs? I've been a major voice in saying that the Mets issues last season were with the bullpen. Fix the bullpen and you'll fix the issues. But now I'm questioning myself.

The bullpen absolutely needed to be fixed, but the clutch hitting will hurt our chances almost as much. If you leave over 1,600 men on base over the course of the season, there's no way you're winning a division. Now I expect that average to drop as the months drag on, but the lack of timely hitting may be the Mets achilles heel this season.

You'd like to place the blame on a particular player or two, but you really can't. The whole team has issues with driving in runs with 2 outs. I don't know what the answer is to this problem. Can you really do anything to fix a lack of clutchness?

I have a feeling it's a mental issue and until there's a 3 or 4 game stretch where Mets batters start coming through in a tough spot, I think we'll see this trend continue.