New York Mets pitchers to own the inside half under Dave Eiland

New York Mets pitchers are going to take over the inside part of the plate, says Dave Eiland.

It’s a new day for the New York Mets as we go into 2018. Mickey Callaway and Dave Eiland are in town replacing Terry Collins and Dan Warthen. For the first time, the Mets staff was on an off-season program and the staff has generally looked good so far this Spring. Even Jacob deGrom, coming back from back stiffness, didn’t look far behind the others. These are obviously good signs as this group is the key to the Mets potential success.

The inside part of the plate. It was once owned by the pitchers. Some of us older fans will remember those days. Things are different now. Remember when the Royals were ticked off at Noah Syndergaard for brushing their hitter back in the World Series? Part of that was due to how rare it has been to see a pitcher throw inside. Guys, typically, are afraid to come inside for fear of hitting the batter.

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That is all set to change under the leadership of Dave Eiland. He is instead going to have his pitchers own the inside half and be feared.

"“Don’t let hitters get comfortable,’’ Eiland told The Post about the style of pitching he wants his Mets hurlers to have on the mound. “When you’re pitching, you have to be feared.”…“I am not saying we are going to throw at people’s heads because we’re not. We are not going to throw behind them. We’re going to go in and when we go in, if we miss, we are going to miss in off the plate and we are going to hit some guys."

Eiland went on to talk about how his team may lead the league in hit batsmen, but he explains that in the above quote. When you come inside you are going to miss every now and then. If you miss too far in you may hit the guy at the plate. It’s not intentional but it serves the purpose of not letting the hitter get comfortable.

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This is an essential element of the game and one we must see from our young pitching staff. We learned as young little leaguers that when the ball is coming hard all we have to do is meet it. If players are going to dive across the plate to hit the fastballs of the Mets pitchers they are going to land very far away. If you throw inside, the hitter can’t get comfortable and drive the baseball anyway.

The pitching staff has the potential to upgrade itself with this new strategy. Who else can’t wait to see it?

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