LOS ANGELES — Big swings, not many big misses.
The Mets took notice in their 9-5 loss on Monday night at Dodgers Stadium just how often Los Angeles seemed to guess right at the plate. Amazin’.
That got the Mets’ attention. On Tuesday night it was a different story as the Mets came away with the 7-3 victory.
After Monday’s loss, a couple Mets told The Post they were concerned the Dodgers were taking some really big swings, almost as if they knew what was coming. They believe the Dodgers are so good at either stealing signs, knowing sequencing patterns of pitchers and arm slots via video that they were onto what Mets pitchers were throwing at times.
“I think they have a system that helps them get some signs and stuff,’’ bench coach Jim Riggleman told The Post. “I don’t think it’s anything illegal, but I think they just do a good job of picking up things. If you do anything in your delivery that’s different, if your sequences are repetitive. We talked about it. Because they are taking some hefty cuts. They are not getting cheated. We made some pretty good pitches that they got. We’ll do better.’’
“That’s what the Dodgers do,” Mickey Callaway said. “It appears they know what’s coming, but if you execute your pitches you can get them out and you have to throw the ball in to offset some of that.’’
Scouts also have noticed how the Dodgers guess right on so many of their big hacks.
Steven Matz did much better Tuesday night. Matz said he pitched backwards, he wasn’t following along a sequence and catcher Wilson Ramos made that a “point of emphasis.’’ The lefty Matz also had his changeup working and pitched inside.
“I just think they were really aggressive,’’ Matz said of Dodgers hitters. “Wilson had a great game plan, I don’t think I shook him off one time. I was changing speeds and kind of pitching backwards.’’
When reliever Robert Gsellman came on to face the red-hot Cody Bellinger in a key situation in the seventh, he got ahead with a changeup and then got Bellinger to fly to left to end the inning.
The Mets simply can’t do the same old thing against the Dodgers. As an organization the Dodgers are too prepared.
The big test was going to be Wednesday night when the struggling Noah Syndergaard took the mound for the Mets. If Thor fell into patterns, the Dodgers were prepared to strike hard with big swings. Bellinger is the best hitter on the planet right now with 20 home runs and a .382 average entering play.
In 11 starts this season, Syndergaard had surrendered 10 home runs as his ERA climbed to 4.93.
Todd Frazier has given the Mets offense a big lift lately. He is on board with the Mets pitchers mixing it up more against the Dodgers hitters.
“We have to change them up, just have a conscious effort of understanding when [the Dodgers] have a guy on second base,’’ Frazier said. “You have to focus not only on the batter but making an adjustment with the signs and also pitch backwards.’’
In other words, control the at-bat mentally. Don’t let the Dodgers hitters get too comfortable physically and mentally.
“Hitters are swinging in zones right now,’’ one scout said. “That’s why you are seeing so many home runs and so many strikeouts. They expect the pitch to be in a certain area and they are letting it fly.’’
Change the pattern and pitchers will regain the advantage of surprise. It’s all part of the cat and mouse game that has been elevated to new heights because of so much research by organizations.
Teams are seeking every advantage they can get, and there is a lot of information out there on Jacob deGrom, Syndergaard, Matz and Zack Wheeler.
Bullpens have also been studied like never before, so when the Mets brought in young relievers Tylor Bashlor and Daniel Zamora on Monday night, the
Dodgers hitters knew exactly what to look for and what to pummel.
Change speeds, pitch inside.