If you drill down in the splits on Carlos Delgado, some interesting things appear, some of which mitigate his rough season, but some only make him look worse:
*Delgado is, as I have previously noted, hitting just fine since July 1 (.282/.465/.374) in the second half.
*Even more than Beltran, Shea is killing Delgado, who is batting .292/.513/.355 on the road but an anemic .213/.365/.299 at Shea.
*Delgado is batting .322/.592/.402 with no outs, but .170/.327/.255 with two outs, and it’s all those inning enders that have really made him look helpless. Relatedly, he’s batting .224/.388/.326 with men in scoring position.
*Delgado is hitting .285/.492/.352 against the Mets’ NL East foes, including .328/.638/.403 against the Phillies. That matters, a lot.
*Consider Delgado’s problems at Shea, which is notorious for its poor visibility. Consider that he is hitting .289/.510/.379 in day games and .317/.512/.429 indoors, but .241/.418/.307 at night. Consider that he is hitting .283/.532/.342 against finesse pitchers, but .212/.349/.296 against power pitchers.
Does Delgado need his eyes checked, and that’s why he’s having trouble at night and at home? Or is it that – like everyone – he just sees the ball a slight bit better by day and away from Shea, and that that extra microsecond to react is where his declining reflexes, at age 35, are becoming a problem? Perhaps the struggles with power pitchers suggest the latter.