Chris Young was terrible this year for the New York Mets, but ever since going to the Yankees he’s gone on a hitting tear.
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Why is Young suddenly knocking balls into the seats at a high rate after barely showing warning track power during his time with the Metropolitans? Terry Collins knows.
It’s the ball park (via Mets.com):
"“I’m very excited for him,” Collins said. “He’s a tremendous guy. You root for guys like him. I’m glad he’s got another chance and he’s making the most of it. It’s cool to see.”Collins, who called Young this winter trying to recruit him for the Mets, believes the psychological aspect of Citi Field’s dimensions negatively affected him.“You’ve got to hit them here,” Collins said. “And sometimes there’s nights when you hit them, they don’t go anywhere — due to the wind, due to the humidity, whatever it is, sometimes balls just don’t carry here. We see it every single day, that it’s a tough place to hit. It affected Jason Bay immensely. It’s affected David [Wright] some. It’s affected [Curtis] Granderson some. It’s affected Chris Young.”"
Spacious Citi Field with his absurdly deep right center messes with the heads of hitters. That’s Collins’ explanation for why the Mets have struggled to produce runs over the last few years.
Well it’s hard to disagree. Just look at Chris Young. In Citi Field, he’s awful. But over there in cozy Yankee Stadium, suddenly he’s a home run machine.
That’s all the evidence anyone needs to draw a conclusion. Citi Field messes with confidence, ruins hitters and is killing the Mets.
Solution: blow up Citi Field and somehow bring Shea Stadium back from the dead.