Can Neil Walker’s Bat Play at Third

The minute there was the hint of trouble with David Wright, the popular opinion was to move Neil Walker over to third base.  The concept behind the move was two-fold: (1) Walker should be able to move over to a position he played 15 games in his career; and (2) it would permit the Mets to call-up Dilson Herrera to play second base.  Herrera is the Mets second baseman of the future, and it appears that the future is now.  Lost in this is an analysis of how Walker’s bat would actually play at third base.

It’s easy to overlook that fact when the Mets have been trotting out Eric Campbell, Matt Reynolds, and Ty Kelly at third base.  Yes, anything would be an improvement over them.  However, the idea is not to simply get better; the idea is to put a team on the field that is capable of winning the World Series.

This year Walker has been terrific at the plate hitting .275/.346/.498 with 14 home runs and 28 RBI.  He is definitively one of the best second baseman in the league and should garner serious consideration for the All Star Game.  He is nearly in the top 10 in each and every statistical category, and he has the most home runs among second basemen.  Here is how Walker would rank among National League third basemen this year:

  1. Hits – 7th
  2. Homers – 3rd
  3. RBI – 7th
  4. Average – 5th
  5. OBP – 8th
  6. Slugging – 5th

These are not awe-inspiring rankings.  However, these stats show that Walker’s bat could very well play at third base this year.

Overall, you would prefer to have Walker play second base this year because he is more comfortable at the position, and he has a plus bat for the position.  However, beggers can’t be choosers, and the Mets are in a position where they are begging for some offense from first and third base.  If Dilson Herrera can handle being an everyday player in the majors now, it would make sense to move Walker to third as he can handle it offensively.

The real question is going to be whether he can handle it defensively.  With Wilmer Flores getting hit on the hand yesterday, we may find out soon.

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