One of the reasons the Mets went out and obtained Jay Bruce at the trade deadline is the team felt they needed another power bat in the lineup other than Yoenis Cespedes.  Unfortunately, that trade hasn’t panned out well with Bruce hitting just .192/.271/.315 with just four homers and 11 RBI in 36 games as a Met.  Worse yet, the Mets gave up Dilson Herrera, who could’ve taken over as the second baseman when Neil Walker required season ending back surgery and Wilmer Flores injured his neck.

Bruce’s struggles could be alleviated if the team was getting production at first base.  However, James Loney has similarly struggled.  Since the All Star Break, Loney is hitting .249/.276/.329 with only eight extra base hits in 51 games.  These numbers are even worse when you consider Terry Collins has done all he could do to help Loney offensively by playing Flores at first against left-handed pitching.  Worse yet, Loney’s reputation as a Gold Glove caliber first baseman has been greatly overblown.  While defensive metrics for first base can be seen as imperfect, and cannot be fully trusted in a single season sample size, Loney has a -3.2 UZR and 0 DRS.  Combining that with the prior two seasons, Loney has averaged a -2.4 UZR and a -1 DRS.  Overall, these numbers speak to Loney’s lack of range and his failure to stretch on balls thrown to first base.

The solution to both of these problems would be Lucas Duda.  In 2014, Duda beat out Ike Davis to become the Mets first baseman.  In his two seasons as the Mets first baseman, Duda was a .249/.350/.483 hitter who averaged 28 homers and 82 RBI.  Entering the season, Bruce was a .248/.319/.462 hitter who averages 26 homers and 80 RBI.  Accordingly, Duda was a better power hitter and “run producer” who also got on base at a higher clip.  Naturally, Duda far surpasses Loney has a hitter.

Defensively, Duda’s poor defensive reputation really rests on one bad throw in the World Series.  Over his career, he has a 2.5 UZR and an 11 DRS.  Over the two seasons he was the everyday first baseman, Duda averaged a 0.1 UZR and a 5 DRS.  Using these advanced metrics, Duda is a much better defender than his reputation suggests, and he is a better defender than Loney.  More importantly, as Keith Hernandez consistently pointed out over the past few seasons, Duda cheats to get to each and every ball thrown by an infielder.  He stretches as far out as he can to help the Mets get the out calls on the close calls at first base.

Offensively and defensively, Duda is exactly what this Mets team needs for the stretch run and the postseason.  Unfortunately, Duda suffered a stress fracture in his lower back.  With a few setbacks during his rehabilitation, Duda was supposed to be gone for the season.  

As it turns out, he wasn’t. Duda was able to get enough stationary bike riding and batting practice in for the Mets to feel comfortable activating him from the disabled list on Saturday. Even better, he got the surprise start on Sunday. 

He would go 0-2 with a strikeout looking rusty at the plate. He was eventually lifted for Asdrubal Cabrera when the Twins brought in the left-handed Buddy Boshers to pitch the sixth. In the field, Duda was back to his normal form stretching out to give his team the best chance possible to get the base runner. 

Getting on the field was a good start. However, if the Mets are going to make a run in the postseason, they will need Duda’s bat. There are 13 games left in the season for him to get into form. Hopefully, Collins will give him every opportunity to get going before the Wild Card Game. 

If so, we have seen a hot Duda bat carry the Mets for long stretches. It just might carry the Mets to the World Series.