Musings
According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, the Mets are confident they will add a reliever before the trading deadline, and they have are in active discussions on three relievers:
Daniel Hudson – Hudson has twice had Tommy John surgery in his career. The last one costing him cost him the 2013 season. In this his second full season after his lastest Tommy John surgery, he has made 42 appearances. He has gone 1-2 with a 6.08 ERA and a 1.459 WHIP, which is much worse than he was last year when he was 4-3 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.315 WHIP in 64 appearances. One reason for the regression is Hudson’s changeup isn’t as good as it was last year. Last year, Hudson generated the most swings and misses and the weakest contact when he threw his changeup. This year, no one is fooled by Hudson’s changeup with batters hitting the pitch frequently and with authority. The hope in acquiring him is the team could make a mechanical adjustment to help make his changeup a more useful pitch. It also doesn’t hurt that he throws a 97 MPH fastball with an 88 MPH slider. Hudson will be a free agent after this season.
Jim Johnson – It has been three years since Johnson has been a dominant closer for the Orioles. Since leaving the Orioles, Johnson has made 163 appearances going 9-13 with a 5.30 ERA and a 1.599 WHIP. This season he is pitching better than that going 2-5 with a 4.21 ERA and a 1.349 WHIP. His main issue is his once dominant sinker is no longer dominant. Batters have a .303 batting average with a .472 slugging on the pitch. The 33 year old will be a free agent after the season.
Joe Smith – The former Mets third round pick will be a free agent after the season. This year, Smith is 1-4 with a 3.96 ERA and a 1.349 WHIP. His ERA stands to be the worst of his career, and his WHIP stands to be the worst since his rookie year with the Mets. One reason could be his having a slight downtick in his velocity. As a result, batters are hitting .265/.348/.368 against him. While it would be anticipated that lefties would be doing most of the damage against the sidewinding righty, it has not been the case. Righties and lefties are hitting him fairly equally. However, over his last seven starts, Smith seems to be pitching much better having not allowed a run and limiting opposing batters to a .227/.227/.227 batting line. In those games, it appears he has regained some of his lost velocity.
On the whole, these appear to decent choices for the back end of the Mets bullpen, and in the event they pitch well for the Mets, each should ease some of the burden off of Hansel Robles, Addison Reed, and Jeurys Familia.
Editor’s Note: this was also published on Mets Merized Online
The only thing we know right now about Mike Piazza‘s retired 31 is that it is going to be in the Left Field Legends Landing in front of Tom Seaver‘s number 41.
* Photo courtesy of Jeremy Posner
For whatever reason, the Mets are changing how the retired numbers are displayed. It used to be in the order the numbers were retired, and now with Piazza’s ceremony on the horizon, the Mets have changed it to reverse order. It’ll be interesting to see if that is how it remains. What is also interesting is that the Mets have tipped their hands, and they have shown that they are going to do a “uniform” display of the retired numbers:
What is interesting about that is Piazza never specifically wore that jersey. Sure, the Mets would occasionally wear pinstripes during Piazza’s tenure with the Mets, but when they did the number had a dropshadow.
Instead of the jersey number as the Mets will most likely display it, the Mets should have gone with the black jerseys to represent not just Piazza, but also the specific Mets era in which he played:
That’s the jersey Piazza wore in his first playoff game with the Mets (road version of the black jerseys in Game 1 of the 1999 NLDS). It was a game the Mets won highlighted by an Edgardo Alfonzo grandslam. It was the jersey he was wearing when Robin Ventura hit the Grand Slam single. It was the jersey he wore when he hit the three run homer to cap a 10 run eighth inning rally that saw the Mets overcome an 8-1 deficit against the hated Braves. It was the jersey he wore when the Mets won the 2000 Pennant. It was the jersey he wore when he broke Johnny Bench‘s record for most home runs by a catcher. And yes, it was the jersey he wore when he hit the post 9/11 home run.
Overall, if you conjure up your favorite moment of that era or of Piazza in a Mets uniform, chances are the Mets were wearing the black uniforms. It doesn’t really matter that Piazza wore the snow white jerseys more than any other jersey. The Mets need for symmetry should not outweigh properly representing history, and remember, it was their idea to have the black jerseys in the first place. Instead, the 31 that will forever hang in the Left Field Legends Landing should be the Mets black jersey as that is the jersey that most fans associate with Piazza.
Unfortunately, that is not what is going to happen, and with it the Mets will fail to properly reflect their history.
Over the past month, Alejandro De Aza has completely turned his season around. He has been unrecognizable in July hitting .333/.484/.500 with a double, a home run, and an RBI. With De Aza being and useful and productive player, it seems like anything is possible including but not limited to Antonio Bastardo becoming a competent part of the Mets bullpen. Yes, even that. And it has happened.
In Bastardo’s has 10 appearances, he has pitched 12 effective innings. Over this stretch, he has a 2.25 ERA and a 0.833 WHIP. Batters are only hitting .205/.222/.341 against him. This is a completely different pitcher than the one who pitched to a 5.46 ERA and a 1.618 WHIP over his first 29 appearances that saw batters hit a whopping .261/.372/.443 off of him. He has gone from a guy Terry Collins justifiably buried in the bullpen necessitating the Mets to seek out a reliever on the trade market to a potentially valuable piece in the bullpen. What has happened?
As strange as this may sound for a pitcher on the Mets, Bastardo has benefitted from throwing his slider more frequently. Coming into this season, Bastardo had used his slider 31% of the time, and it proved to be a plus pitch for him. Batters didn’t make much contact off the pitch swinging and missing 44.46% of the time. When a batter was able to put the bat on Bastardo’s slider, it usually resulted in weak contact with the batters having a .168 batting average and isolated power of .091. For whatever reason, Bastardo has shied away from this pitch in the beginning of 2016.
To start the season, Bastardo’s slider usage rate dropped from 31% to 24%. Instead, Bastardo began to throw more changeups, which is a very bad idea. Over his career, batters tee off on Bastardo’s changeup hitting .375 off the pitche with a .609 slugging percentage. Essentially, every batter turns into Babe Ruth when they get a chance to hit Bastardo’s changeup. In reality, there is no reason for Bastardo to ever throw his changeup especially when you consider that batters see it coming. Over his career, batters swing and miss only 26% of the time. Overall, batters aren’t fooled by the pitch, and they do some real damage when they make contact. Over Bastardo’s last 10 appearances, he is still throwing way too many changeups, and the pitch is still being hit hard and frequently. However, he is able to compensate for that by throwing more sliders.
In what has been Bastardo’s best stretch of the season his slider usage rate is back up to 33%. He is still generating similar swing and miss numbers (39.13%), and batters are still unable to do anything with the pitch hitting .125 off the pitch with an isolated power of .000.
Perhaps more important than the pitch selection is the fact that Bastardo is throwing strikes. The main issue with Bastardo has always been control, and those issues were really prominent to begin the year. In his first 29 appearances, Bastardo was averaging 5.5 walks per nine innings. He was only throwing strikes 60% of the time. Now, he’s getting the ball over the plate throwing strikes 70% of the time. He has only walked one batter over the last 12 innings. With him throwing his slider more frequently, and getting the pitch over the plate, he has become a more effective pitcher. He has become the pitcher the Mets thought they were getting when they signed him to a two year $12 million contract in the offseason. So is he back?
It might be too early to say. We have seen some flashes here and there only to be disappointed once again. The Mets have only used him ONCE over this stretch to get some batters out in a close game. That resulted in Bastardo allowing Daniel Murphy to hit a home run off of him to make it an 8-7 game. Other than that, Bastardo has been used mostly in blowouts and to preserve the bullpen arms when the Mets have been behind. While Bastardo is pitching much more effectively, it is difficult to determine if he’s ready to once again pitch in a pressure filled situation with the game on the line.
With that in mind, the Mets should keep their current 7-8-9 combination as Hansel Robles–Addison Reed–Jeurys Familia. If Bastardo keeps pitching well, he could crack that group for a night or two to give one of those guys a breather. He could also be called on to get big outs in the sixth inning. That could be his role, and he can do it extremely well so long as he keeps throwing his slider, and he keeps throwing strikes.
On August 11, 1992, the Mets had a day to honor Tom Seaver for being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Considering he was the best pitcher in Mets history, you would think the honor of starting that game would go to Dwight Gooden, who was the only Mets pitcher who would break any of Seaver’s records. David Cone was another terrific choice given how great a pitcher he was for the Mets. Bret Saberhagen would have been fitting as he was a two time Cy Young winner and a former World Series MVP. Even Sid Fernandez could have fit the bill as it was his Game Seven performance that helped prevent Seaver from winning one last ring in 1986.
Instead, it was Eric Hillman, who was making his first ever major league start on a dark and rainy night that drove away most of the fans who should have been there to celebrate with Seaver. To be fair, that game would’ve been called almost any other night had it not been Seaver’s night. Between the weather, and who was going to be honored, it was a difficult situation for a young pitcher. Hillman was up to the challenge pitching eight scoreless innings to help defeat the first place Pittsburgh Pirates.
With Monday’s rainout, the Mets will be in a similar position for Mike Piazza‘s number retirement ceremony.
It was supposed to be Noah Syndergaard. Who better to celebrate the career of the Mets rock star catcher than to have the Mets rock star starting pitcher? Who better to honor the power Piazza showed at the plate than the power pitcher who can routinely throw over 100 MPH? The long haired starting pitcher dominating the opponents should have started the game honoring the long haired dominant hitter. It was all too perfect to be true. With the rain, it’s not going to happen.
Instead, the Mets are most likely going to get a spot starter making his first ever major league start similar to what happened with Eric Hillman on Tom Seaver’s night. It just seems to go that way on a night when the Mets honor their Hall of Famers.
The start could to to Seth Lugo, who has pitched extremely well out of the bullpen in his four appearances this year. Gabriel Ynoa could be summoned from the minor leagues to make his first ever start as could his Las Vegas 51s teammate Robert Gsellman. Whoever it turns out to be, they have some large shoes to fill. No, not Syndergaard’s, the 6’10” Hillman’s. Whoever the Mets give the chance to make his first ever career start needs to go out there and put up a dominant performance like Hillman’s to allow the fans to celebrate deep into the night.
The first ever pitcher to be used in a doubleheader after Major League Baseball’s inception of the 26th Man Rule was former Met Jeremy Hefner. On April 23, 2012, Hefner would make his big league debut pitching three scoreless innings in the first game of the doubleheader. Since that point, Hefner would need not one but two Tommy John surgeries. After the second surgery, the Mets would not offer him a contract making a free agent. Currently, he is pitching for the Cardinals’ AAA affiliate the Memphis Redbirds. His story might have began as one of a statistical oddity to one of perseverance.
With that in mind, it is fitting that Josh Smoker was called-up by the Mets to be the 26th man for the second game of the doubleheader against the Cardinals last night.
Smoker had originally been a first round pick by the Washington National back in 2007. However, Smoker would never make it past A ball. There was the first surgery in 2008 to remove bone spurs from his pitching shoulder. There would be two more surgeries in 2013 to repair his labrum and rotator cuff. After that, he was released by the Nationals organization leaving him with two options: (1) retire from baseball altogether; or (2) give it one last shot.
His shot would come with the Rockford Aviators of the Independent Aviator Leagues. That Illinois team is located approximately 886 miles away from Citi Field, but in reality, Smoker seemed further away from the big leagues than that. Initially, his three times surgically repaired shoulder didn’t have its velocity leaving him with an unspectacular 1-0 record with a 4.03 ERA and a 1.793 WHIP. However, his velocity would come back, and the Mets would take notice offering him a minor league contract.
Suddenly, Smoker and his fastball that could top out around 98 MPH was blazing through the Mets minor league system. He would start the year in the Sally League, and he would finish the year with AA Binghamton. The pitcher who had trouble getting independent leaguers out had a 3-0 record with a 3.12 ERA and a 1.184 WHIP. Given his prior years of service in the Nationals’ organization, the Mets were forced to decide whether to put Smoker on the 40 man roster or to expose him in the Rule 5 Draft. Not only would the Mets put him on the 40 Man Roster, but they would also allow him to start the year in AAA. Like most pitcher’s in the Pacific Coast League, Smoker’s ERA and WHIP would take a hit. However, what really stood out this season is the fact that Smoker is striking out 13.2 batters per nine innings. With the Mets having an open roster spot, and the team not wanting to tax the bullpen, the Mets had little choice but to add the pitcher who is striking out more batters per nine than anyone in their farm system.
And with that, Smoker has officially made it. He is now a big league pitcher. He persevered through three shoulder surgeries and diminished velocity. He has overcame each and every obstacle thrown his way. He didn’t get in the game, but it doesn’t diminish what he’s accomplished. Given the quirks of the 26th Man Rule, he’s on his way back to AAA. Without a doubt, he will be back with the Mets, and he will pitch in a game next time.
Congratulations Josh Smoker.
Lately, when the Mets have needed a pinch hitter or someone to double switch into a game, Terry Collins first choice off the bench has been Alejandro De Aza. What follows is much hand wringing and consternation from Mets fans. It leaves fans questioning why he didn’t go with Kelly Johnson or Wilmer Flores. They question whether Collins knows what he’s doing.
It turns out that Collins just might know what he’s doing.
Since June 30th, De Aza is hitting .286/.444/.429 with a homer and six RBI in 27 plate appearances stretch across 17 games. For sure, this is a small sample size, and it shouldn’t distract from the fact that De Aza has not been good all year. His .181/.258/.267 batting line will attest to that. However, what it is is a start for De Aza. It is him finally taking advantage of the opportunities Collins has given him. De Aza is back to being a useful player on the bench for the Mets.
It may not be that surprising. Looking over his career, De Aza is typically a slow starter, who usually begins playing better in June. However, given his relative lack of playing time, De Aza has found his stride later in the season than he usually does. If his career patters hold true, De Aza is bound to have a good finish to the season. In his career, the final month of the season is his best as he hits .274/.352/.425. That is his highest OBP and SLG in any month of the season for his career. Last year, De Aza hit .262/.388/.361 in the final month of the season for a San Francisco Giants team that was within striking distance of the National League West as the month began.
De Aza is back in a pennant race, and he is performing like it at a time when the Mets need him. Yoenis Cespedes‘ quad has left him hobbled, and it may require him to take the occasional day off. This has forced Michael Conforto into center field in order to keep his bat in the lineup. With that said, the Mets need to play musical chairs late in the game to get their best defensive outfield into the game, which usually requires the Mets holding back Juan Lagares. This means the team needs De Aza to step in as a pinch hitter, pinch runner, or a defensive replacement himself. As strange as it may sound after his terrible start, the Mets need De Aza now. Fortunately, he is finally producing.
For most of the year, Mets fans wanted De Aza off of the team, but Terry Collins and the Mets front office has stuck by him. It is starting to look like De Aza is starting to reward the Mets faith in him. They deserve credit for seeing through the early season struggles and allowing him to get back to form and put him in position to have a strong finish to the season like he typically does.
In April, Neil Walker hit .307/.337/.625 with nine homers and 19 RBI. From there, it has gotten progressively worse. Here are his monthly splits in the subsequent months:
- May .250/.333/.420 with four homers and six RBI
- June .214/.292/.274 with one homer and seven RBI
- July .155/.254/.259 with two homers and eight RBI
From May 1st on, Walker is hitting .213/.298/.326 with seven homers and 21 RBI. It has dropped his .307/.337/.625 hot April to .239/.308/.409 this season with six doubles, 16 homers, and 40 RBI. Overall, he has a 91 OPS+ and a 95 wRC+. Walker’s season stats aren’t good, and they’re even worse when you consider he has progressively gotten worse each month of the season. Each and every game he is on the field, he is out there hurting the team.
The only solace for the Mets is they gave up Jon Niese to get him. Niese has had an even worse year than Walker. In his 18 starts, Niese was 7-6 with a 5.13 ERA and a 1.574 WHIP. Like Walker, he wasn’t getting any better as the year progressed. Niese put up a horrific June that saw him go 1-4 with a 6.21 ERA and a 1.710 WHIP. Those numbers would be even worse had he not had a terrific outing against the Mets on June 7th that saw him pick up the win after pitching seven scoreless innings while allowing four hits and two walks while striking out two. Take that game out of the equation, and Niese would’ve been 0-4 with a 7.86 ERA and a 1.937 WHIP. These numbers were so ugly that the Pirates were all but forced to demote Niese to the bullpen where he has pitched effectively in his three appearances.
Like the Pirates, the Mets need to admit the trade was a mistake from their end and demote Walker. He needs to be put on the bench because he’s hurting the team on a day-in and day-out basis. In his stead, the Mets could go with a Wilmer Flores–Kelly Johnson platoon at second base. Since May 29th, Flores is hitting .283/.338/.534 with nine homers and 25 RBI in 44 games. On the season, he is hitting .316/.371/.667 with six homers and 13 RBI in 29 games against a lefty. Since coming to the Mets, Johnson has been hitting .317/.394/.524 with three homers and five RBI in the 31 games he has played since re-joining the Mets. Both Flores and Johnson have earned playing time, and they have both produced from May to the present.
Right now, the Mets are a half game back of the second Wild Card, and they are five games out in the division. The Mets were exploring the possibility of trading a good, young, cost-controlled catcher in Travis d’Arnaud to acquire Jonathan Lucroy in the hopes of improving their offense. It appears the Mets are now out on Lucroy, and they are going to need to make offensive improvements elsewhere. For now, it appears the biggest improvement they can make is removing Walker from the lineup in place of two players that are hitting.
For the past two days, it appears that is Terry Collins approach as he has sat Walker in favor of Johnson against Marlins starter Jose Urena, and he was going to sit against Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez before the rainout. This is a precipitous drop from where Walker was when the Mets obtained him in the offseason and a freefall from where Walker was in April.
Considering how poorly Walker and Niese have fared away from the teams that drafted them, maybe the Pirates and Mets should get together and undo that trade.
There is probably not hotter prospect in all of baseball right now than Amed Rosario. He recently played in the Future’s Game, Keith Law recently ranked him as the number 14 overall prospect in all of baseball, and the Mets have called him untouchable in trade discussions thereby assuring he is going to be the Mets shortstop of the future. Given the fact that he is hitting .405/.471/.568 with six doubles and three triples in 17 games at AA Binghamton after dominating the Florida State League, the natural question arises as to when he will get called-up to AAA, so he can work on what he needs to work on there before taking over as the Mets shortstop for the next decade or more.
There’s one problem with aggressively promoting Rosario right now. Gavin Cecchini is currently the shortstop for the AAA Las Vegas 51s.
The 22 year old Cecchini was the Mets 2012 first round draft choice (12th overall). He is a well regarded prospect in his own right being listed as the 89th best prospect in all of baseball by Keith Law heading into the season. He was also MLB.com’s 87th best prospect. He was ranked so high as he hit .317/.377/.442 hitter with 26 doubles, four tripes, seven homers, and 51 RBI for AA Binghamton last year. His play in AA merited him a promotion to AAA where he has so far hit .319/.395/.447 with 17 doubles, two triples, five homers, and 40 RBI. Overall, Cecchini’s statistics alone establish that he’s a worthwhile prospect that should not yet be pushed aside.
Ultimately, statistics aside, Cecchini projects to be a good to very good major league hitter. He could quite possibly be the best contact hitter in the Mets’ minor league system. Cecchini has a nice compact swing who hits the ball with authority from gap to gap. In many ways, he reminds you of a right-handed younger Daniel Murphy at the plate. When his body begins to fill out some of those doubles may begin to turn into home runs at the big league level. While he may not be an All Star, he could very well be an above average regular.
There is one problem with Cecchini. Since he has been in the Mets system, he has mostly struggled defensively. This season is no different with him having an extremely poor .916 fielding percentage. While he has been willing to put in the work and do extra work on the side with Wally Backman, the results just aren’t there. Given the presence of Rosario, the natural inclination would be for the Mets to just move Cecchini to second base. This would create room for Rosario at shortstop, and the two can begin building a chemistry together as a future double play combination.
However, the Mets cannot do that as the Mets second baseman of the future, Dilson Herrera, is currently Cecchini’s double play partner in Las Vegas. The Mets have long been high on Herrera. Two years ago, the Mets gave him an 18 game cup of coffee due to a number of injuries. Last year, the Mets called him up to the majors rather quickly when both Murphy and David Wright went down with injuries. While Herrera didn’t produce much during either short stint in the majors, the tools are all there to be a very good major league hitter. He is still only 22 years old, and he has hit .302/.356/.487 while playing in AAA. Herrera can very well make an All Star Game or two on the basis of his bat alone.
And yet, there are some warning flags with Herrera. While he has good hands, he does not project to be a plus defender at second base. Additionally, he has seemingly taken a step back in AAA this year hitting only .278/.330/.465 in what has been an injury plagued year. He has become much less patient at the plate seemingly swinging at everything instead of working the count and getting a pitch to drive. It is somewhat troubling, but he is still only 22 years old, and he has shown he can be a terrific hitter. It is way too early to give up on player who can be a terrific hitter who has plus power for a middle infield position. Accordingly, you can’t just move Cecchini to second.
So what do you do with Cecchini? There are no easy answers.
The Mets could try to move him to third base where he could serve as insurance against David Wright‘s back. Given his lateral mobility and his arm, Cecchini could play the position. However, given Cecchini’s lack of true home run power, he doesn’t have the type of bat that could play at a corner infield position. Furthermore, removing Cecchini from shortstop would only serve to diminish his potential trade value.
Indeed, the Mets could look to trade him like they are apparently willing to do with any prospect named Amed Rosario. However, if the Mets were to do that, they would be parting with a player who has shown he could be a viable major league player. If the Mets were to part with Cecchini, they would be losing a big insurance policy. Rosario and Herrera could falter or get injured like some can’t miss prospects do. In the event that happens, Cecchini could prove to be a valuable piece who takes advantage of his opportunity. Mets fans saw this happen as recently as 2013 when Jacob deGrom established himself as a front line starting pitcher while Rafael Montero became an also ran. In essence, it is important to have depth, and Cecchini is certainly that.
Still, there is no doubt that Rosario and Herrera are the better prospects right now, and you cannot have Cecchini blocking their path to the majors no matter how good Cecchini is. The Mets could make him a third baseman or utility player thereby making him a better option for the big league club, but also diminishing his trade value. Overall, there are seemingly no good answers as to what the Mets should do with Cecchini. In some ways, it is a dilemma. In others, it is a good problem to have.
With the Mets looking to improve their roster in the hopes of both making the postseason and winning the World Series this year, the Mets may very well have to include him in a trade to get that player who puts them over the top. It’s also likely teams will force the Mets to give up Herrera in a trade. In either event, the problem will have been solved for the Mets. In the event that neither one is moved at the trading deadline, things will become interesting for the Mets. Ultimately, it is going to be very interesting to see how this whole situation eventually plays out.
With the Mets having just taken two out of three from the Marlins and having gained a game on the Nationals this weekend, the pennant race is in full swing. The Mets are within striking distance of the division and both Wild Card spots. This is a team desperate to go back to the postseason and take that one step further and win the World Series. In order to accomplish that goal, they have to pursue every avenue in an attempt to make the team better. That could include Jonathan Lucory.
Over the weekend, the latest rumor in what should prove to be a week of crazy rumors was that the Mets were interested in trading Travis d’Arnaud straight up for Lucroy. The Brewers understandably said no, as Lucroy is among the top three catchers in the sport, and he has an extremely reasonable $5.25 million option for his age 31 years season. With his production and his contract, every team in baseball should be interested in him except the Giants who have Buster Posey. Still, it is interesting to see the Mets engaged with the Brewers on a trade for Lucroy, when it is going to cost them d’Arnaud and a good to elite prospect. Overall, this may say something about how the Mets feel about d’Arnaud.
Overall, it is hard to get a real feel on who the real d’Arnaud is. Part of that is his injury history. Part of that is his inconsistent play.
When d’Arnaud was first called up to the Mets, he struggled. In his first 139 games which spanned across 2013 and 2014, d’Arnaud hit .233/.299/.384 with 25 doubles, three triples, 14 homers, and 46 RBI. He was having the types of offensive struggles we have seen Kevin Plawecki have in similarly limited duty. d’Arnaud had really struggled to start 2014 hitting .180/.271/.273 through 39 games. He left the Mets no choice but to send him down to the minors. In AAA, d’Arnaud got his head straight, and he came back a much better player for the end of the 2014 season. He played in 69 games after getting recalled hitting .272/.319/.486 with 19 doubles, three triples, and 10 home runs with 32 RBI. He seemed on his way to turning the corner.
That belief was only fortified in a strong 2015 campaign. Although limited due to two injuries, d’Arnaud did hit well throughout the 2015 season hitting .268/.340/.485 with 14 doubles, one triple, 12 homers, and 41 RBI in 67 games. If he was healthy, and that is always a big if with him, d’Arnaud was on pace to hit 28 doubles and 24 homers and 82 RBI if he was able to play in 134 games, which is a fair number of games to expect a healthy 26 year old catcher to play. For what it’s worth, Lucroy has never hit more than 18 homers in a year, has averaged 22 doubles, and 82 RBI is his career high mark in his seven year career. By the way, Lucroy plays in a great hitter’s park in Miller Park whereas d’Arnaud plays in Citi Field which still plays like a pitcher’s park even with the moved in outfield fences. Simply put, it was fair to expect d’Arnaud to be every good as Lucroy this year.
It hasn’t happened that way. So far this year, d’Arnaud is hitting .246/.302/.339 with five doubles, no triples, two homers, and 10 RBI. He has missed 48 games with a shoulder injury. It makes you question whether this meager production is related to his shoulder injury, his batting eighth in the lineup most nights, his new stance that has him wrapping his hands, or maybe just maybe, he’s not as good as we thought he was going to be. It’s possible the 67 games he played last year was an outlier as the production he has put up in his other 173 major league games are more in tune with the the production he has had this year.
Personally, I believe he is the player we saw last year. He is the catcher who is an excellent pitch framer that handles a very good starting staff very well. He is a guy with good power at the position who can be a difference maker in the lineup. You don’t want to move a piece like that especially when that player is under team control until 2020. It’s one thing to do everything you can do to win a World Series. It’s another thing to trade a player like d’Arnaud who should have similar, if not better, production to Lucroy and give away a big asset along with him.
And yet, d’Arnaud isn’t the player he was supposed to be. Given the fact that the Mets pitchers are starting to reach arbitration now and free agency is just on the horizon, the window is now open even with the Matt Harvey injury. The Mets can ill afford to punt a year away when they are in contention. With that in mind, is it fair to the team and the fans to sit around and wait to find out what d’Arnaud is when there’s a player like Lucroy available who can help you win this year and the next?
It’s not an easy answer especially when that other piece that would be traded along with d’Arnaud could be moved for another piece that could be a much bigger upgrade than what Lucroy would be over what d’Arnaud may be perceived to be. Either way, it’s telling that the Mets are at least considering the swap. At a minimum, it tells you they believe d’Arnaud is not as good as Lucroy. It may also be telling you that they don’t believe d’Arnaud will ever reach his full potential.
Every major league team that has been around long enough has three faces to their franchise. The first is The Immortal player. He is the player you first think of when you mention a franchise. The next is the Living Legend. This player is the one that is revered by young and old. He is the player that throws out the first pitch at first home game of the World Series. He’s in the Hall of Fame, and his number is retired. The last is the best or most popular player on the team. He is the player that has been traditionally dubbed the Face of the Team. Here are a few examples:
| New York Yankees | |
| Immortal | Babe Ruth |
| Living Legend | Derek Jeter |
| Face of the Team | Alex Rodriguez |
| Boston Red Sox | |
| Immortal | Ted Williams |
| Living Legend | Pedro Martinez |
| Face of the Team | David Ortiz |
| St. Louis Cardinals | |
| Immortal | Stan Musial |
| Living Legend | Bob Gibson |
| Face of the Team | Adam Wainwright |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| Immortal | Jackie Robinson |
| Living Legend | Sandy Koufax |
| Face of the Team | Clayton Kershaw |
Yesterday, with Mike Piazza‘s formal induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame and with Tom Seaver unable to attend the Hall of Fame ceremony he loves to attend, the Mets now how their own triumvirate.
Not only is Mike Piazza a Hall of Famer who is about to have his number retired by the Mets, he has also become the Mets resident Living Legend. It’s why he was the former player who threw out the first pitch prior to Game Three of the World Series. Every big moment for the Mets from here on out is going to prominently feature Mike Piazza much in the same way we have seen through the years with players like Ernie Banks, Stan Musial, Yogi Berra, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and once upon a time Tom Seaver.
It’s unfortunate to see Seaver unable to travel to attend the ceremony and host his table of 300 game winners, including friend and former teammate Nolan Ryan, from his day like he loved so dearly. It’s sad that he can’t travel cross-country to throw out the first pitch for any of the World Series games or to sit in the owner’s suite and cheer on The Franchise’s Franchise. It’s almost a surety that he will be unable to attend Piazza’s Number Retirement Ceremony this weekend. In some ways, that makes him like Gil Hodges and Casey Stengel – gone but not forgotten.
No one can ever forget Seaver. He’s the best player to ever put on a Mets uniform. He’s The Franchise. He’s quite possibly the greatest right handed pitcher to ever play the game. He is the pitcher who has received more Hall of Fame votes than anyone in baseball history. He is an Immortal. No one, not even Piazza, can ever knock him off that perch.
He is joined by the Living Legend Mike Piazza and the current Face of the Mets Franchise, be it David Wright, Yoenis Cespedes, or Noah Syndergaard to become one of the three all important faces of the Mets franchise. In that way, the Mets have become an older major league franchise with a history worth celebrating.