Met fans had been excited to see Travis d’Arnaud since R.A. Dickey (then the reigning Cy Young winner) was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays. It was expected that the Mets gave the keys to the starting catching position over and wished him well. After a few short months it was clear to most people watching that Anthony Recker (the backup catcher) had greatly outplayed d’Arnaud and deserved the lion-share of the starts.
This was the reason that d’Arnaud was demoted to AAA. He needed to find his stroke and prove that he could be a better player than he had thus far done. Sometimes, going to AAA is a good thing.
He’s played all of 7 games for Las Vegas and accumulated a whopping 29 at bats, but the fact he’s done what he has done in 7 games makes it all the more impressive.
- 12 Hits in 29 at bats for a robust .414 batting average
- 3 walks compared to 2 strikeouts
- 8 Runs scored and 10 RBI
- 2 doubles and 5 home runs
That’s a pretty good statement to the Mets. If not, the 1.485 OPS has to be. At this rate, I can’t see d’Arnaud staying “demoted” for long.
AAA:
Rafael Montero hurt – He’s got a fairly minor injury but it will likely keep him out for 1-2 weeks.
AA:
Don’t forget Kevin Plawecki – His OPS on the year might only be .884 (still pretty awesome) but he’s firmly established his hitting chops at AA. When d’Arnaud returns to the majors, Plawecki could move up to Vegas.
When will we see Jack Leathersich? – He’s dominated AA with almost an 18.0 K/9, sure he hits the occasional bump, but he’s going to be special.
A+:
Dilson Herrera keeps on performing – His line on the year is a healthy .310/.359/.412, he’s stolen 14 bases and looks like he could be an impact middle infielder.
Cam Maron making strides – He’s continued to raise his numbers across the board. I still think he’s got a solid future as the left-handed backup to d’Arnaud or Plawecki.
A:
L.J. Mazzilli is showing off – His line is .292/.363/.428 on the year and he has 9 doubles, 2 triples, 7 home runs and 11 stolen bases. He’s doing it all!
John Gant is ready for Port St. Lucie – His lines in Savannah are pristine, it’s time to challenge him.
Akeel Morris must be mentioned – He hasn’t pitched since the 8th, but he’s sporting a 0.28 ERA with only 12 walks and 50 strikeouts in 31.2 innings pitched.
A-:
Brooklyn has started playing and we await the signing of Michael Conforto. In the meantime, the player to watch is Amed Rosario.
Marcos Molina is brilliant in debut – 6.0 IP, 3 hits, 1 walk and 7 strikeouts… I’ll sign up for that.
My concern with Travis is that the old adage will prove true: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. I need to be convinced that he’s not a AAAA hitter…
True enough of a concern.
The silver lining is this should take care of any confidence issues.
A week ago the mets would have had a problem trading him for anything really good and like Doug said this may be a case of what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas and it is also possible Travis is a AAA hitter and will never make it in the majors and what if he is injury prone the rest of his career? Now is the time to trade him because after the last week at AAA I’ll bet their’s at least one team and most likely more that would be willing to give the mets a very good if not great prospect for him! Then move Plawecki up to AAA and if he hits up their like he did in AA give him a shot with mets this year ASAP!!
I think he needs a bit more to re-establish his value, but the Mets could certainly afford to trade him.
I think TdA will be back in the Majors on June 26th in Pittsburgh for the first game of the road trip.
Kyle Johnson is having a nice year at AA with an .802 OPS and hasn’t made an error in the outfield. He is 24 yoa and was drafted in the 25th round of the 2012 draft by the Angels.
I am looking forward to going to tomorrow nights SAL All Star game.Ten Sand Gnat players made the roster with the recent addition of LJ Mazzilli, John Gant and Tim Peterson . McGowan, Diaz, Morris, Coles, Alvarez, McNeil and Cecchini were previously named to the squad. Manager Luis Rojas is the All Star manager. The Gnats won the first half with a 44-22 record.
I didn’t mention some of the Savannah pitchers but the rotation there is certainly doing big things.
How many pitchers have averaged more than 14K per game for four seasons in a row, in any professional American team?
Billy Wagner did it three times in a row with the ‘Stros but wasn’t nearly as dominant as Leathersich is in the minors.
Leathersich’s control seems to be improved, I’m wondering why he hasn’t been called up or, at least, promoted to AAA.
We have quite a few current closers who are close to that mark.
The first that comes to mind is Kimbrel. He has 14k/9 in 4 out of his 5 seasons so far and last year he came in with “just” a 13.2 mark.
Next is Aroldis Chapman. He’s currently has a 3 season streak of 14k+ (including this one). I think it’s very possible he could get 4 in a row.
Those 2 are the closest, but if you lower the standard to 13+ you have Kenley Jansen and Greg Holland also who should be discussed.
I think it’s worth noting that Kimbrel and Jansen had huge K numbers in the minors, and also huge BB numbers as well. Kimbrel even has Leathersich beat with a 5.7BB/9 compared to just 5 BB/9 for Leathersich, and he didn’t even have to play at Vegas. Jansen’s a bit different story as he was a converted catcher (so naturally there’s a lot of control problems to begin with), but he had a career 5.1 BB/9 in the minors as well. Holland had a bit less trouble with a 4.1BB/9, but he also wasn’t striking out that many either. Chapman was a 5.1BB/9, but a lot of those innings were as a starter, so it’s harder to lump him into this comparison.
Dilson Herrera sounds like a very exciting player. Excellent reporting as always.