In the season of 2012, Ruben Tejada went from being Jose Reyes‘ backup to the full time starting shortstop for the New York Mets. He met the challenge head-on, hitting .289/.333/.351 while providing superb defense in a brief exhale of relief that maybe Reyes wouldn’t be so missed after all. It was a career year for the young man in a lot of ways, but the team was still terrible in the end, and that career year was lost.
Over the next two seasons, Tejada hit just .224/.313/.291 with brief stints out of the starting lineup, and back down in the minors. His defense faded in 2013, then returned in 2014. Yet still he wasn’t offering much besides a gently used glove, and a feeble bat. It seemed both the fans and front office had had enough of Tejada’s excuses and lack of hustle and 2015 was going to be different.
I personally have given Tejada a lot of grief over his years with the Mets. Unless you have the glove of a Rey Ordonez, little to no offense is unacceptable. With nearly zero offensive production around him for the past two season, Tejada’s bat was glaringly in need of replacing. So began Tejada’s season of riding the bench and filling in for Wilmer Flores at shortstop, and Daniel Murphy at second. Yet low and behold the Mets are going back to the postseason for the first time in nine years, and who’s playing shortstop? You guessed it, The Panamanian Sensation.
It all started when this wacky rollercoaster of a season took flight, injuries multiplied, and Tejada quickly found himself playing nearly every day. He even learned a new position at third while David Wright was hurt. While his defense at shortstop took a statistical nosedive, no one seemed to care all that much when compared to Flores. Consider that he’s hit .267/.345/.358 over nearly 400 plate appearances, and suddenly Tejada isn’t the scapegoat to pin another depleted season on, he is one of its heroes.
Since June he’s hit .271. Since July it’s been .289. And since August, Tejada has hit an eye-opening .292 with an on-base-percentage of nearly .400. In tandem, his slugging percentage rose from .352 to .385, his wRC+ went from 98 to 121, and his strikeout rate dropped from 15.8% to 12.4%. In September alone, Tejada is hitting a blistering .356/.420/.489 with a wRC+ of 154. Move over Thomas the Tank, Tejada is the new little engine that could.
Now a September .417 BABIP will do wonders for a player’s season, no matter how short the stretch. But Tejada hasn’t just been getting lucky in fits and spurts. He seems to be reclaiming his prime talent that seems like a distant glimmer over three years ago. Whether it was losing his job to Flores, finding a new sense of confidence, playing on a better team, or simply having more fun, something has changed about Tejada. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem to be going away.
Tejada still may not get most of the reps in October. There is no question Flores offers more pop for his bat. But Tejada’s late-season resurgence has to at least make the question one of split time, if not even edging the competition toward Tejada’s favor when considering late-game defensive replacements. And if Tejada can keep his hot bat going past the end of the season, maybe it will be Flores who’s doing more of the late-game assignments, like pinch-hitting.
Who knows? It’s all very fluid at this moment. The very fact that we are considering Tejada’s play in the postseason, though, is an incredible achievement for both him and the organization. No, it’s not statistically the best year he’s ever had, but he certainly makes Terry Collins’ job tougher in all the best ways possible. For a young man who was thought to be on the outside looking in just six months ago, Tejada has found new life with his old team. In a season full of feel-good moments from young players, wouldn’t it be something if Flores and Tejada shared the spotlight at a position once again. This time as catalysts toward a World Championship.
Good topic.
I’ve never thought much of Tejada, always seen him as mediocre at best. But on this team — especially with Lagares on the bench — mediocre at SS has been fine. He’s better than Raphael Santana.
I personally prefer him at SS in the NLDS over Flores, which is an amazing thing for me to type. Because I don’t really like the guy. But you look around the SS landscape and there’s not a ton of talent out there. By comparison, the Mets have done okay.
One key factor, which I don’t see getting a lot of attention, is that Tejada was always a workhorse for the Mets. They didn’t even carry a backup SS! Terry just kept throwing him out there. So he’s grind down, physically and mentally. This season he has competition for PT and plenty of rest, time to recharge the batteries. I think it’s made a difference.
I could go forward next season with the same SS combo, with Cecchini in the wings. If things go well, I think Cecchini replaces Tejada within a year. CF is the big question this club has to answer in the off-season.
James, you took the thoughts right out of my head, especially the CF situation and Cecchini appraisal.
Tejada is playing at his ceiling. I think the reason for this is because he is rested and not worn out. He is a good utility middle infielder but has not shown the ability to start everyday during his career. The most starts he has in a season is just 110. I think Wilben Flojada is a good enough shortstop going into the 2016 season and good enough to be the SS on the 2015 World Series Champions.
HIs ceiling? We don’t know what that is yet he’s not even 26 and he hit .284 and .289 as a starter at 21 and 22.He got out of shape and fell into some bad habits of pulling the ball.He’s not doing that now .Utility? I don’t buy it.He’s had two full seasons and did quite well.This whole tired thing is nonsense perpetuated by Keith Hernandez for whatever reason.He gets worn down if he plays ten games in a row granted but not after a game or two.That’s silly.I personally wouldn’t mind him as the SS for the next 8 years.
I see that you are an extremist when it comes to Tejada, so I’ll tread lightly.
I think his ceiling is based on his physical limitations. He’s not fast; he will never be fast. This effects both his offensive and defensive game. He doesn’t have power, and really doesn’t project to add much power without sacrificing defense. His defense has always been reliable, relatively consistent, adequate. He doesn’t make the great play, but he’s good out there. Not particularly quick or agile — and again, it’s not realistic to believe he’ll become quicker or more agile. As a hitter, he’s shown good plate discipline, which is both good and bad. It’s a good quality, especially for a poor hitter; but it’s bad because there’s not a lot of room for growth.
My take is that we are seeing the real Ruben Tejada, and that he is not the kind of player who should carry too heavy a load.
If he’s the Mets SS for the next 8 years, well, I just don’t think that’s possible. In the best scenario for Ruben, he simply prices himself out like Murphy. But my hope is that the Mets make an upgrade. Mediocre is fine, I guess, but he doesn’t do much to help the team win games. He’s along for the ride.
I think I’m in 99% agreement here. I don’t know if Cecchini will able to match the overall production of Wilber Flojada, but he can certainly offer another solid option.
I think the hope is that Cecchini can match Tejada, and possibly out-hit him. Mostly, I think he’ll be cheaper.
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Extremist? Please.He’s 26(later this month) and has already hit .284 and .289 at 21 and 22.Who cares if he’s small or not fast.I only care about two statistics BA and OBP.He came in out of shape two years ago thinking he had to hit for more power and got into the habit of pulling everything -he also got hurt because of being out of shape.Last year he again tried to pull everything got off to a horrible start-began hitting and then was beaned .Another lost season but still he was a 24 yr old with two very solid seasons to his credit at 21 and 22.He’s a very good fielder too.He makes a lot of great plays he’s got excellent quickness and good hands with just an ok arm.Mediocre? Not by a long shot.And Flores to me is still a 2nd baseman who has some power,doesn’t get on enough and has a technical issue in that he is probably more off balance on more pitches than anyone I’ve ever seen.Whether his bat is quick enough to get past that who knows.His(Tejadas) lack of speed and power is not as important as BA and OBP.You’d have to hit an awful lot of HR’s to make up for having a crappy OBP.
Yep, Tejada is in the mix for 2016 as well.
Whether or not the critics like it, he will be right there again,
either starting or backing up both Flores and Herrera.
Murphy will be gone, unfortunately, but the $ is needed for Cespedes. Mets are not spending at SS, so,Tejada will be back.
If he can continue to contribute defensively and hit about .270, what the heck is wrong with that ???