Everybody knows. Travis d’Arnaud is off to a slow start. It has been discussed at length on the SNY broadcasts, usually every time d’Arnaud comes up to bat. Last night he was able to get into the hit column for the first time in 2014. He added another hit later on, making him 2 for 19 to start the season.
This is causing some panic among fans. d’Arnaud is seen as the player that could elevate the Mets to another level, adding another quality bat to a lineup that already has David Wright, Daniel Murphy, Curtis Granderson and surprising to some Juan Lagares.
If d’Arnaud is able to put it all together offensively, it gives the Mets another threat in the batting order. D’Arnaud has been a hitter all of his life. His minor league numbers prove that. A lifetime .286/.347/.476 line in the minors. He has been touted as the best offensive catching prospect in the game.
But since his call up last summer, he has really struggled at the dish. That is, if you think 118 AB is a big enough sample size to determine that. He still is a rookie, in a sense. d’Arnaud hasn’t played a full season in the big leagues yet. This is the first full year he has been behind the plate everyday. There are a lot of outside circumstances that have factored into his slow start.
d’Arnaud doesn’t need to hit .320 and hit 30 HRs. That’s not what is being asked of him. And if there are some that expect that of him, prepare to be disappointed. D’Arnaud is going to top out as a .280 hitter with a .330 OBP and add 12-15 HRs with about 75-80 RBIs. From a catcher, those are some good numbers. Add that to what is expected to the rest of the lineup, and the Mets can become a threat offensively in addition to their pitching.
Not everyone can come up and be Bryce Harper or Mike Trout; or in d’Arnaud’s case: Buster Posey. Those guys are once in a lifetime talents. It takes time for guys to adjust to the big league game. Injuries have also played a factor into d’Arnaud’s development. Playing everyday and as much as he can will allow d’Arnaud to develop a flow to his game again. And soon he’ll start to hit the ball. It happened last night.
Building off of last night will be key. Each good at-bat and each good hit will give d’Arnaud more confidence. The Mets have played seven games, there are a lot more for Travis d’Arnaud to figure it out, and he will. And once that happens, the Mets will starting winning more games, and will stop losing games that they score first in. It takes some time. And with time, d’Arnaud will florish.
I agree, he’ll be fine. I can see him being a streaky hitter though early in his career, but I think we’ll see more good than bad.
I tend to agree Chris. You would think patience is something we Mets fans would possess in spades! I have heard that it takes 500-700 MLB ABs before it is worth making a real assessment of a young kid breaking in. That said, I think Recker is more than a bench guy (does he have trade value?).
As I see it, TdA needs to:
1. play mostly every day
2. remain healthy for a whole season
3. continue to develop his relationship with the staff
4. work on eliminating passed balls (he has a nasty habit of trying to back hand everything in the dirt)
5. work on hitting
If he is healthy all year, lets see what he looks like comes Sept.
How’s Plawecki doing? 🙂 d’Arnaud will be fine.I worry more about his penchant for getting hurt.
Just stay healthy….. Just stay healthy…….. Just stay healthy.
The Mets gave up a Cy Young winner to get TDA. He has pedigree and a solid body of work in the minors. He plays a quality position. Sandy took a calculated risk starting a rookie catcher and I believe it was the right decision. He needed to help Travis out by adding a little bit more offense at SS and stabilizing 1B so that TDA was not relied on in his rookie year.
Unless he goes completely in the tank where it becomes an Ike Davis type thing, then I give him a pass this season.
TC needs to rest him more than he rested Buck last year because Recker is a good backup catcher and also not to wear down TDA. Fortunately, the Mets do have another good catcher in their system in Plawecki if TDA is considered a bust at the end of the year.
TDA should be the starting catcher for the reasons I stated above but Recker should not be a forgotten man. TC needs to mix him in more with at least 1 start a week. Last night’s Angels game is proof that a team is 25 players. One of my biggest criticism’s of TC is that he runs players into the ground and does not utilize his bench when a starter is hurting or slumping. He also dislikes platooning, which on a team like this should be the best way to get maximum production from marginal players.
I love your positive outlook!
There is a chasm between “panic” and running a guy out there so he can continually fail. And at the same time, cause the team to lose games because you have 30, 40, 50, then 100, 250, then 400 ABs going to players that are putting up sub or near 600 OPS.