Travis d’Arnaud is only hitting a few degrees North of the Mendoza line (.200) but there is reason to hope. He’s played in only 22 games in 2014 but if you take a peek at the game logs you may be able to see the positive trend in his numbers.
Through the first 5 games of the season, d’Arnaud had no hits and only 2 walks to his name. His OPS (OBP + SLG) was only .118 and his numbers were basically non-existent. 5 games later the OPS was .495, 5 more games and it was .509 and now he’s up to .638 with a batting average 200 points higher than it was on April 6th.
Some people will complain that he’s still not lighting up the box scores to the level we expected when we traded a reigning Cy Young winner for him. What I say to them is: “Perhaps you remember Matt Weiters.”
If you recall 2009, he came to the majors with “Can’t Miss” expectations the likes of Stephen Strasburg or Bryce Harper. You might also recall that he managed pretty ho-hum numbers through 2009 and 2010. (Those numbers were admittedly good, but well below his expectations.)
Patience seems to be warranted with d’Arnaud, who is rewarding us by waking up. Maybe we’ll be looking back at the end of May and seeing that OPS another 200 points higher.
We can certainly hope.
Before he began raising his average, he was hitting the ball hard, and to center and right center, line drives. It was inevitable that hits were going to come.
The home run to center displayed his strength.
We also cannot discount how well he has handled the pitching staff.
I agree. He is awakening and is showing some good signs.
He’s been awake for a long time now, just that his poor start is still slowing his overall stats down.
Since April 8th:
18 games, .267/.343/.417 with .760 OPS and 2 HRs. Has a 5/7 K/BB ratio too. And he still has room to go up because he has just a .264 BABIP during this timeframe.
I remember a certain NY Giants centerfielder who started his rookie year in an 0 for 20 slump. He finally broke out and had a long career. While Travis is not another Willie Mays, I’ll settle for what he may have to offer. Good things may happen………….
Like PEter said he hits the ball hard so he is making good contact so just a matter of time with him to have his average up.
Catchers have a lot to learn about a league. Travis is doing fine. I see improvement. I’d like to see Recker get more starts though. No sense wearing Travis out. He can learn much playing every other day.