Let’s not mince words here: Eric Campbell is a very poor excuse for a major league baseball player. Now he may be a wonderful person and a great addition to the locker room environment but players at the top level of the game are expected to have major league tools. Superstars have all five while lesser players have one to four of them.
They are:
Hit – This is for batting average. Campbell can not hit. He has a .231 career major league batting average as of Monday morning.
Hit with power- No, he does not do that either. He’s hit six home runs in over 400 at bats in his career.
Field – While Campbell can be put at any position except catcher he is not proficient anywhere. Keith Hernandez would likely describe him as a Strat-O-Matic “4”. That’s bad.
Throw – Maybe his arm is adequate for third base but he seems to have as much trouble throwing with his healthy back as does David Wright with his stenotic one.
Run – He is not a fast runner and has shown little proficiency for stealing bases. He does have nine steals which is not horrible I suppose.
Campbell is a zero tool major leaguer who has been getting far too much playing time due to the injuries to Wilmer Flores, David Wright, and now Lucas Duda.
During Sunday’s game announcers Gary Cohen and Ron Darling bandied some ideas around about how to cover first base if Lucas Duda were to be placed on the disabled list and lost for a long time.
On Monday the big first baseman was DL’d and the promotion was given to minor leaguer Ty Kelly.
Here are some of the possibilities discussed by Gary and Ron with a few others tossed in for consideration.
1- Use Alejandro De Aza at 1B. He has been taking grounders recently at the position. He would likely not be a strong defender but this would add a major league bat to the lineup while putting Campbell back on the bench where he belongs.
2- Move Michael Conforto to 1B. This was mentioned in passing and is probably a bad idea. Conforto is adequate and certainly comfortable in the outfield. Moving him now without a spring training to practice seems like it would be asking for trouble.
3- Move David Wright to 1B. Gary suggested this but there are a lot more negatives than positives associated with doing this at this time. David has volunteered to do this if the club wants him to but they rightly are not asking him to make this conversion now.
4- Move Neil Walker from second to first. Walker has token minor league experience at 1B. He probably could pull off the move without being terrible at the position. This would allow the team to promote Dilson Herrera who is considered the team’s second baseman of the future to start the future right now. Gary said that Dilson was “tearing it up” in Las Vegas. The table below shows that he is hitting well out there but not really tearing it up.
5- Hang in there for a week because Wilmer Flores figures to be back on Friday or Saturday. This is something the team might do but personally I see this as baby steps since while Flores is a superior player to Campbell he is needed as the primary backup at all the infield positions.
6- Not discussed by the announcers would be the promotion of one of the players doing particularly well at AAA. Other than Herrera none of these players are considered top prospects and players you would expect to take a major league job and run with it. Here’s a table that shows you their AAA stats as of Monday morning.
| Name | Age | AB | HR | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | positions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ty Kelly# | 27 | 115 | 2 | 0.391 | 0.478 | 0.548 | 1.026 | LF, 3B, 1B |
| T.J. Rivera | 27 | 144 | 5 | 0.375 | 0.406 | 0.569 | 0.976 | 3B, 1B, 2B |
| Travis Taijeron | 27 | 139 | 6 | 0.295 | 0.390 | 0.547 | 0.937 | RF |
| Dilson Herrera | 22 | 141 | 8 | 0.291 | 0.324 | 0.546 | 0.870 | 2B |
These players are right handed hitters except for Kelly who is a switch hitter. This could tip the scales in his favor as the team has allegedly been on the lookout for a lefty hitting infielder.
A consideration has to be that only Herrera is on the team’s 40 man roster so that if the front office wants to promote Kelly, T.J. Rivera or Taijeron they would have to lop someone off the 40 man roster. That’s their call but this writer would have no qualms about seeing Campbell let loose.
What did end up happening was Ty Kelly came up while minor league lefty reliever Dario Alvarez was designated for assignment which removed him from the 40 man roster.
During the off season my columns lobbied hard for the Mets to sign Ryan Raburn to be the extra righty bat on the bench. Raburn can play tolerably at any position except shortstop. He ended up signing a minor league deal with Colorado, made the team in spring training, and is now hitting over .300 with an OPS in the high 900’s. And the Mets end up frittering away at bats on Eric Campbell.
To compete with the Washington Nationals this year the Mets will need to have all their oars in the water. As long as the team insists on putting Eric Campbell out there they are up the creek without a paddle.
I saw something yesterday that James Loney by just offering him an major league contract. I know he is not an all-star, but he is a decent option and can be a left handed bat off the bench once Duda is back. There is a clause in his contract that if a team offers him a major league deal, he can get out of his minor league deal with the Padres. I know he is not great, but certainly better than the current options.
Campbell in April – .311 OPS
Campbell in May – .672 OPS
I think May is what Campbell is as a hitter, more or less.
James Loney in 2015 with the Rays – .680 OPS
And 2 days later… May OPS down to .604.
Good game.
Loney would be a solid pickup. He has no power, but typically hits .280 and plays a solid first base. When/if Duda comes back, he becomes a viable bench bat or we cut him. Would cost nothing to get him. I know Loney is no star, but he’s a legit major leaguer and a natural first baseman. He’d certainly be an upgrade over Campbell, but then so would just about anyone.
I wanted Raburn too. Oh well.
When it comes to feeble, however, I think Plawecki has that word trademarked. Campbell at least shows plate discipline and hits the ball hard occasionally. He’s a fine 25th man, plays multiple positions, etc. He just gets exposed over the long haul.
Totally agree with you, Campbell is a nice guy and he’s versatile. But Plawecki hits with so little force he barely gets to the latter part of the outfield when he hits it on the money.
For the most part, when Plawecki crushes the ball it’s a line out to LF without the fielder taking a step back. That’s my problem with him. He almost never does damage. Maybe he learns how to hit in 2-3 years, but he’s always looked like a career backup catcher to me. Vance Wilson.
De Aza(-0.3), Flores(-0.1), Reynolds(-0.2), Campbell (-0), Plawecki(-0), Rivera(-0) have all been totally brutal so far. All under .200 except Campbell at .204. None of them even slugging .300.
Eric Campbell is a versatile player with a career .640 OPS. He is suited only to be the 25th man and should not be pressed into starting as Wright’s caddy or replacement for the injured Lucas Duda.
Wilmer Flores is a utility player with a career 86 OPS+ that has been having trouble adjusting to his new role. His does have some pop in his bat and as a backup infielder he should be adequate. If he is pressed to be Duda’s replacement then it would result in Campbell being Wright’s caddy which again would weaken the team.
The Mets need to get a first baseman until Duda recovers. Trying to fit a round peg in square hole with inexperienced player at the position is a recipe for failure. James Loney is an experienced first baseman with a .778, 716, 680 OPS over the past three years. He is free for the taking and should be given a shot for the next few weeks until (if) Duda recovers. The time frame would get the Mets closer to the trade deadline and then they would be able to evaluate the situation better. Meanwhile Loney is a better option than Reynolds or Kelly on the roster. Flores, not Campbell, could continue as Wright’s caddy with some starts at first base. The team would be stronger.
I have nothing bad to say about Campbell he is very good defensively and that helps mets good pitching
Eric, is that you?