Off-season acquisition Harrison Bader has worked his way into the starting lineup, and he is getting the job done. Bader had a reputation as a good fielder with speed, but not much power. He was known as a good hitter against lefties.
So far he has held up well defensively, he is credited with a dWAR figure of 0.4. Bader is tied with Francisco Lindor for the team lead in that category. His DRS total is 2, so he is showing above average defense at the premium position of center field, which is a very good benefit to the team. Please note that all statistics cited are current though Sunday’s action.
That speed of course helps him run down long drives in the outfield, and it obviously is a plus on the base paths. So far he has swiped 10 bags, good enough for third on the team behind Lindor with 13 and Starling Marte with 12.
At the plate, the right-handed Bader is not showing the performance against lefties that was expected. In fact he has pretty bad reverse splits so far. Against southpaws his slash line is just .208/.263/.347. Against righties he is doing better with a .299/.345/.409 line.
There are a couple of takeaways from these splits stats. One is the hope that he can revert to the mean in hitting against lefties while retaining his relative prowess against right-handed hurlers. The other takeaway is that there are a lot more right-handed pitchers than lefties, so it is good that he is hitting better against the more numerous type of pitcher.
The most interesting stat he has put up is his hitting with runners in scoring position. As noted above his slash line overall is pedestrian at best. However, with men in scoring position, it’s a much different story. His line during those circumstances is .296/.339/.481. He’s hitting for a better average and with more power in the RISP situations, showing that he is a clutch performer.
When the Mets were struggling earlier in the year, some speculated that Bader might be a good candidate to be dealt to a contender at the trade deadline for a prospect. Now that the Mets are in the thick of the Wild Card hunt, it makes obvious sense to keep him. In fact, since he is only signed for this season, it just might make sense to extend him prior to free agency if a reasonable non-long-term contract could be agreed upon.
Long-time catcher Tomas Nido is no longer with the team, having been released by the Mets and then snapped up by the Cubs. With Francisco Alvarez now established as the starting catcher, and with recent acquisition Luis Torres on a hot streak, there was just no room for the scrappy fan-favorite Nido on the Mets.
We are probably not going to see Nido catching again for the Mets, but it is at least possible we could see him again in another capacity for the Mets. Catchers often make good managers, since the catcher is involved literally on all defensive plays when they are in the lineup, and they have the whole field in front of them. Catchers call the pitches, and they thus have way more involvement with the pitching staff than other position players. The lst of ex-catchers who have been successful managers is long, including contemporary managers like Bruce Bochy and Bob Melvin, both of whom have been among the best of recent managers.
Nido was the kind of player who seemed to always give his best effort. Defensively he was a fine handler of pitchers, as quite a few Mets pitchers including Jacob deGrom preferred throwing to him. No one is going to say Nido is a good hitter, but he worked at some of the less glamorous aspects of hitting to help the team. For example in 2022 he led the League in successful sacrifice bunts.
As another example of Nido’s dedication, he certainly went the extra mile when the Mets signed Kodai Senga, star pitcher of the Japanese leagues. Nido took the initiative to learn some of the Japanese language in the off-season, so he could better communicate with him. Not many, or probably any other catchers would have undertaken such a task.
So my prediction for Nido is that some day he will be an MLB manager, and perhaps if he does, he could be wearing the Mets’ pinstripes as the skipper of the team.
Bader has earned his playing time and Mendoza has used him properly. If the Mets remain in contention for playoffs then he should remain at the deadline. He shouldn’t get an extension. Some time during the 2025 season Acuna or Gilbert should be ready to be promoted in center field. Bader is having a slightly above average season but he isn’t so good that he should block other prospects with an extension.
Too optimistic on Acuna and Gilbert, IMO. What tells you that they “should” be ready at that point? Gilbert has not even accomplished anything at double-A as of yet. The injury is costing him most of this season. And the early (and admittedly small) sample size indicates that he has some learning to do at that level. And you have him going to the majors by next year? Please explain to me the basis.
Acuna is improving after a poor – repeat: poor – start. But not nearly to the tune of handing him a major league roster spot from now.
OMG… brain fart!!!! Cancel the notes on Gilbert. For some reason I was thinking Williams.
That said, Gilbert, too got off to a slow start. And we still do not know when he will come back. Yes, he could be on the radar for some time next season. But here, too, its premature to assume that it will happen, let alone at the start of the year.
The way Bader has played only supports Stearns decision to bring him here in the first place. And his clutch hitting with runners on base is an example that should be followed by others. Still seems to be some confusion when he is in centerfield and a flyball goes between himself and the right field, often Marte, that either they are not calling for the ball, or they are not listening to each other. A few times it is looked very likely that the ball would drop in or they would collide with each other.
As far as Thomas Nido, I believe he has always been well liked but for some reason, forgot how to hit. They speculation that he was the one who got the umpires to check Diaz’s hands. They got him thrown out of the game and suspended. Nido Would certainly know what Diaz was doing. If they had not picked up Torrens then Nido would still be on the roster. Wish him luck.