2
2012
MMO Mailbag: Why Don’t The Mets Call Up Fred Lewis?
An article by 
I received an interesting question from @GWNY on Twitter who asked me:
Why don’t the Mets call up Fred Lewis to play LF?
It’s a great question and one we’ve grappled with a couple of times in our Minor League comment threads this season. The answer as to why Lewis is still languishing in Buffalo is kind of a mystery to me.
One could say they don’t want to add him to the 40-man roster and force another move that might end up costing them another player. But this front office has managed the 40MR like a bull stampeding through a china shop all season long, with reckless abandon. That’s likely not why Fred Lewis isn’t here.
Although Lewis has slowed some, he has put up solid numbers for the Herd this season batting .296 with an on-base of .374 to go with his very impressive .847 OPS. In 356 plate appearances, Lewis has produced 92 hits with 34 of them being of the xtra-base hit variety – including eight home runs.
Used mostly at the top of the order, the left-handed hitting outfielder has scored 58 runs and stolen 18 bases. He is among the top ten in the International League in Runs Scored, Triples, Walks and Stolen Bases.
Before joining the Mets, Lewis, who can play all three outfield positions, played parts of six seasons in the majors and has a career slash of .267/.345/.406 in 1,542 at-bats with 259 runs scored and 57 swipes in that span. He is significantly better against righties.
Those numbers, while not great, certainly compare favorably when put up against Lucas Duda and Kirk Nieuwenhuis who are now sharing playing time with Lewis in a crowded Buffalo outfield. Heck, even Andres Torres pales in comparison.
Defensively, the 31-year old is just average at the corners and can fill in if necessary in center, but I wouldn’t make a habit of it. He’s certainly an upgrade over what we’ve seen from Lucas Duda and even Jason Bay lately who has taken his slump to the field, but who isn’t?
So why isn’t Fred Lewis here?
I wish I had an answer for you, but one eludes me. Honestly, he should have been called up back in late April and early May when he was tearing up the league and was one of the leading vote-getters in the Triple-A All Star Game.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
20 Comments + Add Comment
Recent Comments
- Met Maniac: on So Where Are All Those Moneyball Players?: Ahhh, this reminds me of the good...
- Major Mofongo: on Mets Are Ten Games Below .500 – It’s Starting To Feel Like 1978: http://www.stubhub.com/new-york-mets-tickets/mets-vs-yankees-5-27-2013-4169169/ Look at this example when looking for tickets...
- Sach: on Mets Are Ten Games Below .500 – It’s Starting To Feel Like 1978: Nice post Joe D. I only watch...
- Kyle: on The 2013 Mets Are Suffering From A Lack Of Accountability: It's the managers job to keep the...
- Hans: on MLB Scout On Davis: Would Have Been Better Served Going To Minors Last Season: Yeah, but he's a good teammate!!! They can't...
MMO Mets Chat
Need Tickets To The Mets Game?
Check Out These Great MLB Links!
Photographs From Gordon Donovan
5390 Fans Follow Us On Twitter!
1269 Fans Like Us On Facebook!
2341 Fans Read Our Feed!
1702 Fans Subscribe via Daily Email!
If he batted Right Handed he would have been up here already.
Because he bats left adding him to the roster will only add to thier RHH issues not solve any.
they eased that a bit with the demotion of Duda and Kirk but they still are lefty heavy and those guys were sent down as much to award Baxter with the roster spot for his all out injury that got us the No Hitter and I really have no problems with awarding him for that myself.
yup. and not being able to play center really limited him too.
If you ask me at this point CF is the least of our problems.
We have one RH OF who is only good vs Lefties and another who isn’t good against anyone.
Kirk can play CF and I think Valdespin if left there the rest of the year can play there too. Even if just until Nimmo is ready.
I bet Hairston could even play CF in a pinch.
The problem really is carrying Bay’s weak bat and having no other RHH option to play everyday.
The lack of balance in the lineup is what is killing guys like Davis, Duda and Kirk.
Lefthanders are supposed to present problems for pitchers because they don’t see many of them.
(at least many good ones)
All Pitchers have different methods for dealing with lefties than they do with Righties.
If you put two lefties or two righties together they get thier feel and can maintain it for consecutive PAs.
But throw a balanced lineup at them and they are constantly forced to adjust from thier RH Strategy to their LH strategy!
And by keeping them constant;ly having to adjust what they do is how you get them to thorw hangers and mistakes!
This is why I said early in the season it was a mistake to bat Duda and Davis back to back…
The pitcher had a whole batter to get his LHH feel down leading to better pitches to the second consecutive LHH.
At this point does it matter? Maybe Alderson can call up Jerry Lewis instead considering how much of a joke his decision-making has become
2 words… WONDER… BREAD
What does that mean Alex? What does Wonder bread have to do with Fred Lewis? Care to enlighten the group?
Is that like Wonderbread’s Wheat bread? Potato Rolls?
He’s not the kind of bread sandy likes to eat his sandwich with…. There..
Lol….
No Wheat bread for these Metsies
which sandwiches does Sandy eat? I hadn’t realized that Fred Lewis not being on the ACT roster has something to do with Sandy’s appetite
I’m sure he signed Fred Lewis in April of this year for no reason right
He eats the white meat only sandwiches… And he needs to have them with wonder bread… I know where he eats too so…
Clever but dumb.
That’s really ignorant coming from a person who if I remember correctly bashed people for insisting Minaya was building an all latino team.
He’s insisted racism was involved with Minaya forever now. And now he’s pulling it with Alderson. He’s intolerant of being a decent person who can’t just see thongs for how they are. Minaya was infallible and he can’t stand “wonder bread.” Frankly, he disgusts me.
They are not calling him up cause he would need to be put on the 40-man roster 1st and they already have enough left fielders that hit left handed. That is why he hasn’t been called up.
It is amazing how everyone has given up on Lucas Duda…smh…
Poor guy gets played out of position and struggles in his 2nd season and Mets fans want nothing to do with him…smh…this is a prime example of how bipolar Mets fans truly are
Is he playing that much worst than Ike Davis???
NO!!! He was actually having a better offensive season than Ike before he was sent down…this is the same treatment Daniel Murphy received from Mets fans prior.
Besides Reyes, Duda was the best hitter on this team last year after Beltran was dealt.We also forget teams were pitching around Duda to pitch to Wright last year which is why TC moved Wright back into the 3 hole last year
Duda should be playing in LF NOW for the Mets…hopefully Duda is back in LF next year…He is not a good defender which is why he should be placed in LF . Right Field is for athletic guys whom have good arms Duda is far from athletic
Im not giving up on Duda but I sure wouldn’t oppose trading him if it involved getting a RH Power Hitting OF for him (and likely cost us some other kids as well)
I would trade his power LHB for a Power RHB and hope to get a slightly better fielder as well (which is why I say it probably needs another kid in the deal)
Slightly better glove and more Lineup Balance would be just enough improvement to let him go in a trade.
truth of the matter is I think Duda’s problems are more due to being tired as this is the first full season he has ever played at the MLB level and he was one of the few on this team that didn’t get swapped out vs Lefties whenever we started the B Team!
I’m sure nobody is chomping at the bit for Elvin Ramirez and his 11.75 ERA if he were cut from the 40.
What if the plan is to keep the Mets down so DePo could get a higher draft pick?
Maybe that’s why they all sat on their hands.
Maybe that’s why they haven’t lifted a finger since the season started and the Mets showed them they were a team worth contending despite their attempts to keep them down.
Two thoghts… Lewis was brought in to keep the Bisons management happy. Secondly, as a 31 year old left handed hitter, he is not part of the future plan. The decent thing to do for this AAAA type would be to put Gee on the 60 DL and let Lewis have a cup of coffee.
I kind of like that Duda and Kirk are cooling their heals in Buffalo. Reality can bite. Not a bad lesson to learn. Pehaps Davis would benefit from this lesson too.
Fred Lewis has a long past with more than his share of life’s twists and turns.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=lewis
another lefty hitter? I don’t think so. Plus the 40 man thing.