16
2013
Spring Shorts: Byrd Could Be Mets’ Staring Right Fielder, Buck Compares Niese To Pettitte
An article by 
As of Saturday, all Mets players are supposed to be in camp, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN. The three players who have yet to report are Jenrry Mejia (visa issues), Jordany Valdespin, and infielder Wilfredo Tovar. Here are some other Mets notes from Spring Training.
Marlon Byrd arrived at camp on Friday, and according to Mike Puma of the New York Post, Mets manager Terry Collins believes he can win the starting right field job outright.
“If you’re talking about a guy who’s in this camp who has a chance to make a huge difference, besides Lucas Duda, it might be Marlon Byrd,” Collins said. “This guy was one of the best players in the National League not very long ago. If he’s the same player he was in Chicago a couple of years ago, we might have found ourselves the right fielder.”
Mets new backstop John Buck says that Jon Niese reminds him of Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte, mainly because of the use of his cutter reports Adam Rubin of ESPN.
“I was pretty young back in the day with Houston and Pettitte was there, and the way he would pitch is very similar to that,” Buck said. “But I think Niese has a little bit more speed difference than what Pettitte had from what I can remember.”
Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, spoke with Lucas Duda on his starting gig in left field and his demotion last season, which Duda says, was the lowest point in his young career thus far.
“Being sent down is probably one of the lowest points that you can have,” Duda said. “I think that you learn from that and you grow from that, hopefully, and learn what you did [wrong] and what you can do to stay. And hopefully, I did that.”
The Mets open up Grapefruit League play against the division rival Washington Nationals from Tradition Field on Saturday February 23rd, at 12:10 p.m. The game will be televised on SNY, with coverage beginning at 11:30 a.m.
Thoughts from Joe D.
That Terry Collins is so excited about Marlon Byrd says more about what he really thinks about the outfield than anything else. All managers love experienced major leaguers in their outfield, or at least one. The Mets don’t have any, except for Marlon Byrd, which is pretty damn, freaking scary.
Collins says a lot of outlandish things at this time of the year. But I nearly fell off my chair during his first press conference this week when he put Lucas Duda just a notch below Giancarlo Stanton as the best power hitter in the National League.
I wonder how Ryan Braun, Carlos Beltran, Jay Bruce, Andrew McCutchen and teammate Ike Davis felt about that comment?
As for Lucas Duda learning something after being sent down to the minors, the players and coaches we spoke to in Buffalo last season, all told us that his attitude about it was not good at all. They said he was glum and mostly just kept to himself in the clubhouse. Nobody knew if he was mad at the Mets front office or if he was just angry at himself, but he was a sour puss the whole time he was there.
The other thing is that after he was recalled back to the Mets, on at least three occasions during his first couple of weeks back, Keith Hernandez lamented the fact that there was no change to his swing. “That’s the same Lucas Duda who struggled in the first half,” Hernandez said. “Bad swing and all.”
Duda in fact batted .234 after he returned from the minors, and his on-base, slugging percentage, and OPS was significantly worse than before he was sent down – he did not improve one bit. Additionally, he batted .249/.341/.405 in the first half and .214/.296/.348 in the second half. Not to forget that he still looked like a lumberjack with two left feet in the field.
So my questions is, what exactly did he learn from being sent down? Or more importantly, where was the evidence he learned anything at all?
About the Author: Dan Valis
I am a staff writer for Mets Merized Online. I am a Mets team analyst with a focus on the minor league system, as well as the major league club. I am a lifelong New Yorker who was born and raised to be a Mets fan. The ups and downs of being a Mets fan is what makes following this team so much fun, but at times so frustrating. You can follow me on Twitter @BgAppleMetsTalk.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 30 | .583 | - |
| Phillies | 35 | 37 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Nationals | 34 | 36 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Mets | 27 | 40 | .403 | 12.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 48 | .314 | 19.0 |
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If Marion’s our starting RFer, we’re in for a very long year. His #s have fallen off the charts last couple years, and no wonder the guy is 46yrs old (turns 47 in late August)! The 2nd coming of Julio Franco?!? No thanks.
He was born in Aug 1977 meaning he will be 36 this year, not 46. I get your point but there is a huge difference.
‘But I nearly fell off my chair during his first press conference this week when he put Lucas Duda just a notch below Giancarlo Stanton as the best power hitter in the National League.’
That’s now really what I heard Collins say the other day. He said next to Stanton he believes Duda is the strongest dude in the league. Whether that strength translates to plus 30 HRs is another issue.
I heard it too and I was also surprised by it. Whether he said strongest or best after Stanton doesn’t really make difference, the point is that it’s not true and it was a terrible comparison in my opinion. Duda is a player who admittedly has confidence issues and low self esteem, to add that pressure to him is inappropriate coming from his manager. Duda is neither the strongest player after Stanton or the best power hitter after Stanton, this much is clear.
I was a little surprised at the comparison too.
I think what Collins was trying to say was Duda’s got the strength to hit HRs long and far.
If he connects with his pitch, sure….I’ve seen some of Duda’s bombs. Problem last year was he just wasn’t connecting on those pitches he can hit out of the park.
I’m rooting for Duda but won’t be surprised if it’s a failed experiment.
Terry does tend to get overly excited by some odd things, and his words never seem to come out the way he intends. But his heart seems to be in the right place.
In all fairness to Lucas and Giancarlos, but how do you know whose actually stronger?
I remember reading and hearing about this comparison, and this is not the vibe I got from what Terry said. I took it as strength, not power hitting. Terry Collins truly believes that Lucas Duda is one of the strongest guys in the league, and generally speaking who are we to argue? Other players on the team have admitted that they are all in awe of his strength, and none of know how much these guys actually lift, so in terms of ACTUAL strength, Lucas Duda could be stronger than Giancarlos for all we know, the problem is translating that energy into the baseball when you are swinging the bat.
http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130215&content_id=41667808&vkey=news_nym&c_id=nym
^^ watch the home run after he throws a guy out at home, THATS PURE STRENGTH. period.
Joe D. -
I think Collins has troubling articulating his thoughts once they come out of his mouth
I dont think Collins meant to say that Duda is the same ‘hitter” as Stanton, I think he was just referring to sheer “distance” when Duda actually connects with the ball & the “lift” he gets on it…….
sort of a Dave Kingman thing, he obviously wasnt going to bench 350lbs like Stanton probably can, but Dave could hit the ball just as far because of his bat speed through the zone & the “lift” he got, just like Duda, actually thats a great comparison, Duda – Kingman, offensively & defensively, Kingman lumbered around in RF too…lol
Nice – I didn’t realize Duda had that strong of an arm.
If Duda can just figure it out at the plate – realize that potential he obviously has – he won’t be the first power hitting OF that sticks even though he’s got limited range.
Duda had a bad year. Sometimes when it starts going bad, it just snowballs and you never get your head out of your ass. Some very good careers have had a year that was just a lost cause. Maybe this was just one of them.
he did have an exceptionally good 2011, and once he started playing everyday, in the 2nd half (about 300 ABS fromt he end of June) he pretty much put up AS numbers with the bat. He also had back to back AAA seasons with an OPS above 1.000
so the hitting ability is in there, if someone can knock the mopey/nerves out of his head! And maybe the mechanical work they are doing with him will translate.
Duda does have tremendous power the other way, so no need to be pull happy. And when he was hitting well, he really used the whole field. Needs to get back to that.
If nothing else, this looks like a situation where the player really needs a quick start to get him going. 2 HRs and a nice running catch opening day, and off to the races! Unleash the Beast!
“he did have an exceptionally good 2011, and once he started playing everyday”
imagine what would happen if we found out valdespin could hit .290-.300 with 20 HR and speed on the basepaths…
Read a story on Duda yesterday where he did indeed admit he was feeling sorry for himself when he was first sent down. Said it took a couple of weeks but he finally came out of that fog and realized it was justified.
I think it was Geren that went on to say he’s been working with him and his ‘too much movement’ at the plate. Said when he’s hitting well, he’s not doing that. I think the word they actually used was anxious.
get him some of that ADD/anxiety medication. There are something like 180 ML players that received an exemption to use it. He might be one of maybe 5 that have a medical justification for it!
LOL Dont forget last year Duda was the next Joey Votto.
you mean Adam Dunn !
If you follow Collins’ logic on a player perhaps recapturing some of his past glory, I think Corey Patterson could be the same sort of surprise, albeit a better defender than Byrd, w/more range & speed.
Collins is a ****ing moron.
“He played a lot of outfield in winter ball. This spring, we need to put him back in the infield a little bit,” Collins said. “We know if, need be, we can play him in the outfield. We need to take a look at him in the infield right now.”
-On Valdespin playing the infield instead of the outfield
Well Hitman keep in mind….Terry is getting his script from upstairs and trying to sell it the best he can.
All that says to me is that they feel Murphy is the next guy they look to trade. And playing Valde in the IF may just be a way of avoiding the issue they have with Why is there no OF?
If they play him out there the stories about WHY we didn’t work harder to get someone in the OF that would prevent us from having to play Valde out of position.
Once the OF picture is more settled later in ST they will go back to playing him in the OF.
That still would make no sense. Valdespin should be fighting for the RF spot, nowhere else. Murph is the one who should be the infield utility guy over Turner should Flores comes up playing 2nd base. You got Hicks & Quintanilla fighting for who’s the backup SS, so what sense would it really make? Guess that idea makes too much sense.
Well you are thinking in long term mode….
It’s my belief that Sandy is not looking much past this season or his contract.
Flores isn’t here yet….Sandy feels he needs to make trades to fix his OF. He is fresh out of Superstars to trade for what he wants.
Now he is forced to work on secondary tier trades.
As for Murphy being a Utility I don’t agree….
His Bat is too good to keep out of the lineup, and he is worth more to us in trade to someone who needs 2B, 3B or 1B than he is as a Utility bench guy.
If you only give him 1 or 2 PAs per game that bat he has will go away….
And his fielding is not all that special that you want to move him all over the place with his glove.
That said I think we should KEEP him…I think he is more to this team than just what we see in the boxscore…He is a warrior and we don’t have many of them…Turner is about the only other guy who seems to have that kind of fight.
But I do believe Sandy will trade him if he can get something good for him…
Especially if Valdespin can play 2B and start hitting.
I am willing to bet that Flores never wears a Met Uni for more than an audition….
Until such time as Wright gets traded.
Which is a longshot at best.
I admit to not being a big fan of Collins so I tend to take a lot what he says the wrong way because I personally dont feel he grasps a lot of what is going on.
As for the Duda-Stanton comparison, in terms of physical size/strength, I would agree. They tend not to make too many that size who can hit the ball that far. I remember reading an article last spring, I think it was by Rubin, about walking behind the back fields and a ball landing in front of the reporter. He asked Ike if he was the one who hit it and Ike, when told where the guys was, said that Duda was the only one who could hit the ball there. Nevertheless, that is where the comparison to Stanton ends.
Leave it to the Mets to have a problem in the OF and to put Valdy back in the IF. I am not sure if this is Alderson’s or Collin’s decision, but this is a mistake. Take a look at the IF, where does Valdy fit in? The only possibility is 2B and that position looks like it is Murphy’s for now, and depending upon Flores, his in the future. So why even mess with him in the IF; he will not hold a position in the major leagues. Of course, it would make sense to put him our in RF and let him compete with Baxter. The guy is the most athletic player the Mets have anywhere near the major leagues. Baxter is most likely nothing more than a bench player yet they are moving Valdy to the IF where things are clogged up.
But then again, we really do not know if Valdy can hit major league pitching since Collins sat him on the bench the last 6 weeks of the season even though the Mets were 20+ games out of first place.
Duda, is too emotional and a huge head case. I hope they trade him if he has a hot start. He will never make it in NYC.
In all fairness to Collins,I think that in a sense,Duda could be like Stanton. It wouldn’t be wise to doubt the raw power Duda possesses. With that in mind,will he put up Giancarlo-type numbers? Doubtful,but I think he could definitely be a 30+ HR type of guy if he can figure things out at the plate.