Comments on: Duda’s Bat Is Showing Signs Of Life

By: oleosmirf

oleosmirf — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:45:13 +0000

In his limited time in the majors last season, Valdespin struggled mightily against LHP and all his power came against RHP.

It’s only april so the manager is going to go with the player most likely to produce on a given day and when a LH pitcher is on the hill, Duda, Cowgill and Byrd are more likely to be productive.

When that ceases to be the case, he will get more and more AB…

By: oleosmirf

oleosmirf — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:23:35 +0000

If he shows it in the regular season then that’s a different story, but he will be platooning early on.

Duda and Valdespin will always start against RHP and Cowgill and Byrd will always start against LHP. My inclination is Duda and Cowgill will get the most crossover AB although if Murphy is back, people should get ready for Valdespin not playing as much as we want him too…

By: van

van — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:20:58 +0000

leave it to Terry to bench the only guy showing a speed/power dynamic in ST to start a coming off injury mediocre hitting and fielding RH batter that actually has reverse platoon splits.

Turner should never get a start unless it is a scheduled day off for some regular.

By: taskmaster4450

taskmaster4450 — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:17:21 +0000

That might be true but Valdy is hitting lefties as well as righties.

By: oleosmirf

oleosmirf — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:06:56 +0000

If Duda hits .260/.330 with 20+ HR then his defense in LF should not be too much of a concern as Baxter/Cowgill can adequately play LF late in games…

With no prospect in waiting, Duda is the logical choice to play LF on opening day.

I know everyone is going to be up in arms when Valdespin doesn’t start opening day, but we face a LH starter so Turner would start over him at 2B and so would Byrd and Cowgill in the OF.

By: oleosmirf

oleosmirf — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:03:01 +0000

There would be no need for an additional OF because even though Spin would get some time at 2B, he could move to the OF in a pinch, should a need arise…

By: Metsie

Metsie — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:44:20 +0000

I know we all have guarded feelings about his ability to stay in the MLB….

But we also should recognize that NO ONE on this team could do more for making it a formidable and competitive team than a Duda with a reasonable average and a potential 30+ HRs would bring to it…..

He will cost us at times with the glove….And he may never be in the running for a batting title…
But in a VERY BAD 2/3rds of a year he knocked 15 Dingers

if he can just bring the average into the .265+ range while hitting homers at a similar rate to last year this team would be involved in a Division race!
Add a stanton to that and we are the team to beat in the Division….

So all those who think being positive in the face of disaster should be hoping and praying for Duda to get it going.

By: rherr

rherr — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:41:32 +0000

Couple of things about the Dude, who I’ve followed fairly closely.
The first is that he seems to be Teixiera-like in the way that he gets off to slow starts. He had dismal numbers at the start of his stints in both 2010 and 2011.
Secondly, It looked to me that in the 2011 season he pulled out of the opening slump by going for contact, hitting the ball the other way. Once he got his average up, he started to hit for some power. Last year, I think he got it into his head that he had to pull more and wound up pounding the ball into the ground to the 2nd baseman.

By: Mr North Jersey

Mr North Jersey — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:53:15 +0000

Hopefully all that work this Spring will finally pay off for Duda.

By: van

van — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:47:39 +0000

depends on Wright also. If he is out, you likely get Lutz (already on the 40 man) and with Turner, you can fill out the IF if Valdy is in the OF.

Hicks of Bixler (can’t remember which) is already on the 40 man, so that is your likely guy.

By: Dave in Spain

Dave in Spain — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:37:22 +0000

You could play Q at 2b and Valdy in the OF, but I don’t think they want to burn a 40man to keep Hicks or add somebody like Satin for the IF.

By: van

van — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:33:26 +0000

depends on who the extra guy is that makes the team instead. But, Valdy can also serve as the 5th OF, if the murphy replacement is another IF.

By: van

van — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:31:30 +0000

and Murphy and Ike are not valid references, since you can’t say that Hudgens (who at least Murphy raves about) approach had any negative impact. TRS has even supplied #s a few times on Ike (about 1st pitch swinging). But I guess you are giving him credit for “fixing” ike last year and helping him hit 32 HRs?

and murphy seems to be the same hacker he always was.

By: van

van — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:29:29 +0000

except that Duda all through the minors was the poster child for this approach. He was always patient, had a high OBP, etc. If anything, he was not aggressive enough on turning on pitches early in the count.

and since that is exactly what Hudgens preaches, buying into it should be a fine thing for him.

My guess, if he changed anything, it was going away from the overall approach of hunting a pitch and using the whole field, and going for more pulling to hit more HRs.

By: Link Roundup: Namaste

Link Roundup: Namaste — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:17:34 +0000

[...] could be really bad, just like the 2000 outfield was on paper. Besides, if Lucas Duda can keep hitting the ball the way he has lately in ST, maybe he can make us forget that he has the range of and Easter Island statue in [...]

By: Alex68

Alex68 — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:11:10 +0000

Dave, Don’t worry, sandy has a plan for when a player goes down due to injury. Just have faith, or a calculator

By: Dave in Spain

Dave in Spain — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:09:17 +0000

Off topic– If Wright and Murphy start the season on the DL, and Valdy plays 2B, who is he 5th OF? If Duda, Cowgill, and Byrd are the Starters, and Baxter is 4th? The only other OFers on the 40 man roster are Kirk and Lagares. I assume they won’t want to burn a 40- man spot for a short term add like Brown.
Assuming IFs Turner, Lutz, and Q (Hicks DFA’d for Q), there aren’t any IF candidates on the 40man either. You could start Q at 2B and have Valdy as a co-starter in the OF I guess…

By: Alex68

Alex68 — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:01:21 +0000

Maybe, Just maybe, like murphy and Ike Davis, this new philosophy install in the mets organization of “Wait for your pitch” affected his game going forward. as you mentioned, after watching Duda coming of ages in the second half of 2011 we all had high hopes for the guy, then… Dave Hugens happened imho…

By: van

van — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:50:02 +0000

duda never was (coming up) a traditional dead pull big swing power hitter. He was more of a bat control, use the whole field, don’t K much type of guy. if anything, he downplayed his raw power.

so if he is working on going back to that, it is a reversion, not a reinvention. if anything it was last year getting away from it (trying to pull more HRs) that threw his approach off.

in 2011, he had an extremely good year on offense, and in the 2nd half when he became a regular, he put up huge #s (something like a .950 OPS and a .325 BA).

if you need a reason why they are still playing him out in LF, it is that. They really need a bat that can do what he was doing (including driving in runs) and he is getting every opportunity to prove he can be that guy again, and field well enough to cover for the glove.

By: TJ

TJ — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:29:54 +0000

How about a modern day Ralph Kiner?