A year ago Davis was coming off the valley fever scare and ankle injury. His .156/.212/.290 slash line could be intellectualized. Similar numbers (.149/.229/.248) this year are reason for concern. There are many players that are slow starters, but are the Mets’ doomed to Davis not showing up the first ten weeks of the season? Has reality set in that he might be a 4-A hitter with flawed mechanics at the plate?

Davis and Jacobs are not exactly apples to apples comparison. Ike was a highly touted first round pick in 2008. His struggles in Brooklyn during his rookie year in pro ball were well documented. Jacobs was a 38th round pick that nobody talked about when he had a breakout 2005 season in Binghamton. He was supposed to be an injury replacement at the big league level, but If not for Pedro Martinez‘s lobbying after a Sunday afternoon home run, we never would have been treated to Jacobs’ September to remember. It’s also possible that Carlos Delgado would never have been acquired that offseason.

As a full-time first baseman from 2006-2008, Mike Jacobs averaged 23 homers, 75 RBI and a .258 batting average. In his two full seasons of work (2010, 2012) Davis has produced 25 homers and 75 RBI with a similar average. Both produce about the same level of strikeouts, although Davis has the penchant to walk a bit more- although probably not enough for the organization’s liking. Both struggle against left handers. Defensively, there is no comparison. Even when he’s struggled Davis has gold glove potential. Jacobs was only plugged-in at first after failing behind the plate. Still, a first baseman needs to hit at an elite level to be considered valuable. If Jacobs is the best that Davis has to offer, then it’s probably time to question if the Mets have a cornerstone at first base for years to come. Should they package Davis if and when he heats up again? Will a trip to the minors help? Is Lucas Duda the answer? Can they afford to pay for a first baseman on the free agent market?

Many scouts have expressed concern over Davis’ mechanics at the plate. It’s complicated, awkward looking and appears difficult to replicate. The more “noise” a player has in the box the harder it will be to hit a baseball, an already difficult task. Can this be fixed? That is hard to predict, but Davis wouldn’t be the first hot-shot hitting prospect to fizzle at the big league level. At the very least a trip to Triple-A Las Vegas should be on the table.

The Mets got lucky when both Jose Reyes and David Wright developed best case scenarios upon their call-up a decade ago. Prospects are an inexact science and, to date, none of the current group of homegrown players has shown to be consistent everyday big leaguers, much less stars.

WFAN callers rarely provide for intelligent or even interesting commentary. Comedy is more how I would describe my experience. Ironically, a caller to the midday show just might have uncovered a hard reality: Ike Davis is no better than a former flash in the pan prospect. I doubt even a productive final four months of 2013 will net a player any close to Delgado’s capabilities. Remember, lightening doesn’t strike twice.

Updated Post 1:44 PM

MLB Trade Rumors just posted something that would add to the debate on Choo as a potential acquisition for the Mets in 2014. I also updated the original post to indicate that Choo’s best position is right-field.

Of course, as with most free agents, Choo’s next contract will cover post-prime years, perhaps age 31-35.  With Boras doing the negotiating, we can’t rule out a sixth year or a salary in the $18-20MM range, plus the loss of a draft pick.

Are you guys ready for another Winter of debating the loss of a pick, even if in the Mets case it’s a second round pick based on where this season is heading?

Original Post 12:44

Tyler Kepner of the New York Times, had an article this morning suggesting the Mets should make a strong attempt at signing Reds center fielder Shin-Soo Choo if they are serious about contending in 2014. Choo is a free agent at the end of this season.

Choo, 30, was acquired by the Reds in the offseason for highly regarded shortstop prospect Didi Gregorious and outfielder Drew Stubbs. According to Kepner, Cincinnati Choo was charged targeted Choo to fix their problems in the leadoff spot, which produced a .254 on-base percentage last season. So far, Choo has delivered in a big way, ranking second in the National League with a .455 on-base percentage.

The Scott Boras client has always been able to hit for average and get on base as his career .386 OBP would attest. Going into this season, he has averaged 38 doubles and 90 runs per season in his career. He also can give the Mets power and speed while providing solid range and defense in center field, though right field is his best position. The left-handed batter has averaged 15 home runs and 20 stolen bases in a typical season for him and is on a pace to smash both of those marks in his walk year with the Reds.

“He’s the big reason why we are where we are right now,” said Brandon Phillips of the Reds, who hold the second-best record in the National League. “Playing against him when he was with the Indians, I always told everybody he’s one of the best all-around players in baseball — underrated. Right now he’s just being himself. It’s a blessing to have him over here.”

Kepner also adds that the South Korean native, might be a sensation in New York, whose metropolitan area has the second-largest Korean population in the United States, behind Los Angeles.

Obviously, I love Choo and had wanted the Mets to go after him last offseason, and even though he’ll be a year older I would still have no problem bringing him on board for the 2014 season and beyond. I’m assuming it would require at least a four-year commitment and the bidding from other teams will be aggressive. That’s the part that frightens me – or should I say frightens Sandy Alderson. You see, I’ll maintain what I’ve been saying all along about him and that is that he doesn’t have the stomach for these types of negotiations. To quote myself from last October, “Alderson doesn’t have the ability to go after a desirable and marketable free-agent, it sin’t in his DNA.”

There will be other outfield options out there next offseason, assuming they are not re-signed. Jacoby Ellsbury and  Carlos Beltran are among them.

The problem is will Alderson be willing to spend and come out strong?

Or will it be another Winter of waiting for the market to settle to his liking, which of course never happens leaving him to scamper and pick the bones of whatever carcass he can find on the scrap heap?

Despite a major league pedigree and respect for his tools (Baseball America Top 15 organizational prospect three years running), Binghamton Mets outfielder Cory Vaughn had yet to put all his tools together. His power and speed didn’t show up until 2012, but he hit .243. In St. Lucie in 2011, Vaughn hit .286 before his promotion, but only four home runs. After the promotion, he more than doubled his home run total, but the batting average dipped to .219.

That’s all changed, however. Vaughn’s tearing it up to the tune of .307/.392/.500 with five home runs in 130 plate appearances and is fresh off an Eastern League Player of the Week award. He’s got five stolen bases in six chances, and this is all in his first season at AA Binghamton. One would expect an adjustment period after the jump from High A, and even though you couldn’t tell by the numbers, Vaughn has had a lot to adjust to.

“There’s been a lot of adjustments going on, from the weather to this past off season to working with our hitting coach Luis [Natera],” explained Vaughn. “Basically just go out there and play the game hard and never stop working and never stop grinding, you know? So it’s been paying off, but you still have to work hard no matter what.”

Binghamton Manager Pedro Lopez agrees. “I would say that he’s been making adjustments as he goes along. I think he’s got the right mindset right now in order for him to get better. You’re looking at somebody who’s on a mission right now. Every chance that he gets, he’s making the best out of it. The thing is, especially when you get to this level, is to make sure that you got your ears open for any suggestions.”

Vaughn also made an adjustment to his batting stance. He attributes a mechanical adjustment he made to the placement of his hands to his success. The bat used to stand straight up with his hands by his ear, but keeping the bat flatter and lower has helped him stay through the ball.

“I really just kind of sit the bat on my shoulder so my hands would be more in the slot. You know, A to B,” explains Vaughn. “The quickest way to one point is a straight line. So I just try to “A to B” it and it’s been working out pretty well.”

Hitting Coach Luis Natera explains that with the longer swing, he was in an out of the zone too quickly and tended to hook everything. “Now he’s working to stay through the zone a little longer and his lower half is working much better. He was landing with his front foot on his heel. It made him pull off everything. Now he made that transition to landing on his toes and it leaves the front heel up that keeps him through the zone a little longer. Now those balls that he hooked foul are in the left-center gap.”

Both Lopez and Natera also commend his approach at the plate. “One thing he’s doing well to this point is trying to get a good pitch to hit and when he gets it, he’s not missing many,” said Lopez. “That goes with our whole hitting philosophy. Try to get a good pitch to hit and right now he’s doing a good job at it.”

Coach Natera has also been impressed with his new student. “He’s got a lot of confidence. What I hear from other coaches is that he was afraid to hit with two strikes. Now he’s not afraid to take a borderline strike to get to his pitch.”

When asked directly if looking to take borderline strikes detract from Vaughn’s natural aggressiveness, Natera refutes the idea. “Any hitter, if he’s afraid of hitting with two strikes, is going to swing at a pitcher’s pitch [early in the count] and that’s tough to hit. And now he’s not afraid to take those pitches on the corner and wait for that pitcher to make a mistake.”

And despite the fact that Vaughn has improved his slugging percentage steadily over the last three seasons, Coach Natera is still being patient on that front. “Power in young hitters is the last to come,” he explains. “Now he has to work on being a hitter. The power is there. He just has to work the strike zone like he’s been working and keep his hands back through the zone. He’ll hit for power on pitcher’s mistakes and I think everything now is coming together.”

Lopez agrees. “It’s paying off for him to this point and I hope he continues to do what he’s doing.”

Left field has always been used as a kind of defensive dumping ground for many teams trying to find a way to get a bat in the lineup.  Not requiring the arm strength considered de rigueur for Right, and less daunting in the presence of a fleet centerfielder, it is often a place for players whose offense demands playing time, but are not “natural” outfielders and have been blocked from a preferred position by a regular or superior defender.

Even good glovemen have been known to regard the territory with disdain: following his trade to the Texas Rangers, Lee Mazzilli reacted to being shifted from center to left to accommodate Rangers’ rookie George Wright by referring to his new spot in the outfield as “an idiot’s position.” Surely an overly harsh judgment, but objectively, it is accepted baseball wisdom that players with less speed, weaker throwing arms, and generally questionable glove skills are best relegated to the “low glamor” pasture to best hide their defensive shortcomings. All of this is assuming, of course, that their bats will provide sufficient thump to offset the inevitable consequences of their less-than-stellar glove work.

The Mets have certainly tried their fair share of square pegs in that particular round hole. After acquiring Mike Piazza, an attempt was made to shift the suddenly superfluous Todd Hundley to left. It didn’t end well. And we all still have the memories of Daniel Murphy’s adventures there fresh in our minds. Hopefully, his apparently successful adaptation to second base will help them fade soon.

Now we have the Dude. After appearing primarily in RF last season, Lucas has been shifted across the field to replace the departed Jason Bay, a player whose offensive woes notwithstanding, provided average to, at times, above average defense. But Bay’s glove could not carry his bat, and the Mets clearly expect much more in terms of offense from Duda.

Interestingly, it is not as if Duda is playing an unfamiliar position (even though it might appear that way), having logged 296 games in LF while in the minors. He spent considerable time in the outfield during his collegiate career as well although he seems to have been primarily a first-sacker during his early days at USC. Regardless, it has been his power potential as reflected by his imposing stature as well as the occasionally notable outburst of big flies in his minor league career (e.g. a run of 5 consecutive games with a homer during his 2010 campaign with Buffalo) that have led Mets management to install him in LF and hope for the best.

The tutelage of Mets outfield coach Tom Goodwin and careful positioning may combine to neutralize some of the more glaring holes in the Dude’s game, although if the play involving Rob Brantley’s drive to the left-field corner during the Marlin game on April 7 is any indication, there is plenty more work to be done. He does have a good arm, having pitched and served as the closer on his high school team.

So, the question remains as to what course of action would be best for Mets management to follow given the various scenarios that could develop with Duda’s career. On the one hand, he is a relatively young (27) controllable player (2 years from arbitration eligibility and 5 from free agency) that has shown flashes of power, probably the scarcest resource in the Met system. On the other hand, with his size and relative lack of foot speed, he profiles more closely as a first baseman, a spot likely currently occupied by Ike Davis. Accordingly, I foresee one of four possible scenarios developing:

1. His bat develops as the team hopes, and he becomes a consistent 25-30 HR and 100 RBI threat whose game-breaking ability outweighs his mediocre defensive metrics. He remains in LF as long as feasible.
2. His bat develops as the team hopes, etc., and he becomes a valuable trade chip, perhaps to a team in the AL where he can DH or to a team in either league with a vacancy at 1B. The resultant return being either a “true” outfielder with comparable offensive skills, a “true” outfielder with complimentary offensive skills (i.e. speed, high OBP), or a package of high minor level talent to help plug various positions (e.g. outfield, bullpen).
3. His bat develops as the team hopes, etc. and the team finds a better trade match for Ike Davis who is dealt for the resources described previously and Duda is installed at 1B.
4. His bat continues to tease but he does not take the next step to that of a consistent power threat fast enough, at which point his defense becomes truly problematic.  Team management is then left with a choice of using him as a role player or getting what they can for him in the trade market.

I can envision his development taking the favorable path. He has shown a good eye at the plate, although his patience has at times been criticized as a lack of properly channeled aggression by some. He has exhibited a reasonable ability to hit left handers in his career, albeit with somewhat reduced power. He is at the age where many players enter their time of greatest production.

What sets great lineups apart from merely good ones are what follow the four hole and gives the batting order “length.” When Travis d’Arnaud arrives, he likely projects as a number five hitter, keeping the preferred left/right alternation in place behind Davis, assuming Davis gets his act together. If Duda can fill the slot of the sixth place hitter consistently (there’s that word again), the Mets should have excellent run production.

As the first six weeks of the season wraps up, Duda has seen his stats across the board decline sharply. In April he was among the league leaders with a .436 OBP and .978 OPS while batting mostly sixth or seventh in the lineup.

However, when May rolled around, Terry Collins began batting Duda in the cleanup and five spot and the results so far have been disastrous. In 13 games this month, Duda has a .119/.191/.357 batting line in 49 at-bats which have all but erased the gains he made in April. He does have eight home runs and a very respectable .355 on-base, but somehow he leaves you wanting more. He’s become quite the enigma. It’s still early in the season, and it’s not like the Mets have any better options at the ready, but he needs to start showing some aggression and start swinging and making contact with some of those strikes that just seem to pass him by.

1B/3B COLIN MORAN, NORTH CAROLINA 

Player Profile:

Position:  3B/1B
Height:  6-3
Weight:  215
Bats/Throws:  L-R
Birthdate:  Jan. 28, 1992
College:  North Carolina
Projected Draft Round:  1

Scouting Grades:

Hitting: Present 55 – Future 55
Power: Present 55 – Future 60
Speed: Present 40 – Future 50
Fielding: Present 50 – Future 50
Arm Strength: Present 60 – Future 60

2013 Season

Colin Moran had a collegiate slash line of .347/.439/.522 heading into the 2013 season. Through the first 51 games of this season, the left-handed slugger is batting .385/.516/.646 with nine doubles, one triple, and 13 home runs.

Colin Moran is bet to go among the top ten picks, but his bonus demands could see him drop and the Mets might get lucky at No. 11. That’s assuming they are prepared to go over slot. Moran has grown from the top freshman in the country to one of the nation’s most dangerous hitters and a top draft prospect for No. 1 North Carolina. The junior has the chance to become the fourth player in NCAA history to lead the nation in runs scored and RBIs. He entered the week first in RBIs and tied for the lead in runs scored. If he keeps it up, he could join Robin Ventura of Oklahoma State (1986), Marshall McDougall of Florida State (1999) and Jake Lowery of James Madison (2011) as the only players in NCAA history to lead the country in both categories for a season.

John Sickels Says:

Moran has a lot going for him. He is a tall, lean player similar to his former #1 overall pick uncle, B.J. Surhoff. While Moran has played quite a bit of third base at North Carolina, I think his future is likely across the diamond at first. At the plate, he is quite the talent. When he is in the lineup of any team, they are better. He has a very good approach. He has a pretty swing and has above average power potential though I wouldn’t expect it early in his career. He is the type of player I could see hitting .300 in the majors. He is one of the safer picks in the draft and I would have a hard time seeing him not reach the majors and be a useful major leaguer. While the ceiling isn’t a future star, more of a solid regular, he I expect him to go off the board early.

Keith Law Says:

Moran is the most advanced bat in the class this year, including an absurd 39 BB/8 K ratio as of April 28, but faces questions about whether he can stay at third base and how well the swing will play in pro ball. At the plate, Moran has a great eye and generates good bat speed, with solid extension through the zone for average power or a tick above. He takes a long stride forward in the box but keeps his weight back, also keeping his hands very deep, with good hip rotation as well. It’s not a pretty swing, and it’s not that consistent — his hands come set in a different spot from swing to swing, and on some swings his front side goes soft (where he rolls over his front foot). He must have extremely strong wrists as well, because he’s a little late getting the barrel of the bat into the zone but still manages to make a lot of hard contact.

At third, he has outstanding hands and an easy throwing motion, along with great arm strength, so anything he gets to at third, he handles well, getting rid of the ball quickly. He’s a fringy runner and his feet are not quick — he tends to run a little flat-footed and often has trouble getting his feet started in the field because he’s set up on his heels. However once he gets moving, he’s fine, and should end up with average range at the position, or maybe a touch below, making up for it with sure-handedness and a plus arm.

If third doesn’t work — MLB teams do seem to emphasize third base defense today more than in the past — he’d have to move to first. He’s almost certainly a top five pick, but I am just concerned enough about the unorthodox swing to rate him slightly lower than that.

Colin Moran says:

Regarding his success at the plate:

“I’ve just felt comfortable and I’ve gotten into a groove. I have to give a lot of credit to the guys around me for getting on base a lot. I like to hit with guys on base. There’s been a lot of situations where guys have to come at me with strikes because the bases are loaded and the guys ahead of me have such good on-base percentages.”

Lets Go To The Videotape

Ankiel is a good outfielder, even though during his debut with the Mets, he dropped a ball. But, I will give it to him for going all out and diving for the ball, and the fact that he didn’t have his own glove because he had to have it shipped, so it wasn’t available for him to play with. So far he is hitless in two games with two strikeouts.

I know we don’t have anyone on the team that can be the power boost that we need right now, but it feels like Terry Collins hasn’t even given most of the guys like Lagares and Valdespin real time to audition.  Will Ankiel be the player that we need?  Will he turn his mediocre season around and turn back the clock to 2008 when he batted .285 with 25 HR and 71 RBI?

Even anything near those numbers will be what the doctor ordered for the Mets.  But his 37 strikeouts in 65 at bats will not help the Mets. Was there a better option for the Mets out there? Should they have given him a guaranteed major league deal off the bat?  I am not stating Ankiel won’t play hard for his new team, but just wondering if there might have been a better option. Of course, I hope Ankiel proves me wrong and plays a high a level.

I begin to wonder what this will mean for players like Mike Baxter and Jordany Valdespin. If they’ll end up relegated to pinch hitting duty, you can only have so many bench players related to left-handed pinch hitting on a team. Furthermore, if Baxter continues to share right field with Marlon Byrd, where does that leave JV1 specfically? Now I don’t have any inside information on that, but if Ankiel can put up the numbers that the Mets expect and play decent defense, then someone may just be expendable.

The offense has been struggling mightily as of late, not scoring more than five runs in a game since May 3rd, and a change in personnel with some fresh blood might shake a few things up. Unfortunately, it could just be a ruse where we will end up seeing more of the same. I don’t have a solution to our problem, and I’m not sure if Ankiel is the answer, but I definitely hope things don’t get any worse.

What a beauty of a cover and an instant Mets collectible for all you die-hards out there. Get is signed, get it framed, I know I will.

Matt harvey has gone from New York sensation to a National sensation in less than a half season worth of starts.

SI.com’s Tom Verducci, calls Harvey:

“The most fascinating young power arm in baseball.”

“In an era dominated by pitchers, Matt Harvey has the ferocity of stuff and of will to rise above all of them,” writes Verducci who says Harvey has been groomed to become a great power pitcher with disciplined mechanics by his father, Ed, who coached Matt in high school in Connecticut.

On Sunday, Harvey told Steve Serby of the New York Post that his goal is not just to be the best, but to be a role model for kids.

“I love the little boy that’s in the stands and wants to be like you. I was that boy. I want to be a role model for those kids. I don’t want to be mediocre. I want to be one of the best and somebody that a lot of people look up to.”

It’s been a fascinating start for the young power-armed righty and every time he takes the mound you feel as though something special is going to happen. He is special.

Binghamton 9, Harrisburg 3

An ominous gray sky and a persistent drizzle dampened my spirits as I started an excursion to Binghamton’s NYSEG Stadium for the second consecutive day.  Saturday’s sojourn was for naught, nearly four hours driving in the car and no baseball.  The prospects of a double washout loomed.

Halfway to Binghamton, the clouds almost evaporated in the sky giving way to sunshine, blue skies and baseball.  I couldn’t help but think that this sudden weather transformation might signal an omen, an abrupt change of fortunes for the better for our New York Mets as their young minor league pitching arms begin to find their way to the big squad.

This spring, Cory Mazzoni raised some eyebrows in Florida when he threw 8 innings in spring training raking up a 3.38 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP.  After a bout with elbow inflammation temporarily put Mazzoni on the sidelines, the power throwing righthander is back in the rotation at Binghamton. On Sunday afternoon, Mazzoni turned some heads logging an impressive outing as the B-Mets topped Harrisburg, 9-3, to earn a split in a doubleheader. On a strict pitch count, Mazzoni worked 5 2/3 innings and appeared headed for a shutout before Binghamton manager Pedro Lopez signaled that 80 total pitches was enough. Josh Edgin replaced Mazzoni with a runner on first and two outs but surrendered a two-run homerun to Josh Johnson on his second pitch.

Here are Mazzoni’s pitching numbers: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 5 K

• Batter’s Faced:  19
• First Pitch Strikes: 11 of 19  58%
• Ahead After Three Pitches:  7 of 14  50%
• Total Pitches:   80       Strikes:  52 – 65%     Balls:  28 – 35%
• Strike Breakdown:   Called:  14-27%   Fouled:  16-31%    Miss:  8-15%   In Play  14-27%
• Full Windup:  Total Pitches – 66     Strikes: 42 – 64%    Balls: 14 – 36%
• FW Fastballs  Total Pitches -   52     Strikes: 34 -  65%   Balls:  18 – 35%
• FW Curveballs Total Pitches -    4       Strikes:   3 – 75%    Balls:   1 – 25%
• FW Sliders  Total Pitches -    5      Strikes:   2 – 40%    Balls:    3 – 60%
• FW Change-ups  Total Pitches –   5      Strikes:   3 – 60%    Balls:   2 – 40% 
• Stretch:  Total Pitches -  14       Strikes:   10 – 71%  Balls:  4 – 29%
• St. Fastballs: Total Pitches -  10       Strikes:   6 – 60%    Balls:  4 – 40%
• St. Curveballs: Total Pitches -    1       Strikes:  1 – 100%. 
• St. Sliders:  Total Pitches -    3       Strikes:  3 – 100%
• Fastball Range:  88-96 mph

Of Mazzoni’s 44 fastballs, all but 5 were 90+ mph and Mazzoni’s next to last pitch reached 96 mph. Mazzoni is a big guy with the good sized hips and the backside of many power pitchers.  His delivery is smooth and appears flawless. He works quickly and efficiently and had everything working well today. A huge early lead might have been comfort food for the B-Met starter. The B-Mets scored all 9 runs in the first two innings, plating 6 runners in the opening frame.

Wilfredo Tovar and Josh Rodriguez walked to open the Binghamton first. Tovar scored the games first run when Richard Lucas lined a single to left field that Senator outfielder Jose Lozado rushed and bobbled allowing the B-Met shortstop to score. After Alan Dykstra’s infield ground out advanced the B-Met runners to second and third, before the Senator’s shortstop misplayed Cory Vaughn‘s infield ground ball with Rodriguez scoring.

After Vaughn stole second, Blake Forsythe drew a base-on-balls to load the bases. Cesar Puello‘s ground single up the middle drove in Lucas and Vaughn putting the B-Mets in front 4-0.

Joe Bonfe‘s single to right held in the air just enough to slow down the B-Met baserunners loading the bases for Mazzoni. Mazzoni slammed an 0-1 fastball for what appeared to be a grand slam homerun. With Mazzoni in a homerun trot, the ball hit the top of the fence ending in a long, two-run single. Lopez argued that the ball had cleared the orange line striking an advertisement above the fence, the umpires huddled, but the long ball single stood.

Binghamton added three more runs in their second at bat, the big hits a pair of doubles by Forsythe and Bonfe with Bonfe’s blast knocking home two runs.

Bonfe, Forsythe and Mazzoni all had two hit games. Puello went 1-2, drew a walk, was hit by a pitch and scored 2 runs.

Josh Edgin struggled in relief pitching 1 1/3 innings and surrendering two earned runs on three hits and two base-on-balls.  Edgin closed the game leaving the bases loaded.

Key Stats

Cory Mazzoni: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 5 K (2-for-3, 2 RBI)

Josh Edgin: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 1 HR, 2 BB, 2 ER, 1 K

Joe Bonfe: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI

Cesar Puello: 1-for-2, 2 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB

Blake Forsythe: 2-for-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB

Cory Vaughn: 1-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 R

The draft is slowly creeping up on us, and is now less than a month away. It’s do or die time for scouts, and for some draft hopefuls, coming down to the wire to show that they deserve a shot to call baseball their profession. On June 6, everyone is expecting the Houston Astros to take Stanford Pitcher, Mark Appel, with the first pick in the draft. After that, it’s really anyone’s guess.

The Mets have four picks in the first three rounds this year (11, 48, 76, 84). There are numerous draft strategies that teams use — drafting for organizational need, drafting players in premiere positions, taking best player available — many factors come in to play when looking at players to draft. The Mets have been said to be targeting college bats this season. This is a sound strategy, because the organization is overflowing with pitching talent, but it lacks offensive punch.

The fastest way to boost the offense is by selecting players that are still young, yet have been playing against top notch talent in college. College hitters should have a shorter route to the show, and be able to help out the big league team faster than high school players. Selecting polished hitters seems to be working out for the Mets, after seeing the early success of Kevin Plawecki, Jayce Boyd and Matt Reynolds.

With that in mind, here’s a look at the players the Mets should be taking a long look at when they are on the clock with their top pick:

Round 1: Pick 11 

Hunter Renfroe is said to be the pick here, mainly because the Mets are said to be targeting college bats. But a high schooler named Austin Meadows has more upside, and the Mets can probably get him with the No. 11 pick. Meadows is big and fast — 6 feet 3 inches tall, 200 pounds, and runs the 60 yard dash in 6.3 seconds. He’s physically mature for his age, and should fill out even more as he develops over the next few years.

Meadows a left-handed batter with a short and compact swing. The swing can get long at times, but his bat speed can make up for it when it does. He doesn’t load much, but has some lift which will produce the long ball. He shows ridiculous and effortless raw power, and good plate discipline. His pitch recognition is advanced for his age. He is a solid defender, and whether or not teams think he can stick in center field will determine if he is a top ten pick or not.

The Mets should go with Meadows due to the incredible upside. He’s said to be a quick learner and has good aptitude for the game. He projects to be a middle of the order hitter and has All-Star potential. He should be there at No. 11 for the Mets, and if he is, they would be foolish to pass.

If the Mets feel the absolute need to go with a college bat in round one, then the man they want is Austin Wilson. The Stanford outfielder stands in at 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 245 pounds. Don’t let the weight scare you, he’s extremely athletic for his size. He runs a 6.7 in the 60 yard dash, which is also solid speed for his size. He has a plus arm and is a solid defender. He is also said to have excellent character and work ethic.

He was previously drafted out of high school in 2010, but turned down the opportunity to play in the Cardinals organization to go play for the Cardinal in Stanford. He was labeled as an extremely raw talent coming out of high school, but his time at Stanford has helped him develop his game, although he still isn’t a finished product. He has good plate discipline and excellent power that could generate some moon shots.

If the Mets go with either Austin, it would be a solid pick. Both players have top-ten-pick potential, so for the Mets to get them at No. 11 would be a steal. If the Mets had their choice of the two, they would probably go with Wilson, considering he is a college bat. But since Wilson isn’t as polished as most college hitters, if Meadows is on the board, I don’t see how they pass on him. Either way, they both would be solid additions to the Mets organization.

And with the No. 11 Pick of the 2013 First Year Player Draft…

The New York Mets select:

OF HUNTER RENFROE, MISSISSIPPI STATE

Player Profile:

Position:  OF/C
Height:  6-1
Weight:  216
Bats/Throws:  R-R
Birthdate:  Jan. 28, 1992
College:  Mississippi State
Projected Draft Round:  1

Scouting Grades:

Hitting: Present 35 – Future 55
Power: Present 70 – Future 70
Speed: Present 60 – Future 60
Fielding: Present 55 – Future 60
Arm Strength: Present 60 – Future 60

John Sickels Says:

Renfroe packs a big punch at the dish. He has massive power. He has quick wrists and a short powerful swing. He sells out for power most of the time but in his summer league runs, it has paid off. He was named Cal Ripken League MVP in both 2011 and 2012. He hit ..395 with a .581 SLG in 2011, followed by a .366 mark with an .866 SLG in 2012. Renfroe is a good athlete with above-average running speed. He also has a quality throwing arm.

Player Summary

Renfroe is a high-impact college bat in a draft that has few of them, with a big, athletic build and the potential for three or more plus tools, but despite the strong junior year still has a ways to go with the bat.

He can show you three plus tools on the field — power, running speed, and throwing arm — with the power more like a 70 (on the 20-80 scouting scale) and the others grading out at 60.

At 6-foot-1, 216 pounds, he already looks physically developed enough to play in the upper levels of the minors. His swing is very rotational, with a good stride into the ball and excellent follow-through to generate all of that power. He lifts his back foot off the ground at contact, which isn’t ideal since it means he’s hitting entirely off his front foot, something a few good big league hitters have done, but that most don’t.

His pitch recognition right now is a weakness, and pitchers can get him out just by changing speeds effectively. Renfroe hit just .252/.328/.374 last year with 51 strikeouts in 230 at bats after going 4-for-26 his freshman year, so while he was a known entity coming into college — Boston took him in the 31st round in 2010 — he came into this year without any strong history of performance, appearing in a second-tier summer league last year rather than on Cape Cod or in the Northwoods League.

In a deeper draft, he’d be a sandwich-round guy because of that history, as scouts and execs asked why he didn’t hit in his previous two years in the SEC, and why he didn’t play in a tougher summer league. In this year’s draft, however, he’s clearly one of the top five college bats, and offers more raw power potential than anyone other than Kris Bryant.

2013 Stats and Accolades

On May 3rd, Mississippi State’s Hunter Renfroe was named to the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list. The award is given to the top amateur baseball player in the nation.

Renfroe leads the Bulldogs in batting average (.403), home runs (14), RBI (48), total bases (119), on-base percentage (.489) and slugging (.799). He is also tied for the team lead in doubles with 13.

What He Said

After hitting a walk-off homerun: 

“It’s pure elation. It’s total joy,” he said. “You know you’re helping your team get that much closer to winning the game or won the game. It’s awesome. It’s an awesome feeling. You get chill bumps every time you talk about it or when you do it. When you run around first base, second base, it’s pretty special. I love just playing the game.”

The Grand Slam

Gotta love that Griffey-esque flair on his follow-through, bat release, the pause, and his walk to full-on homerun trot.

All valid in the early Duda critique.

Now, unbelievably, he’s become too selective, too patient at the plate. No matter how hard I try, I don’t get this one.

Even Keith Hernandez, who has forgotten more about hitting than most of us will ever know, has been after Duda on his patience. Hernandez believes Duda should be more aggressive with runners in scoring position. Yesterday in that position, Duda worked deep into the count. And, as the at-bat continued and the talk was for him to be more aggressive, Duda lashed a 3-and-1 pitch through the right side of the infield for a RBI single in a perfect piece of hitting.

Until that swing, the conversation was about Duda’s growing patience, as if it was a fatal, fundamental flaw  instead of a strength.

Duda has a .417 on-base percentage, in large part to 21 walks. While the season is still young, his on-base percentage and OPS are the best of his career. For much of the spring he had more walks than strikeouts, but that has reversed.

However, what people are noting most are his six homers with only 11 RBI. Surely, with that much power, he should have more RBI. It it is a plausible argument, but not an all inclusive one.

Pitchers, wary of Duda’s power, have been exceedingly cautious and try to get him to chase. However, when he might have swung earlier in his career, he’s now waiting them out. Instead of giving away at-bats, he’s learned to take the walk, but that’s not a flaw.

Do you really want to see Duda be another Ike Davis, who gives away countless at-bats by flailing a pitches he has no chance of hitting?

The best thing for Duda would be to continue being patient and taking his walks. If somebody – are you listening Davis? – provided more protection behind him, then Duda might see more pitches, fastballs to be exact, in the zone.

Trust me on this one, the last thing you want is for Duda reverting to bad habits and chasing junk. The more walks he takes, the better he’ll become at recognizing pitches. He’ll waste fewer at-bats and eventually get his pitch to drive.

The expectations for Duda to walk less and swing more have been brought on by the Mets’ overall woeful offense.  The problem isn’t in Duda is taking too many pitches, but others in the batting order are not.

DAVID WRIGHT, 3B

MMO PLAYER OF THE WEEK

David Wright copped his third MMO Player of the Week honor after what may have been his most productive week of the season.

The feisty third baseman had a few run-ins the umps this past week which is something we don’t see too much of from him, but it’s what a player does in the box score that matters most for this weekly staple at MMO.

Wright posted an incredible .333/.368/.889/1.257 batting line to lead the team while also clubbing a team high three home runs – all of them coming in his last three games to close out his week with a BANG!

Additionally, he led the team with 16 total bases and six runs scored, more than double any of the other players for the week.

Wright saw his franchise record of 77 games without an error come to an end, and it was also the longest active streak among all MLB third basemen.

Honorable Mentions

John Buck

John Buck may have had a rough day yesterday behind the plate, but offensively he batted .278/.350/.667/1.017 in 18 at-bats with two more home runs to give him a team-leading ten homers for the season. He also drove in six runs and now leads the NL with 29 RBI.

Matt Harvey

Matt Harvey didn’t get the win, but delivered another solid start in which he allowed just one earned run in 5.1 innings pitched. The right-hander allowed seven hits and uncharacteristically walked three batters, while striking out seven. He’ll get the start tomorrow on seven days rest as the White Sox roll into town.

Jeremy Hefner

Hefner was the hard-luck loser after pitching the best game of his young career against the Miami Marlins last week. The righty did a nice job of changing speeds and using his assortment of pitches to keep the Fish off balance all night for eight solid innings of work. He allowed two earned runs on just four hits and struck out three while walking three.

Player Of The Week Scoreboard

1. David Wright – 3

2. John Buck - 1

2. Matt Harvey - 1

Over in left field, Lucas Duda is getting on base and hitting with some serious power. He’s moving up in the order and Davis is moving down.

Assuming Sandy Alderson fulfills his promise and nabs a decent outfielder before the deadline and during the offseason, it’s a safe bet that the front office is going to have to make a decision as to which player is the first baseman of the future.

I think it’s reasonable to say that Ike isn’t going to finish the season with a sub-200 batting average. On the other hand, Duda’s going to come down to Earth at some point. These are two very streaky hitters we’re talking about here, and Ike is having his slump in April for the second season in a row.

But who’s the better player? Who’s the best fit at first if we get a legit outfield bat?

Small sample sizes tend to lead to knee-jerk reactions, and Lucas and Ike haven’t had equal seasons in terms of at-bats and playing time. I went over to Baseball Reference and grouped both Davis and Duda’s plate appearances in batches of 500, spaced out over intervals of 100. In other words, I looked at the stats from plate appearances 1-500, 101-600, 201-700, and down the line for each players career to date. I took four key stats – K%, BB%, HR% and BABIP (batting average on balls in play) – and graphed them to see if there were any trends.

Lets look at Ike’s chart:

The most alarming thing is that Ike’s BABIP has been plummeting. He’s making weak contact and popping up more and more each month. Basically, he’s becoming Adam Dunn without the walks. If his BABIP keeps trending down then we’re going to be seeing a lot of .220 seasons in the future. Lots of home runs are nice, but out of all the players who hit 30 or more homers in 2012, Ike had the second-worst OPS behind Josh Reddick.

Looking over at Duda’s chart, we see that he’s a little more consistent:

His strikeouts and walks are going up, and home run power has remained pretty consistent since he was called up in 2010. For all the talk about his explosive power potential, it doesn’t seem like he’ll ever hit more than 20-25 in a season.

All of these revelations shine a light on the fact that the Mets are stuck between a rock and a hard place at first base. You don’t even need charts or stats to see the Ike is lost at the plate. Every time he faces the pitcher he blinks his eyes like he’s been driving cross-country for thirty-six hours and the Red Bull is wearing off. If I had to choose one, I’d probably pick Duda just to be able to put someone with some range out in left field. At least Duda has a chance to get on base at a respectable pace.

In the meantime, Sandy should add “first base” to his shopping list.

* * * * * * * *

This Fan Shot was contributed by MMO reader Eli Brazell. Have something you want to say about the Mets? Share your opinions with over 16,000 Mets fans who read this site daily. Send your Fan Shot to GetMetsmerized@aol.com. Or ask us about becoming a regular contributor.

My first reason is Ike Davis’ ceiling is far greater than any alternative in the Mets system. The Mets don’t have a player right now who has the potential to be an impact player. The Mets do have Josh Satin, but he has a limited upside. He doesn’t have a lot of power potential, and he is an average at best defender. His numbers also seem less impressive when you take into account that he’s a 28 year old in AAA hitting in Las Vegas, which is a notorious hitter’s paradise.

Who else do the Mets have? Zach Lutz is hitting .218 in Las Vegas and has very limited experience playing first base in the minors. Justin Turner is a nice bench player, but he’s not good enough to be an everyday starter. The Mets could also move Duda to first and call up an outfielder, but with the organization’s lack of quality players at the position, it is unlikely that they have an outfielder that could come up and make a significant impact.
The reality of the situation is that the Mets have no one else who can legitimately be an impact player at first base. While Davis has been inconsistent throughout his young career, he’s had many stretches where he has been an impact player. Davis had a solid season in 2010. He was great in the early part of the 2011 season before he suffered a season ending injury, and last year he had an outstanding 2nd half. If Ike Davis makes the right adjustments, he has a far greater upside than any other alternative the Mets have.

My second point is if Davis could rebound and have a solid second half last year, then why can’t he have a similar rebound this season? In the 2nd half last season, Ike was one of the best power hitters in the league. Davis hit .269/.351/.562 with 27HR and 68 RBI after June 10th of last season. Davis’ problems at the plate are eerily similar to last season, so Davis has proven he is capable of making the necessary adjustments to turn his season around.

My third point is that it’s too early to panic. While it’ certainly not too soon to be concerned about Davis, it’s way too soon to make a drastic decision like sending him down. It would not be a wise decision to send down a player because of one bad month. Many good players have bad months during the course of a 162 game season. Davis’ early season struggles are more pronounced because his slump is happening in April. If Davis is batting sub .200 in August for example, many people would not notice.

The Mets need to exhibit patience with Ike Davis. The Mets should not make a shortsighted decision by sending him down. He has the ability to turn his season around, and he has a higher upside than any alternative in the system. If his problems continue to persist later on during the season, then sending him down will be an option. But as for now, he should continue to be the Mets everyday first baseman.

Starting Lineups

New York Mets

1. Mike Baxter RF
2. Justin Turner 3B
3. Daniel Murphy 2B
4. Lucas Duda LF
5. John Buck C
6. Ike Davis 1B
7. Ruben Tejada SS
8. Jordany Valdespin CF
9. Matt Harvey RHP

Miami Marlins

1. Juan Pierre LF
2. Donovan Solano 2B
3. Giancarlo Stanton RF
4. Placido Polanco 3B
5. Greg Dobbs 1B
6. Justin Ruggiano CF
7. Rob Brantly C
8. Nick Green SS
9. Jose Fernandez RHP

Game Alert!

David Wright is out of the game nursing a stiff neck. He told the team’s training staff about during yesterday’s game, but opted to stay in the game and tough it out. Manager Terry Collins said he didn’t want to push it and make things worse so he decided to have Wright have it checked out and get examined by a doctor, according to Marc Carig of Newsday.

Game Notes

• Catcher John Buck’s 23 RBIs are three shy of Jeff Kent’s team record for RBIs in April, set in 1994.
• Ruben Tejada is hitting .353 over his current five-game hitting streak.
• Wright snapped a 77-game errorless streak — the longest in franchise history for a third baseman and the longest current stretch at the position by a big leaguer — on a ground ball in Sunday’s first inning.
• David Wright ranks fourth in the National League with a .436 on-base percentage and Lucas Duda is fifth with a .429 on-base percentage. New York is tied for fifth in the NL as a team with a .317 on-base percentage.
• Over the weekend Frank Francisco threw 25 pitches in a throwing session and admitted he did not feel great after his outing. Francisco has made two rehab appearances with Single-A St. Lucie since being shutdown early in Spring Training after experiencing discomfort in his elbow.
• Pedro Feliciano had been hospitalized with a severe case of food poisoning, but the Mets hope to have him back on a mound this week. “He’s all good,” agent Melvin Roman told ESPN New York on Sunday about Feliciano’s current status.
• New York is fifth in the majors with a .290 (53-183) batting average with runners in scoring position. The club has eight home runs in such situations, tied for the second-most in the majors. Over the last six games, the Mets are hitting .211 (8-38) with RISP.
• Outfielder Juan Pierre is a .324 career hitter with 74 runs scored against the Mets. His 150 hits against New York are the second-most among active players, trailing only Philadelphia’s Jimmy Rollins (244).
• Matt Harvey takes the mound in the 7:10 p.m. series opener in Miami against rookie right-hander Jose Fernandez. Harvey is bidding to become the third Mets pitcher to go 5-0 in April, joining Pedro Martinez (2006) and Dwight Gooden (1988).

Game Preview

The Mets try to put last week way, way behind them as they travel south for a road trip to Miami. In the Mets last home stand the Mets started off on a good note take 2 of 3 from the Nationals and then dropping 5 of 6 to the Dodgers and the Phillies. Currently, the Mets are hoping to snap a 4 game losing streak. Luckily, it is Harvey day today as he takes on Jose Fernandez in another stellar young pitcher match up.

Harvey is coming off of his worst start of the season where he still was quality allowing 3 ER over 6 innings and the Mets still ended up winning the game thanks to a walk off grand slam from Valdespin. It also was the also the last time the Mets won a game. On the season, Harvey is 4-0 over 5 starts and 35.0 innings with a 1.54 ERA while he walked 10 BB with 39 strikeouts. This will be Harvey’s first start against the Marlins and the only Marlins who have faced Harvey are Pierre (2-6) and Polanco (0-1). The Mets booth added yesterday that Harvey’s most difficult task tonight will be Stanton (not a surprise) but Stanton has slider power, so if Harvey powers him with fastballs, he should be fine.

The Mets will be meeting Jose Fernandez for the second time this season. Fernandez is 0-2 this season with a 4.50 ERA over 4 games and 20.0 innings. In that stretch he walked 8 batters and struck out 19 batters. In his debut against the Mets he allowed 1 ER over 5.0 innings. In his first two starts he allowed only 1 ER over 11.0 IP. In his last two starts he has allowed 9 ER. The Mets have the following numbers against Fernandez:

Cowgill 0-3
Baxter 0-2
Davis 0-1
Duda 0-2
Murphy 1-2
Recker 1-2, 2B
Tejada 1-2

Lets go Mets!

It was just three measly years ago that a budding young power-hitting first basemen looked nervously into the camera as Chris Carlin interviewed him live before millions of viewers late one Spring Training evening in a local pub. As they concluded, Carlin refers to him as “The future of the New York Mets, Ike Davis.”, which gets a rousing cheer from the Mets fans in the restaurant. He smiles–uncomfortably–at the applause as they cut back to studio.

It was just three years ago that the Jacobs-Tatis platoon at first was failing, and that same budding young power-hitting first baseman was making some noise down  in Buffalo, ultimately leading to a phone call and a subsequent plane ride into LaGuardia Airport.

It was barely three years ago that fans laid witness to the next great Met blossoming before their eyes. It was three years ago he dove into dugouts, cranked walk-off homers into the Pepsi Porch and excited a downtrodden fanbase in a way not seen since the pennant race of 2006.

Now three years later, Davis has brought a whole new meaning to “Pure Chaos”, and not in a good way.  He is completely lost at the plate, has made solid contact on only a fraction of his mere 13 hits this season (the majority of which went over the fence), and at this point is playing himself out of a job.

Ike has stated that he has a tendency to start off the year slow and it takes time for him to warm up, however if his batting doesn’t come to a boil soon, the Mets have a ready-made first baseman waiting in the wings–or at least in left field–.

Duda taking over first is not out of the realm of possibilities. Prior to d’Arnaud’s injury Terry Collins already proposed the idea of sliding John Buck over to first when the Mets top-hitting prospect eventually got the call. If someone who has yet to play first in their professional career had been on the table to at least split time at first with Davis, why wouldn’t Duda, someone who played more first base than left field in the minors, be in the fold as well?

Collins said last week that there are no plans to us Duda at first, however if Davis continued to swing-and-miss, things could change in a hurry.

Lucas Duda is not an outfielder, no matter how hard the Mets try to force it on him. He is a first base/ designated hitter type of player. Sure he doesn’t have the defensive prowess of Davis, however Davis hasn’t exactly been the same out on the diamond since his rookie campaign.

This is not to say Duda or anyone else is going to take Ike’s job in 2013, however when this offseason comes and goes, I am not confident that Ike Davis will be a New York Met come Opening Day 2014. He is set to make $7-8 million in arbitration next year, and that could be too rich for the shallow pockets of the Alderson regime.

He has been through major slumps in the minors, his first season and in 2012 and was able to turn himself around. When it comes down to it however, the Amazin’s can’t afford to have their first baseman bat under the Mendoza line through one half of the season, then go on a tear post-All Star Break in the next.

That will not be seen as worth the money for Sandy Alderson and the Mets. This has become a make-or-break year for Isaac Benjamin Davis, and if he doesn’t turn it around soon, things might get a whole lot more “chaotic” for the former-budding young star.

First and foremost, how do you define a superstar?  For the purposes of this post, I’m going to say that a superstar has to have been in the league long enough to be compensated like one.  This will provide a “track record” that we can use to see where Wright lies amongst his peers.  Does this leave out the Mike Trouts and Bryce Harpers of the world?  Yes, but its important to consider money because it is always an important dynamic in this argument.

With that said, if there is anything both Wright’s supports and his critics can agree on, its that Wright’s new contract compensates him like a superstar.  Despite making only $11 million dollars this season, he will average $17.5 million over the length of the deal.  So for the purposes of comparison, I will use this $17.5 million dollar figure so Wright goes up against players considered to be the best in the league.  IF Wright were to make $17.5 million dollars this season, he would find himself to be the twenty-third highest paid player in Major League Baseball.   As it turns out, there are eleven higher paid position players in the game under this scenario.  Therefore, for the purposes of this comparison, I will use those eleven players and the first eleven that fall below him.  Each of these players have been productive enough on a consistent basis to be amongst the highest paid position players in the league.  Does Wright belong in this group?

This is how they match up over the course of their careers in the major statistical categories:

Click to enlarge. All statistics obtained from www.baseball-reference.com. All statistics are averages over every 162 games played.

I chose these statistics because they are the most commonly known offensive categories for the average/traditional baseball fan.  I included batting average with runners in scoring position as a way to measure “clutchness”, which always seems to come up when discussing Wright.  So what have we learned…

Wright is actually above average when it comes to runs, hits, runs batted in, stolen bases, batting average, OPS, and finally, “clutchness”.  Consequently, he is slightly below average when it comes to power numbers and also averages a few additional strikeouts than his peers, neither of which should come as a surprise to anyone who watches Wright on a daily basis.  Which of these statistics you value most will go a long way in making your determination of whether or not Wright is in fact, a superstar.

I’ll allow you to make that determination for yourself.  What I do take away from all of this is that David Wright has earned his place amongst the highest paid players in the league.  He may never hit the epic home runs that some on this list do.  That alone may be enough for some of you to never deem Wright a superstar, and that’s okay.  However, there are other aspects of his game that help to fill his power void, which may lead others to the exact opposite conclusion.  What do you think?  How does he match up?  Is David Wright a superstar?

Follow me on Twitter at @RobPatterson83.

Disclaimer: I did not include defensive statistics in this comparison because each of these players play different positions, with several serving as a DH who don’t play defense at all.  Salaries were obtained from www.baseballplayersalaries.com/salaries.

Last night, in the Mets 7-2 loss to the Dodgers, Juan Lagares entered the game in the top of the fifth inning to play center field as part of a double-switch – officially marking his major league debut.

Lagares led off in the bottom half of the fifth with a hard hit fly to the warning track in left field against Dodgers’ ace LHP Clayton Kershaw. In his next at-bat, Lagares singled against left-hander Paco Rodriguez in the seventh for his first major league hit. The first of what I’m sure will be many.

“When I got to the dugout, all my teammates said ‘Congratulations,’” Lagares said. “I really don’t know how to say it, but I am so excited to be here with the team.”

Lagares, 24, was promoted in place of outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who was optioned to Las Vegas after hitting .125 (2-for-16).

I appealed to the Mets to call him up only the day before they did after looking at his .346 (27-for-78) in 17 games with Las Vegas. The athletic outfielder started every game in centerfield and had already hit three home runs, three doubles and two triples in his 82 total plate appearances. His .929 OPS was second on the team.

“He’s the future,” Mets manager Terry Collins said before Tuesday’s game. “A great defender. Got some power. There are people in this organization that think he’s a better outfielder than Matt den Dekker. That speaks a lot.”

Initially an infielder, Lagares converted to the outfield in 2009 and has only gotten better according to Wally Backman.

Collins said Lagares will start Wednesday with the Dodgers starting left-hander Ted Lilly.

Welcome to The Show, kid…

In the top of the third inning, a comebacker struck Niese on his leg sending him to the ground writhing in pain. Niese sat down in the dirt along the first base line and grimaced as the Mets trainer helped him to his feet after a minute or so and exited the field. X-rays were negative and Niese left with a bruise. The Mets said he was day to day.

“We’ll see how it feels tomorrow. But I should be able to throw a bullpen and make my next start,” Niese said.

“I’m glad it’s not as bad as what it could have been,” he added. “Everything kind of locked up down there. I couldn’t move my toes. It was kind of scary at first.”

The Mets scored twice in the third after Clayton Kershaw retired the first two batters. Robert Carson, who took over for Niese, walked in his first big league plate appearance and set up RBI singles by Daniel Murphy and David Wright. But that would be all the scoring for the Mets who had just had four hits, all singles, on the night.

The Dodgers put the game away in the eighth inning after reliever Josh Edgin was tagged for two runs on two singles and two doubles.

One Mets bright spot was when Juan Lagares made his big league debut during a double switch in the fifth inning. The center fielder was promoted from Triple-A Las Vegas earlier in the day and flied out to the warning track against Kershaw in his first at-bat.

Then Lagares singled his next time up for his first big league hit. ”When I got to the dugout all of my teammates said congratulations. That, for me, feels good,” he said.

Right-hander Matt Harvey will try to snap the Dodgers’ five game winning streak at Citi Field tonight at 7:10 PM. We’ll be live blogging the game from the press box at Citi and hope you’ll join us.

Most everything about the Mets these days is about the future. From Matt Harvey, to extending David Wright, to the trade of R.A. Dickey and protecting Zack Wheeler, we’re talking about 2014 and beyond.

Sure, it would be great to compete now, but 2013 is mostly for establishing the foundation. It is the development of Harvey and Jon Niese; giving Wheeler major league experience – while avoiding free agency for a year – and hope Ike Davis and Lucas Duda improve their offensive efficiency while still producing power.

This trend should extend to the bullpen, where Bobby Parnell, despite limited save opportunities, has performed in the role that should hopefully define his career.Manager Terry Collins told Parnell at the beginning of spring training he would be the closer if Frank Francisco were not ready. Collins should pull Parnell aside tomorrow at Citi Field – today is an off-day – and tell him he’ll have the job when Francisco returns.

Parnell spit the bit on previous chances, but is grasping the brass ring now. And, tightly. Parnell struck out two Washington Nationals in a perfect ninth Sunday to earn his second save of the season. Parnell is following up last year’s strong second half with a blistering start.

He has a strong traditional statistic in a 1.35 ERA – mostly overrated for relievers – with an even stronger new wave stat of a 0.45 WHIP.  He’s given up three hits and a run in 6.2 innings. He’s been virtually untouchable.

More to the point, he’s pitching the way the way the Mets always hoped.

Collins and GM Sandy Alderson saw that coming at the end of 2012, when with Francisco on the disabled list, Parnell went 3-1 with a 0.96 ERA and paltry .196 opponent’s batting average in 17 appearances.

The Mets might feel obligated to return Francisco to the closer role based on his $6.5-million salary, but they need to resist that temptation. It is not an obligation to return Francisco to the closer role, especially because it is anticipated he will not be re-signed this winter.

If Francisco were in the Mets’ future plans, I might think differently. Parnell, however, is expected to be here next season and beyond. The Mets – namely Jerry Manuel – have jerked around Parnell to the point of messing with his confidence. They must not do it again by changing his role.

Perhaps this is nothing more than a hot stretch for Parnell; perhaps it is the beginning of something special. We need the time to see.

We don’t know to what degree Parnell will develop. What we do know is Francisco will not be here next year and Parnell will. Parnell must stay in the closer role, and remain there in good times and in bad.

That’s the way to build for the future, which is now for Parnell.

Thoughts from Joe D.

I don’t think this will be an issue when the Mets activate Frank Francisco. Having the highest paid pitcher on your active roster doing mopup duty isn’t exactly an ideal situation. But that’s exactly the way the Mets should handle Francisco until he can work his way back into a more significant role.

I thought that Francisco two-year deal was an awful signing to begin with, but now that’s past and his $6.5 million is just something we’ll need to deal with and if it means ultimately eating it – so be it.

That said, I don’t think the money situation will keep Terry Collins or Sandy Alderson from doing what is best for the team.

I would be absolutely shocked if Parnell were to go back to a setup role when Francisco returns. I just don’t see that happening.