It’s a small sample size, but Lucas Duda is having a very solid start to the second half of the season. Since the All-Star break, the slugging first baseman is hitting .286 with 9 HR and 15 RBI, compared to his .241 12 HR and 38 RBI clip in the first half. Perhaps the most pleasant surprise is that his OBP is up over 30 points in the last 19 games since the break. Lucas has been laying off some of those pitches he was swinging at in the first half, and finding a way to draw more walks.
With all the talk now mostly being on the newcomers that have arrived in the past two weeks, it can be easy to forget about guys like Duda, and even Curtis Granderson, both of whom have been red hot as of late. I truly believed that when the Mets made the trade for Cespedes, the guy who would be affected by it most would be Lucas Duda. Sure enough, it has affected him, and in a very positive way.
Lucas seems to be more relaxed at the plate, and certainly dialed in. At this point, you almost get let down when he doesn’t hit a homerun. Heading into the All-Star break, it looked as though all hope had been lost for Lucas. He was striking out an enormously high clip, and was not driving home runs like the Mets desperately needed him to. Well now, with some help around him, he seems much more comfortable, and has been able to do much more damage.
I contribute some of his recent success to his willingness in starting to go the other way. It seems like he is thinking to hit the ball to left center every time, which has made his swing much more dangerous than it had been. Just last night in a one run game, Duda had a clutch two run double to the left center field gap that beat Christian Yelich. This past weekend against the Nationals, Duda hit a game tying HR over the left field fence at Citi Field. When Duda is in a grove, he tends to start hitting the left side.
Duda’s success is huge for the Mets. We all knew how important he was to the team leading up to the season, and now we realize how important he still is when having more guys around him. He’s a big threat, and probably the biggest power bat in this Mets lineup. If the Mets want to continue their success, Lucas has to be a big part of it. There’s no reason he can’t get to 30 HR for the second year in a row.
