On Sunday, the Mets put out their post-clinching lineup and the biggest star to shine was that of Dilson Herrera who went 3-for-4 with a double and a two-run homer, coming a triple short of the cycle.
It was Dilson’s first start since June 27th and he gave Mets fans a good glimpse of what he is capable of as a hitter. He has now hit six home runs in just 146 Major League at-bats despite currently being the 4th youngest player (21) in the National League.
Herrera came to the Mets on August 27th, 2013, when Sandy Alderson shipped out veterans Marlon Byrd and John Buck for Dilson and Vic Black. At the time Herrera was a 19-year old prospect who batted .265/.330/.421 in the South Atlantic League for the Priates and he was deemed a “offense oriented second baseman” by Baseball America’s Matt Eddy.
It didn’t take long for Herrera to impress the his new team, hitting .323/.379/.479 with 33 doubles, five triples, 13 homeruns, 71 RBI and 23 stolen bases combined for the St. Lucie and Binghamton Mets in his first full season with the organization. He showed enough (combined with Daniel Murphy injury) to get a shocking promotion on August 29th, 2014 to make his debut as the youngest player in the National League.
Herrera was able to hold his own in his first 66 MLB plate appearances hitting .220/.303/.407 with three homeruns, a triple, eleven RBI and a 7/17 BB/SO. Not bad for a 20-year old kid considering the average for a MLB second baseman in 2014 was .250/.307/.352 with a .113 ISO compared to Herrera’s isolated slugging of .186.
Herrera was sent to Las Vegas to start the 2015 season and picked up right where he left off hitting .327/.381/.511 for the 51’s in 327 at-bats. However, he has struggled with the bat this year in the big leagues with a slash line of .218/.320/.379 in 87 AB that covers three different stints.
It was not all bad for Herrera who lowered his K% from 25.8% last year in the bigs to 22% this year and raised in BB% from 10.6% to 11.0% this year.
He has also looked more comfortable in the field this year while turning some great double plays and proving to be more sure-handed at second. According to FanGraphs last year he made 92% of routine plays and this year he has made 97%.
He received some glowing compliments from Keith Hernandez during the game yesterday who said this about Dilson:
“He is a little guy that is very strong, and I like this guy alot. He has had his struggles at the big league level but he’s got some pop, he is a scrappy little player who is a excellent second base who can turn an excellent double play.”
The second base position has been somewhat of a revolving door this year for the Mets because of injuries and playing match-ups. Kelly Johnson, Juan Uribe, Wilmer Flores, Ruben Tejada, Daniel Muno, Murphy, and Herrera have all seen time at second base this year for the Mets.
I don’t expect Murphy to be back next year and they’ve shown no inclination to give him a contract extension . I like both Johnson and Uribe, but I would be surprised if they weren’t offered more money and playing time elsewhere. Which really brings us to Flores and Herrera as the two most likely candidates to play second base for the Mets next season.
Personally, I think it will be Herrera who wins the job next Spring, mostly because he is a better defender and also has the potential to hit at the top of the order. Meanwhile, Flores could get plenty of playing time filling a super utility role with the team.
