The Mets are coming off a weekend series in which they took 2 out of 3 games from their rivals, the Nationals. The series showed plenty of flaws on this team despite the overall positive outcome. One of those was infield defense, specifically on the left side.
In the fifth inning of Saturday’s game, the Mets displayed the glaring weakness. On the first play of the inning, Trea Turner hit a ground ball which Jose Reyes booted. The next play was a ground ball on which we are accustomed to seeing David Wright range left and get an out. Instead, it was a ball that got past Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera for a hit. Later in the inning, Barry Bonds – Sorry, Ryan Zimmerman hit a ground ball to Cabrera which failed to result in an out. Ryan Zimmerman is someone who rarely ever records an infield hit.
The defense on the left side is costing the team dearly. Cabrera has taken a step back on defense. He currently has -6 defensive runs saved despite having -7 all of last season. His UZR/150 also dropped to -5.9 this year. Despite this, the Mets should not rush Amed Rosario to the big leagues.
Rosario is the #1 Mets prospect and is a consensus top-10 prospect in baseball. Rosario can definitely make an immediate impact as he is easily better than Cabrera or Reyes in the field, yet this could risk stunting Rosario’s development.
Currently, Rosario is hitting .407/.447/.512 in Triple-A with a 162 wRC+. He has a lot of singles in Las Vegas as evidenced by his .105 ISO in one of the biggest hitter friendly leagues. In recent games, he has started recording more extra base-hits including his first home run on Saturday night.
However, if he gets the call now, the Mets run the risk of him turning into just a singles hitter with a good glove. Almost similar to what the Marlins have in Adeiny Hechavarria. If the Mets are patient with Rosario, he could be a franchise shortstop for years to come with some extra-base power.
Rosario’s development and the Mets need for him should be mutually exclusive. Rosario should develop into a great player for the Mets. He should not be rushed just because the Mets could use him now. Dansby Swanson was rushed to the big leagues and he is currently hitting .149/.196/.230 with a 14 wRC+.
I truly believe Amed Rosario will be a great player alongside Michael Conforto and Dominic Smith for years to come. It is imperative they let him develop into that player who can run onto the field with his head up similar to how David Wright did for the Mets for many years.
