While the Mets find themselves at an impressive 14-11 after 25 games in what was a pretty tough schedule, they still languish at the bottom of the rankings in several offensive areas including batting average, on-base and slugging.
That we were able to get as far as we have without any real offensive propulsion behind it, makes me wonder how much better we could have done with just a modest uptick in offensive production.
As the calendar turns from April to May, and the Mets mired in a team-wide slump at the plate, one player who seems to be warming up is Travis d’Arnaud. After opening the season by going 0-for-16, d’Arnaud is hitting .364 (8-for-22) in his past seven games.
Greg Logan of Newsday, points out that while the Mets’ young catcher is hitting only .219 with one home run and four RBIs, he has really turned it on in the past seven games, batting .364 (8-for-22) with two RBIs and three multi-hit games.
“He’s come here with huge expectations, which is tough for any young player,” manager Terry Collins said. “And it’s been a limited sample because he’s been hurt the last couple years. But what he’s showing us right now are all the skills you’ve heard about.
“We’ve seen the power. We’ve seen the arm strength. He’s done a tremendous job with our pitching staff. After a tough start, he’s hitting right now. He’s a good baserunner. He’s got everything all the scouts mentioned, and now we’re starting to see it . . . He’s the real deal.”
D’Arnaud, 25, never let his woes at the plate interfere with the way he handles the pitching staff, a clear sign of his maturity.
“I treat it as two nine-inning games, nine innings offensively and nine innings defensively,” said d’Arnaud, whose work with hitting coach Dave Hudgens is starting to pay off.
If d’Arnaud continues to hit the way he has as the Mets hit the road for a two-game set in Philadelphia and a four-game series in Colorado – two notorious hitter’s parks – it could provide the offensive jolt this team needs.
What I’d really love to see is Collins experiment a little and try batting TDA second instead of sixth or seventh. I’d love to see what he could do batting in front of David Wright instead of Ruben Tejada. Don’t think that batting so low in the lineup hasn’t also affected his numbers in the big-leagues. Collins could have done a much better job of acclimating him into the majors by putting the kid in a position to succeed.
Do you agree? Where would you like to see the Mets bat d’Arnaud?
