Sunday’s 10-8 win over the Atlanta Braves may have the best game and the most satisfying win of the season thus far for the Mets. At least that’s how it felt to me.
Before the series I tweeted out that I believed the returns of Travis d’Arnaud and Dilson Herrera could be the spark the Mets needed to boost the lineup and energize the clubhouse. And wouldn’t you know it, that’s exactly what the both of them did this weekend.
Manager Terry Collins said something interesting during his post game presser after spending a few minutes to rave about Herrera and d’Arnaud to reporters.
Asked if Dilson Herrera had done enough to lock up the second base job for the Mets, Collins responded:
“Right now if Daniel Murphy were to come back from the DL, it would be pretty hard to take Dilson Herrera out of the lineup.”
Echoing what I said on Friday, Collins said that the energy Herrera brings to the Mets is something this team desperately needed.
I don’t use this word loosely, but I believe Dilson could eventually become the “catalyst” this team has lacked since Jose Reyes, who by the way is in town tonight as the Mets host the Blue Jays at Citi Field.
Herrera blasted his second homer of the season on Sunday, while swiping his first career stolen base and playing some sparkling defense in the field.
He has reached base safely in a career-high 10 straight games dating back to May 6, hitting .324 (11-34) with two home runs, two doubles and four RBI over those contests.
As for Daniel Murphy, when he’s activated next week expect him to be planted at third base while Herrera continues to develop and gain more confidence at second base. It’s the right move.
You know, I realize that many of you are clamoring for a trade, but getting Herrera and d’Arnaud back probably does more for this team than the addition of a Jean Segura or Aramis Ramirez. I don’t mean that to sound like I’m shilling for ownership, but it’s an honest appraisal of how I see things right now.
I really don’t want to see Herrera go back to the minors just so we can make an incremental upgrade at third base.
We’ve yet to see an infield of Duda, Herrera, Flores and Murphy play together and I feel as though we’d be doing a disservice to ourselves if we didn’t give those four a chance to gel together first.
Anyway it’s something to consider. In the meantime our team is still in first, we’re coming off a thrilling win, and the Mets are exciting to watch.
Here’s a clip of Herrera’s incredible play on Sunday…
[iframe]<iframe src=’https://m.mlb.com/shared/video/embed/embed.html?content_id=164748583&topic_id=6479266&width=400&height=224&property=mlb’ width=’400′ height=’224′ frameborder=’0′>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe>[/iframe]
