The acquisition of Jay Bruce leaves the Mets with four corner outfielders on their roster and no true center fielder. Yoenis Cespedes, who had been playing center, has removed himself from that position due to his seemingly never-ending quad injury. With this being the case, the plan seems to be to have Michael Conforto and Curtis Granderson to split time in center while Cespedes and Bruce man the corners full time.
While none of these players are currently natural center fielders, all of them have had some experience in center field. None of it is particularly encouraging, but the Mets are going to have to find the best of a bad bunch here. They need Bruce’s bat in the lineup, so they really don’t have much of a choice.
Bruce is slated to play right field, but started 35 big-league games in center field, all as a rookie in 2008. In those 35 games, Bruce saved six defensive runs above average and had a .976 fielding percentage. He was, however, in the negative on several other advanced metrics, including a -2 Total Zone Fielding Runs Above Average. There’s a reason why he’s only made one appearance (which actually came this season) there since 2008. While this is true, Bruce was drafted as a center fielder and played 205 of his 358 games in the minors there from 2005-2008.
Curtis Granderson has played most of his career in center field, but hasn’t played there regularly since 2012. He has a lifetime .994 fielding percentage and 33 defensive runs saved above average in 1,152 games there. But he hasn’t had a positive defensive runs saved above average in center since 2010 (save for a 25-game stint in 2013) and posted totals of -6 and -10 in 2011 and 2012, his last full seasons in center. Now that he’s 35, Granderson can be expected to play at a lower level than this once he starts playing there again.
It’s probably a moot point to bring up Cespedes’ numbers in center, considering that he will not be playing there due to his quad injury. He has a .990 fielding percentage and has saved 23 defensive runs below average in his career, and has a -19 per season mark in that category. He will be helped greatly with a move to left field, where he has saved 32 career runs above average and has a ten per season mark.
Conforto, who stands to play a decent amount of time in center, has just five games’ experience, which has all come in the last two weeks. He has actually saved one run above average and posted a 1.000 fielding percentage in this small sample size. He never played there in the minor leagues.
There are no good choices here from a defensive standpoint. But the Mets’ need Bruce’s bat, so they will have to make this work somehow.
