Mark Simon of ESPN New York, does a very nice job of analyzing the first full season of center fielder Juan Lagares, who he says was arguably the Mets’ most valuable player or at the very least one of their top three. I agree.
Offensively, Lagares’ progression was a product of two things: increasing his line-drive rate from 19 percent to 22 percent and spraying the ball across the whole field. But adds that there’s still plenty of room for growth and improvement, particularly with his strike zone judgement.
I was very excited with how Lagares progressed in 2014, and was most impressed to see him finally using his speed to steal 13 bases, 11 of them in the second half when he was finally given the green light.
Something I think gets very little attention is just how tremendous Lagares is against left-handed pitching, who he torched with a .349 batting average, .488 slugging percentage, and an incredible .875 OPS.
Defensively, what can you say about Lagares that hasn’t been said already. According to Simon, you could make the case that Lagares is the most impactful outfielder in the game, already amassing 56 Defensive Runs Saved in his first season and a half in the majors. Wow…
“Lagares has garnered such a good reputation that opponents are now afraid to challenge him. Even Ben Revere, one of the fastest players in the majors, declined to try to score from second base on a base hit to deep center.”
“For anyone who underestimates the value of his defense, just ask his starting pitchers what they think,” said one major league scout. “Anyone who doesn’t think he’s terrific isn’t paying attention.”
My favorite part of his article was when he and his colleagues tackled the issue of Lagares’ WAR as compared to MVP candidates Mike Trout and Andrew McCutchen. God knows that has been hotly debated on MMO many times.
Here is just a small sampling:
Jeff Gold: “Lagares is one of the most unique players in baseball. He doesn’t hit for power, doesn’t walk, doesn’t steal that many bases (13), and yet he’s one of the best players in the game. His defense is a game-changer.”
Paul Hembekides: “Where does Juan Lagares rank among center fielders? Not in the top five [so not an All-Star], but still in the second tier of players above [or well above] league average. And in terms of all position players? I could name 50 I’d rather have than Juan Lagares.”
Mark Simon is one of the best baseball analysts and writers in the game today. And this particular piece is packed with so much more information that you should really read the full article here.
