By now most of you have heard all about Terry Collins and his mantra of “either you hit or you sit,” and I don’t think there’s anyone among us who doesn’t applaud this.
But as I said at the time, I wonder if Collins will really stick to it, especially knowing his affinity for giving MLB veterans an extra-long leash even when they are severely underperforming.
Kelly Johnson seems to be getting the lion’s share of playing time between himself and Wilmer Flores. But when I look at what he’s done since joining the Mets, I wonder if Johnson merits all the starts he’s been getting.
Since July 25, Johnson has started 10 games while Flores has started just seven.
Johnson is hitless in his last nine at-bats, and overall he is batting .158 with a .463 OPS in 40 plate appearances with the Mets.
In that same span, Flores is batting .290 with a .796 OPS in 32 plate appearances.
While the trade for Johnson and Juan Uribe from Atlanta was a big and bold move for the Mets, it’s easy to forget that Johnson is just a .231 hitter since 2012. Certainly a nice addition to the bench, but definitely not the near-everyday player Collins thinks he is at this stage of his career.
I get the whole lefty/righty thing between Johnson and Flores, but I think it’s way too early at 24 to relegate Flores to a platoon player. Sorry I’m not buying that.
And given Wilmer’s significant improvement offensively since the switch to his more natural second base (.303/.327/.505) I want to see more of him not less.
Anyway, all I’m saying is if this is really a “you hit and you play” kind of a team, then Flores should be playing more and Johnson should be playing less.
