Adam Rubin (ESPN) reported that the Mets now plan on starting Lucas Duda against left-handed pitching this year. “He just faced two of the best lefties in the game and went up there with a great approach,” said manager Terry Collins, who was referring to Duda’s recent success against AL veteran southpaws David Price and C.C. Sabathia. For the Mets first baseman though, his recent show of improvement comes with little surprise and relative ease.
“It gets a little bit overplayed, I guess. It’s monotonous to hear about it,” Duda said. “It is what it is. I’m comfortable facing them on a daily basis. That’s all that really matters.” Indeed, I’d have to say I’m in accordance with The Dude on this one. He showed improvements against left-handers late last year and so far, it’s transitioned into spring.
One thing that hasn’t changed is Duda’s work ethic, willing to “ride the bus 2 hours, 25 minutes to Lakeland in order to face Price. He originally had been scripted to DH in a minor league game back in Port St. Lucie that day.” It’s great that Duda was willing to seek out a challenge and face one of the league’s premier southpaws when he could have opted for a more laid back day. It’s easy to root for this man, not because of his tremendous power, but also his humble demeanor.
For now, he’s still trying to get over .200 in spring play after getting a late start, but he continues to show that same quiet confidence that was once mistaken for insecurity. “I feel like I’m a little bit behind schedule due to the injury I had, but I like I’m slowly getting there. So hopefully it kicks in right at Opening Day.” Never over-selling himself, but subtly comfortable with the idea that he’ll be back in shape soon.
According to Rubin, the Mets hope to keep Cuddyer in right field against tough lefties and have John Mayberry Jr. – a nightmare for southpaws- start in left field in place of Curtis Granderson. Defensively, that may not only be an individual upgrade in left field, but an overall upgrade in run prevention for the infield as well.
Originally, Duda was to be removed against tough left handed pitching so that Cuddyer could shift to first base and Mayberry Jr. could take over right field. This disregarded the defensive skills that Duda has shown at first base. Having Cuddyer or Mayberry Jr. at first exposes the throwing arms of each infielder, all of whom have struggled to make accurate throughout their careers.
Daniel Murphy and David Wright have historically needed strong first baseman in order to generate high putout percentages and Duda showed last year that he has a proclivity for picking tough throws out of the dirt. This is a vastly underrated skill set, especially considering the Mets are supposedly built on pitching. If Duda can manage to go 1-3 with a walk, a run scored or an RBI- or better yet- a home run, it’s worth it to keep him in the lineup.
