Mets officially have activated Travis d’Arnaud from the disabled list and optioned Kevin Plawecki to Triple-A Las Vegas.
D’Arnaud had been on the 15-Day Disabled List since April 26, with a right rotator cuff strain. He hit .317 (13-41) with four doubles, seven RBI, five runs scored and 11 walks in 11 rehabilitation games between St. Lucie (A) of the Florida State League and Las Vegas (AAA). He was hitting .196 (9-46) with one RBI in 13 games with the Mets this season.
Original Report
New York Mets catcher, Travis d’Arnaud finished up his rehab assignment Monday night with the Las Vegas 51’s. He is expected to be activated prior to tonight’s game against Kansas City.
The Mets are in need of some offense, and manager Terry Collins hopes that his returning catcher can help provide it. Hopefully for Collins and the Mets, d’Arnaud can return to the offensive player he was in 2015 and not the shell of himself that we had seen to start this season.
“This guy, when he’s in that lineup, he’s a threat,” Collins said. “I think he’s handled our pitching staff well. Hopefully his arm is sound enough, but you put that bat in the middle of our lineup, that changes a lot of things. That makes your lineup pretty deep.” (NY Post)
The expectation is that when Travis is activated it will spell the end of Kevin Plawecki for the time being as he should be on his way back to Las Vegas.
Rene Rivera will stay on as the backup to d’Arnaud. It will be interesting to see how Collins handles d’Arnaud and how often he may play, given his chronic injury problems.
“When he gets back here, I think we’re gonna throw him out there,” Collins said. “Now, is it gonna be more than four [games] in a row? I doubt it. It may not be four in a row. We’ll just see how he plays. I think he’s ready for anything we put [on] him, except a really extended period of time.”
Rivera has also become a personal catcher of sorts for New York’s ace, Noah Syndergaard. He has really helped him cut down the stolen bases with his quick release and strong accurate arm. Travis on the other hand is not known for his ability to throw out would-be base stealers, so it will be interesting to see if Rivera stays on as Syndergaard’s personal catcher. D’Arnaud has been said to have shown some improvement in this area as of late.
“They thought his throwing has been better,” Collins said. “They tell me he’s been catching very well. We’ll wait to see when he gets here.”
Offensively, neither of the three backstops have been able to put forth a solid offensive season thus far. The numbers are currently broken down as follows for their 2016 offensive production and handling of opposing teams on the basepaths.
Travis d’Arnaud: .196/.288/.261, 3 R, 0 HR, 1 RBI; Has thrown out 18% of base-stealers.
Rene Rivera: .190/.273/.310, 4 R, 2 HR, 10 RBI; Has thrown out of 36% base-stealers.
Kevin Plawecki: .194/.301/.258, 6 R, 1 HR, 10 RBI; Has thrown out 24% of base-stealers.
An argument could be made that the defense is taking quite a hit by going back to d’Arnaud. The hope though is that his bat will outweigh the less optimal defensive play. All in all though, if healthy, Travis could be exactly the offensive piece this team needs to get things going again.
