Of all the Mets’ off-season questions, the matter of their leadoff hitter is one of the most intriguing. That is especially if their intent is to fill it from within.
With no budding Lou Brock or Rickey Henderson in their farm system, or even a Jose Reyes, their best hope is on their current 40-man roster. I say that because there’s no real answer for them in a particularly weak free-agent market and they are reluctant to trade their young pitching.
The primary in-house candidates are Eric Young, Juan Lagares, Ruben Tejada, Daniel Murphy and Kirk Nieuwenhuis. All have something they could bring to the table, but all have issues to the negative.
Young, Lagares and Nieuwenhuis have the speed, but also rather low on-base percentages and a penchant for striking out too much.
Of the group, Murphy is the best hitter, but for a relatively weak lineup he’s better suited for a run-producing slot in the middle of the order. Also, Murphy’s on-base percentage, at .332, isn’t as lofty as one might think.
If Murphy is still here – another substantial question – he should be hitting between second and sixth.
As for Young, there’s an excellent chance it will be a moot point and that he won’t be brought back.
Last winter, manager Terry Collins toyed with the idea of experimenting with Tejada. However the catch here is Tejada needs a position to play and that means starting ahead of Wilmer Flores, which isn’t a given.
Mets’ 11 different leadoff hitters ranked last in the majors with a .235 average and paltry a .308 on-base percentage. If they want to change that, they’ll have to hope for a breakout season from one of the aforementioned players or be willing to spend.
Thoughts from Joe D.
If the Mets are left with filling the void internally, they most certainly should go with a platoon as no current player has demonstrated an aptitude for handling a pitcher’s handedness with equal aplomb.
Lagares, who batted .349 with a .387 on-base against left-handers is a no-brainer, only Terry Collins didn’t stumble upon that until the waning weeks on the season. Far too late where the gifted center fielder could have made a difference in the results.
Nieuwenhuis and his .350 OBP is the best of the rest and would be very capable as the other half of the platoon. But it’s most likely he’ll be left in a reserve role where he has thrived as a pinch hitter. He has never fared well with regular playing time.
So who would partner with Lagares to fill the platoon? It’s tough to say as only Daniel Murphy and Curtis Granderson have the next best OBP vs RHP – and they’re tied with an unimpressive .329.
The fact is that much like last Winter and the one before that, Sandy Alderson will have to address this leadoff situation which has stagnated ever since Jose Reyes was allowed to move on.
If Sandy fails to properly address this again, it will be a third straight season of MLB’s worst production batting leadoff for the Mets, and that may make any overall offensive improvement in 2015 less likelier.
