It’s no secret that Jay Bruce was awful for the Mets last season. There’s no need to rehash the stats. He was, as Stephen A. Smith would say, “a bona fide scrub.”
This performance naturally caused many to point out the parallels between Bruce and Jason Bay: A big-name corner outfielder comes to the team as a star with big expectations, only to fail miserably at the plate.
2017 has been an entirely different story for Bruce as a Met. He’s looked every bit like the guy who made three All-Star games in Cincinnati and was a staple in stacked Reds lineups, batting .304 with four home runs, six RBI and a 1.304 OPS through his first seven games of this season.
“I want to be a good player. I want to help this team win and I believe that we have a legitimate chance to win a World Series, and I want to be one of the pieces to the puzzle,” Bruce said after his big performance.
It goes without saying that this is a complete 180 from Bruce’s post-trade 2016. He already has half as many homers as he did last year for the Mets– in 43 less games. Bruce is currently on pace for 92 home runs and 138 RBIs this year, which would mean breaking Barry Bonds‘ home run record by 19 homers.
Of course those paces are attributable to a small sample size but it does illustrate just how huge his start to the season is.
It’s officially time to be optimistic about Bruce. Because, contrary to what you saw last season, he’s actually a really consistent player from a power standpoint.
Bruce posted at least 20 home runs in eight of his nine seasons with the Reds, slugged over .450 in seven of those nine, and posted an OPS+ of 110 or higher in six of those nine. He was even leading the league in RBIs at the time of his trade last season.
That 50-game stretch with the Mets last season was a statistical outlier, so if you want to talk about small sample sizes– that’s the one that’s the outlier.
If the Mets can have the Jay Bruce that they traded for last season– the one that can hit 30 home runs and drive in 100 runs– their lineup will be markedly better this season.
Bruce has every incentive to play up to his capabilities this year, as this is the last season of his contract. Nine figures will be riding on Bruce’s performance this year.
Bruce Makes Phillies Pay
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