As Juan Lagares continues to struggle against right handed pitching, should the Mets platoon their young center fielder?
Lagares’ ability has clearly been limited by his elbow and rib injuries. He’s batting .254 with three home runs, but his issues are severely pronounced against righties.
His OPS stands at .582 against them, which ranks among the worst in major league baseball.
With the Mets unlikely to call up Michael Conforto, they lack any promising internal options. However, there are several interesting names available on the trade market.
Joel Sherman of the NY Post discusses five left handed bats the Mets could pair with Lagares in the outfield.
1. Will Venable, Padres: The disappointing Padres have yet to concede and Venable is now the starting center fielder with Wil Myers (wrist) on the DL. Venable, though, is in his walk year. He had a .747 OPS against righties this year and .750 for his career.
2. Gerardo Parra, Brewers: Milwaukee has played better of late, in part because of Parra’s strong leadoff work. But the Brewers are hopelessly behind and Parra is a free agent after the season. He had an .833 OPS versus righties this year and .766 for his career.
3. David Peralta, Diamondbacks: Arizona already cleared some of its outfield logjam by trading Mark Trumbo and Peralta (a one-time pitcher) has emerged as a starter, so Arizona might be more willing to deal Ender Inciarte, another lefty swinger who could help the Mets. Peralta has an .815 OPS against righties this year and .837 for his career.
4. Brock Holt, Red Sox: Holt has played himself from spare part, to valuable utilityman to perhaps core Red Sox moving forward. But he is just the kind of play-anywhere lefty bat/energizer bunny the Mets could use. He has an .809 OPS versus righties this year, but just .713 for his career.
5. Seth Smith, Mariners: His acquisition would necessitate Granderson playing center. Like San Diego, Seattle invested so much in this season it does not yet want to surrender. But that day appears to be nearing and because Smith is owed $6.75 million in 2016 with a $7 million option for 2017 (with a $250,000 buyout), he could be expendable. He has a .767 OPS against righties this year and .832 for his career.
Any one of these players will improve the Mets outfield situation, but I’m not sure if they are exactly what the team needs.
One decent complimentary piece isn’t going to turn the offense around. I’d rather Sandy Alderson target top players in the Justin Upton range if the are truly serious about trying to make the playoffs.
