The emergence of Rene Rivera has been one of the Mets’ few bright spots in an otherwise dreary season. The career backup catcher is batting .308/.337/.410 in 24 games, and even had an 11-game hitting streak through this weekend. He’s been raking ever since assuming the starting position after Travis d’Arnaud‘s wrist injury in May, giving the Mets more production behind the plate than they’ve had in a long time.
That being said, d’Arnaud should be ready to return in a a few days. Given the Mets’ commitment to d’Arnaud’s long-term success, it’s likely that he’ll keep his position. But this would be a great disservice to Rivera, who has done everything he can in his limited starting stint to prove he should remain the starter– at least for now.
It would be smart for the Mets to keep Rivera in the starting position for now, albeit on a short leash. It remains to be seen if Rivera can sustain anything close to a .300 average for a full season, and his track record indicates that that he probably can’t, but a lot of big-leaguers are capable of having one randomly amazing season. Anyone remember when Brady Anderson hit 50 home runs?
It becomes even harder to justify starting d’Arnaud over Rivera considering how ice cold d’Arnaud was this season. He was batting .203/.288/.475 before his injury, and has a lifetime slash of just .243/.310/.398. The Mets have obviously invested a lot into d’Arnaud, but they shouldn’t be as married to the idea of keeping him as starter as they are right now, given his production over the years.
Starting Rivera behind the plate doesn’t mean the Mets have to give up on d’Arnaud long term. Another incentive the Mets have to keep Rivera starting is that if he keeps hitting– and if the season goes south– the Mets could shop him at the trade deadline. Catchers who bat .300 don’t grow on trees, and catchers who bat .300 and work well with starting pitchers and play above-average defense are even harder to come by. He’s only making $1.75 million this season, and doesn’t factor into the team’s future plans. He could definitely be expendable at the right price– and this could mean netting a solid prospect or reliever at the deadline.
The Mets haven’t had a starting catcher bat .300 since Paul Lo Duca in 2006. It remains to be seen if Rivera can be the next Met to do that, but his performance over the last three weeks should earn him the lion’s share of games behind the plate– at least for the time being.
