This year’s free-agent class is a particularly weak one. With very few options in the outfield and at shortstop, two positions that the Mets are desperate to fix, there are a number of potential options at catcher. But with Travis d’Arnaud here and with Kevin Plawecki waiting in the wings, this isn’t exactly a need for the Mets. The question the Mets need to answer regarding d’Arnaud, is if at 26, have they’ve seen enough to make him the long-term answer at catcher?
On June 8th, after opening the season with a .180 batting average, the Mets demoted d’Arnaud to AAA Las Vegas. As soon as he joined the 51’s roster he caught fire, launching 6 home runs with a nasty .444 batting average over 14 games.
After vowing to rid his mind of all the noise and simply going back to basics, the d’Arnaud that returned was not the same man who was with the team out of spring training. He was seeing the ball better, taking it to all fields and even showing some of the power that Mets fans had been hearing about since he was acquired in the R.A. Dickey trade. The problem is that even during his hot second half, d’Arnaud’s numbers weren’t all that impressive.
Among catchers, his .265 batting average was 14th best in the National League and the seven home runs after the break were good for 7th in the league. His .313 OBP certainly needs to be better and was only a tick up from the .292 he posted in the first half. On the plus side was his .474 slugging.
Perhaps the most obvious flaw to d’Arnaud’s game is his defense. His nine errors ranked third worst in the NL and he led the majors with 12 passed balls. Additionally, he needs to improve on throwing runners out. The opposition stole 58 bases on d’Arnaud who managed a poor 19 percent caught-stealing rate. League average was 28 percent in 2014.
D’Arnaud’s Wins Above Replacement for the season was less than one at a mere 0.3, mostly because of how his poor defense negated much of his offense.
Sandy Alderson’s goal is to improve the Mets by 10-12 games, he said in his press conference last Sunday. Getting 2-3 wins from TDA would go a long way toward helping to achieve that mark.
This is not meant to disparage or take away from what d’Arnaud has accomplished. After all, he is still 2-3 years away from reaching his prime as a backstop. Still, you want to see some progress behind the dish.
What can we expect from him? Is it too much to ask for him to match his second half batting average over a full season? Does 15 home-runs get it done? Can he produce a 3.0 WAR?
D’Arnaud needs to be a key cog for the Mets’ offense in 2015 and if there are any doubts then the Mets may need to explore other options during the off-season to add that big bat that can produce in the middle of the Mets lineup.
In the end, I expect him to produce. He’ll come through and continue to show growth, the same way he did in the second half of this year. If he can work on his defense and stay focused at the plate, there’s no reason why d’Arnaud can’t be the Mets catcher for years to come.
