It seems safe to say at this point that Travis d’Arnaud is not a fast starter.
His struggles at the beginning of last year speak volumes. In 2014, he batted a paltry .219 in April, and followed it up with an even worse May at .196 (shortened by a concussion). Now, seeing him struggling again thus far in early spring is slightly more concerning than it would be with another player. In fact, it raises the question: how long is the leash on d’Arnaud in 2015?
In 2014, the Mets waited until the second week of June to address d’Arnaud’s struggles at the plate by demoting him to AAA for a couple of weeks. He took that time to figure things out and came back strong to close out the season.
However, that was last year, and this year is a whole new ballgame. For one, Terry Collins is in the hot seat in 2015. He may not have the patience this year to wait around for d’Arnaud to catch his bearings, especially if the Mets are struggling. Secondly, and more importantly, is the loudening knock at the major league door by Kevin Plawecki.
Plawecki, the 35th pick by the Mets in the 2012 draft (before d’Arnaud came to the Mets via trade), has been garnering attention throughout the organization, and it’s clear they hold him in high regard. Early in this past offseason there was some talk about moving d’Arnaud to the outfield in order to free up the position for the likes of Plawecki. Now, the Mets’ outfield is a full house, so moving d’Arnaud there is no longer an option, if it ever really was.
All around, experts have been ranking Plawecki as a top 100 prospect in all of baseball, and a top 10 catching prospect. If d’Arnaud is struggling past Memorial Day, and assuming Plawecki is putting up solid numbers in AAA as he did in 2014, is it hard to imagine an early June shifting of the guard at backstop for the Mets? Only time will tell, and d’Arnaud is in charge of his own destiny.
If d’Arnaud indeed gets off to another slow start, Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson may feel the need to pull the trigger sooner rather than later. As a result, we may be seeing the Mets catcher riding the pine for the majority of the season or back in Las Vegas again. Either way, it is becoming evident that his getting off to a formidable start this year is crucial to the Mets’ success, as well as his own.
1 Comment