There is really no way of describing Travis d’Arnaud’s in a nice way.
d’Arnaud is simply not producing at the plate like everyone expected him to. When I looked at his advanced hitting statistics, there are some positive signs, but also some problematic numbers too.
With an 11 percent walk rate and only a 17 percent strike out rate, those are both pretty impressive numbers. These both indicate that his approach at the plate is solid. His line drive percentage is a little low at 15 percent (league average 20 percent), but not low enough to be a gigantic red flag.
The biggest thing that I saw was his BABIP (batting average on balls in play). His BABIP is currently sitting at an even .200, which is extremely low.
The reason d’Arnaud has such a low BABIP stems from two reasons. First, he is making contact, but he is making a lot of weak contact.
Even the naked eye can see this with all of the double plays he hits into. But, he has also gotten very unlucky so far. Yes, it sounds like a broken record, poor excuse, and yes every player runs into tough luck, but d’Arnaud has the 5th lowest BABIP out of all MLB players with at least 100 PA’s.
What this all means is that if given time, d’Arnaud’s batting average should rise if given more ABs. Travis always had somewhere around a .300 BABIP throughout his minor league career, and there is no reason that it should not be that in the majors eventually, or at least settle in half way.
Instead of sticking with him at the major league level, the Mets demoted him in an attempt to get him back on track. I understand the reasoning, but I would have kept d’Arnaud in the major leagues despite his enormous slumps and struggles.
First, what will he accomplish from here on out in AAA? He has already raked at the level. Many will argue he will never break his struggles unless he is away from the spotlight, but this team is not going anywhere, so it is not like he is in high pressure situations.
Also, Anthony Recker and Taylor Teagarden do not really give the Mets a better chance to win than d’Arnaud does. So the overall gain from this move is very low. I would have started him in the MLB the rest of the season, and I would have tried moving him up in the order in an attempt to jump start him.
While I am not happy with his demotion, I hope it works out because we need him. Kevin Plawecki is not as close as the fans think he is.
d’Arnaud is 25 years old, which many fans use as a strike against him, but in catching years that is not very old and he has also missed a lot of time over his career with injuries.
Whenever I am feeling pessimistic about his development, I go and look at the path’s of Yadier Molina and Devin Mesoraco, who both struggled hitting as young catchers but with time and patience figured out and went on to become well above average hitters.
I have been one of d’Arnaud’s biggest supporters since he became a member of the Mets, and that will continue.
Yes it has been a rough road, but I still have faith he will figure out and become this team’s long term answer behind the plate.
