The New York Mets are the hottest team in baseball. Winners of 8 in a row, they also seem to be have players dropping like flies. Earlier in the week, Captain David Wright went down with injury. Yesterday, they lost their promising catcher Travis d’Arnaud. Have no fear Mets’ fans, their No. 2 prospect, and one of the best in baseball, is on the way.
D’Arnaud Fractures Hand; Mets To Promote Kevin Plawecki http://t.co/NiMp9cbZKX
— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) April 19, 2015
Plawecki should immediately have a chance to start over current Mets’ backup catcher Anthony Recker. While Recker has the experience, Plawecki presents endless possibilities coming off of a stellar Minor League career.
The 24-year old backstop was drafted in the first round of the 2012 draft by the Mets. He climbed the Minor League ranks rather quickly and had his biggest and best season last year. Split between Double and Triple-A, Plawecki combined for a .309/.365/.460 slash line with a career high 11 home runs and 64 RBI, the second best total of his young career. Known for his remarkable contact, Plawecki struck out only 48 times in 376 at bats and walked 30 times, a phenomenal ratio for a minor leaguer. He was rewarded by playing in his first MLB Futures’ Game.
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A fractured hand will not be a slow recovery for d’Arnaud, and Plawecki will have every opportunity to become a starter for this Mets’ team, and there is no reason to believe he won’t succeed. He will have some big shoes to fill, as d’Arnaud led the Mets with 10 RBI and was batting .317 with two home runs.
Offensively, Plawecki should slip into the bottom of the order and the Mets’ shouldn’t miss a beat. As previously discussed, he has a good eye for the ball and great plate discipline which makes him more prone to contact than striking out. His issue will come behind the plate, where d’Arnaud was superior to Plawecki. Still, Plawecki is no slouch and while he won’t throw out as many runners, he will keep the ball in front of him, with a career fielding percentage of .992 and a range factor of 9.00. He has thrown out just 61 of 221 career base thieves, and at 28 percent, that needs to improve on the big league level.
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Still, the Mets have waited to see what Plawecki can do, and he will now have the opportunity to show off his stuff. With the Mets streaking and sitting in first place, they have some wiggle room to let Plawecki take his lumps and adjust to the learning curve. When d’Arnaud returns, and if Plawecki succeeds, they will have quite the problem on their hands, albeit a good problem to have.
Joining Plawecki on the trip to Flushing will Mets’ No. 22 prospect, 24-year old righty Hansel Robles. He will take the place of Jerry Blevins who also suffered a fracture on Sunday, his to his forearm.