Herb G - Landon Powell

The competition to be the Mets backup catcher to start the season isn’t shaping up as much of a competition. So far this spring Anthony Recker is hitting .444 with a 1.196 OPS while Landon Powell is lagging far behind at .190 with a .451 OPS. It seems certain that it will be Recker who starts the season in Citifield, while Powell heads to Las Vegas. There is a sub-text here, however. It seems that the Mets don’t really expect Powell to be in condition to compete seriously now. During the off-season he went through a serious personal ordeal that totally took his focus away from baseball and onto his family situation. One week after his deal with the Mets was completed, Powell’s infant daughter, Izzy, died of a genetic disorder. The Sunday New York Times ran a nice piece on Powell and his ordeal, and you can read the full story with the following link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/sports/baseball/competing-to-make-the-mets-landon-powell-struggles-with-the-loss-of-a-child.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Everyone realizes that the backup catcher’s job with the Mets is a temporary assignment this year. Once top prospect, Travis d’Arnaud, is called up to the majors, John Buck will slide into the backup role, and the then backup, who everyone assumes will be Recker, will slide across country to replace d’Arnaud in Las Vegas. What happens after that, however, could prove interesting.

Hopefully, Powell can once again begin to focus on baseball in Las Vegas. Although d’Arnaud is likely to get the bulk of the playing time there, Landon will have a good 3 to 4 months to hone his skills and show whether he can still make a contribution to a major league team. His offensive stats are not very impressive. He’s a switch hitter who hits slightly better from the left side, but he doesn’t hit for much power for a big guy. (6’3” - 255 lbs.) Behind the plate, however, he is good defensively, with a strong arm. At the major league level he has thrown out 40% of attempted base stealers, while in the minors his success rate was 45%.

The opportunity for Powell could come in July if the Mets decide to shop Buck at the deadline. Trading Buck would once again open a backup spot on the major league roster. He would probably be competing with Recker once again, but by then the competition should be on a more even footing. Stay tuned, folks. We may yet see Landon Powell behind the plate at Citifield in 2013.