Amongst all the hysteria in Mets land regarding Matt Harvey's return, the status of hot prospects Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz, the recent string of TJS pitchers and...........Oh Wilmer.......... there's another quiet storyline going on here. Today, for me, it's all about Grandy.
So we know about the hiring of Kevin Long as the new hitting coach. We know about some of the recent reports on his great work, coupled with some internet grumblings of his apparent loving of attention in the spotlight. There is also the familiarity he has with Granderson when they were together with the Yankees.
Low and behold, here we are, a couple weeks into the spring season, and has anyone noticed what's going on with Grandyman? I'm not trying to overreact to spring training results, but the fact is that Granderson is currently hitting .368, with a homer, 5 RBIs and a rediculous 1.059 OPS in 9 spring games for the Mets. Maybe we shouldnt judge him based on spring stats. However, maybe we also shouldnt judge the man based off of what amounted to a pretty much almost unrealistically bad April 2014, of which his average and overall production seemed to never truly recover from last year.
Curtis Granderson enters 2015 (I believe) as the second highest paid player on the team. He also enters as of the most scrutinized players within the organization, based on his salary. Yet Terry Collins and Company (speaking of highly scrutinized) have immediately discussed, determined and followed through on strategy to get Granderson looks at the top of the order, either first or second during most of the spring games this year. And he has delivered up to this point.
Sure, I'm not saying that he will be competing for a batting title this year. And I'm assuming he hasn't forgotten how to strikeout often, but to me all signs point to an improved overall season for Granderson, and most likely coiniciding with an improved Mets offense.
Perhaps the other forgottens storyline is the shortening of the fenses at Citi Field in right, which still remain coming into the season. Even though nobody is predicing another 40 homer season for Granderson, like he had in the Bronx, he still has the potential to produce at a 25+ homer level, combined possibly with more timely hitting, and an improved average. So we now come closer to the start of the season. And, all of a sudden, we are looking at a hot Granderson, possibly hitting right behind a hot hitting Lagares, and hitting right in front of a healthy David Wright. I have to say, I'm liking the look of this Mets offense this year. And Granderson, known for his leadership and overall respect for the game, can definitely help lead the charge for the coming season ahead.
5 comments:
Even Recker-like hitting would be an improvement over Granderson's Mets debut last April. Let's see what happens when he comes north, but a solid season from him will go a long way towards propelling the team above .500.
Ernest, if I might add, Grandy not only had an unbelievably bad April last year, after his first few spring games, all the rest of March was just as bad as his April. So it was 2 straight awful months in early 2014.
I think his hot 2015 spring start, while limited in terms of ABs, is a VERY promising sign that this will be a better year for him.
Just keep him in the 5/6 hole where he did produce that insane 1.000+ OPS in about 20% of his 2014 AB's. (and more RBI's than K's!)
Hobie if he ends up with more RBIs then Ks he will absolutely win the MVP award in the NL ;)
Another home run today
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