Tom Brennan - OLD MAN HITTING TRACKER UPDATE

Tom Brennan - OLD MAN HITTING TRACKER UPDATE

I started my Old Man Hitting Tracker series in April when the 2 elder statesmen in the line up, Jose Reyes and Curtis Granderson, were scraping the bottom of the major league hitting barrel. 

Was age catching up to them?  hard to say, but 50 games in, it is worth taking another gander at their progress.

Granderson:

In pre-May games, a time period Curtis has often struggled with throughout his career, Grandy hit ,128/.174/.221 in 23 games.  Those stats spoke for themselves.  He was fortunate that Yoenis Cespedes was hurt, because he'd have certainly been sent to the bench otherwise.

Was he washed up, was the towel ready to be tossed?  

No, because May finally arrived.  In his career in March and April, he has hit just .231, but .270 in May, June, and July.

So it is no surprise that in 24 May 2017 games, the fine gent is hitting .273/.363/.511, numbers no one can complain about, boosting him to .201. Fourteen of his 24 May hits have been for extra bases, and he is scoring and driving in runs.  His bat spoke volumes in May.

It will be a conundrum for the Mets when Yoenis Cespedes returns soon, to provide playing time to him, Grandy, Bruce, Conforto, and Lagares.  Two weeks ago, the Grand Man would have been benched, no doubt. But that's why they play these here games.

Reyes:

After a miserable 7 for 67 start to the season, Jose (who turns 34 in 2 weeks) got relatively hot - he's hit .248 since, which seems like a good utility player's numbers. But he has relapsed, hitting just .196 since May 6, which seems to shout out that his wonderful skills have truly eroded. 

I was annoyed Wednesday night when Wilmer Flores sat and Jose played, because Flores was in the midst of a 22 for 51 hot streak, boosting him well above .300 for the year after a slow start.

I wonder if the Mets are trying to give Jose every chance to play to remain an everyday player and keep Amed Rosario in the minors a while longer.  

But I think it is time to bench Jose and do 2 things: let Flores play almost every day to see what he can really do, and call up Rosario (hitting .350, playing quality D, and in the midst of a 16 game hit streak) to play SS every day. 

That would affect Asdrubal Cabrera too, but it is time for Younger Men to take over.