Reese Kaplan -- Getting On Base Key to Leading Off

The question of who should lead off for the Mets has been something of a black hole ever since the first stint of Jose Reyes.  Several have been tried in this role, most recently including Curtis Granderson.  Now Granderson was at one time fleet afoot and his batting eye improved with age, but a .230 type hitter is generally not what you’d consider idea, particularly one who whiffed as often as he did.

Jose Reyes in his return got a number of opportunities to reclaim that role, but barring injury, he’s a bench player now and shouldn’t be counted upon to set the table. 

We’ve seen Mickey Callaway experiment with Asdrubal Cabrera in the number one spot in the lineup.  On the surface this choice seemed a bit odd as Cabrera’s lifetime number is a mediocre .331 OBP, but he quietly has been improving the past two years including .351 last season.  That compares favorably with the aforementioned Granderson whose best year in a Mets uniform was just 2015 when he was at .364 but his other years were a more pedestrian .326,.335 and .323.  Even Jose Reyes living off his reputation only sports a .337 for his career, but in his second turn in Queens provided just .326 and .315.  His leadoff bona fides are more about speed than getting on base.    Cabrera is the opposite, having stolen a grand total of 8 bases over two full seasons with the Mets.

Callaway’s predecessor inexplicably used Juan Lagares in that role as well.  Lagares has some speed, though his high water mark of 13 stolen bases back in 2014, like the rest of his offensive game, has never been duplicated.  Since then he’s been just a .253 hitter with a .293 OBP.  So let’s see…he can’t get on base, he’s not Reyes-fast, he has no power…so naturally Collins decided he was well suited for the leadoff role. 

Now you can extend the no power and no speed criticism to the lefty half of the upcoming temporary centerfield platoon as well.  Brandon Nimmo has not been known for either of these tools, yet he does have one of the prerequisites for leading off.  He’s always been a high OBP guy, including a .367 mark for his career.  His opportunities have been few with under 300 major league at-bats, but he’s demonstrated abilities in the minors.  In 2016 in Las Vegas (taken with a whole silo of salt), he hit .352 with 11 HRs, 61 RBIs, 7 SBs and an eye-popping .423 OBP to go along with an OPS of .964.   

Granted, Nimmo is not going to be confused with Juan Lagares out in CF, but if you’re looking for table setting he certainly seems the far better choice than the former Gold Glover or the Cabrera experiment.  He’s doing well thus far this spring, hitting .333 whereas Lagares is well under .200.  It’s a small sample for sure, but for once it would be nice to see the guys who actually produce get the opportunity to play.