Reese Kaplan -- Mickey, Prove Us Wrong for Once!

While many cursed the Mets’ collective bad luck when the first ray of new sunshine – Jeff McNeil – left the game (and his 11-game hitting streak) early with a quad injury.  After all, how typical is it for something good to happen to this team only to have it snatched away quickly? 

Of course, from a logistics standpoint, the injury will make life a little difficult for the club as it’s August 26^th when it happened and there are still 5 days before rosters can expand.  If it was a week later then the likes of Luis Guillorme and perhaps Ty Kelly would be around to pick up the slack (since Gavin Cecchini is still in the witness protection program).

However, the Mets have the rare opportunity to do something smart.  They have been very public about their desire to have Jay Bruce get time playing 1^st base.  A lot of folks wondered how they were going to find the at-bats for him when their hottest hitter this side of Jeff McNeil (and the suddenly cold Austin Jackson) was firmly ensconced at 1^st base.  Wilmer Flores is currently hitting .275 with 11 HRs and 48 RBIs over 346 ABs. 

Therein lies the solution to this problem.  Play Wilmer Flores at 2B.  His defensive metrics there are not nearly as bad as they were for Asdrubal Cabrera, it opens up 1^st base for Jay Bruce and it shows versatility that might make it apparent to other clubs who could look to obtain him in trade over the winter.  You get Jay Bruce a steady diet at 1^st base and open up plenty of outfield ABs for Austin Jackson and Jose Bautista during the rush to the post-season trading deadline finish line to show more of what they can do. 

Of course, these are the Mets and that means we will instead see a steady diet of Jose Reyes at 2B until McNeil returns.  Now I suppose you could make the argument that they’re “showcasing” Reyes for a possible last-minute deal, too, but I’m firmly in the camp that they’re holding out the hope for that 2012 reunion of Reyes and David Wright.  Besides, like Jose Bautista, can you really call it a showcase when you’re struggling to keep your head above the Mendoza line? 

As I’ve written before, I can live with the useless at-bats given to the Geritol brigade for another five days.  The McNeil injury allows them to play both Bautista and Jackson every single day.  What doesn’t make sense is taking your best hitters out of the lineup to make more room for your worst.  It’s time for Mickey Callaway to show some backbone and put the best players on the field and not simply do his Terry Collins impression, squandering innings on people who are not part of the future.