By Brian Joura December 24, 2020
This time last year, all Mets fans loved J.D. Davis. He was coming off a season with an .895 OPS, which included a remarkable 1.078 OPS at Citi Field. For years, Mets hitters consistently put up better road numbers than home numbers, so it was very refreshing to see the type of year Davis put up. Davis got off to a decent start in 2020 but turned in a rotten September to make his full season numbers look like a big disappointment. Now everyone is content to let Davis be a bench player, especially since there seems to be a question about his ability to handle a defensive position.
Most fans want the Mets to sign George Springer. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. If they do sign Springer, that puts Brandon Nimmo in left field and leaves Pete Alonso and Dominic Smith to share 1B and DH and leaves Davis on the pine. And that doesn’t seem to bother anyone. There’s nothing wrong, the story goes, with having good players on your bench. But is it desirable to have a player too good not to start end the year healthy and with 250 PA?
Over the last two seasons, there have been 226 players in the majors to amass at least 500 PA. Davis ranks tied for 33rd with a 129 OPS+. If we distributed players equally among all 30 teams, Davis would be a team’s second-best hitter. It seems we should ask why we’re okay with leaving a hitter like that on the bench.
Obviously, defense matters and Davis isn’t wowing anyone with his defensive work. But above we assumed that the NL would have the DH. And even with that spot, we’re saying Davis needs to sit. To be fair, Springer would give the team four players ahead of Davis on this OPS+ list and that doesn’t count either Nimmo or Smith, who don’t have enough PA to qualify given their injury-shortened 2019 campaigns.
3 comments:
First off, let me wish a very happy, and most importantly, a healthy holiday season to everyone at Mack's Mets (especially you, Mr Met.- Mack) and all its readers.
Now to comment: Although I have always been enamored with J.D.'s bat and welcomed his acquisition from the Astros based on his very impressive minor league career, I am not convinced of his long term viability as a Met, given the type of team Steve Cohen and Sandy Alderson want to build here. Therefore, I have no problem with using him as a trade chip to acquire a superior talent like Francisco Lindor or Nolan Arenado. With the coming of the universal DH, (which, if not this year, will come with the next MLPBA next year) Davis should be an extremely marketable commodity. I hope the Mets can work out a deal for either Lindor or Arenado this winter, capping off what I see as an absolutely "Amazing" off-season. (pun intended)
Oops, typo. MLBPA
Herb. Thanks for the comments and readership.
Arenado would be a big defensive upgrade but I think the Rockies and Mets would have to be creative to make the dollars work. He is due $30M+ the next 8 years. That may limit them to add other needed players
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