Reese Kaplan -- Can Syracuse Sluggers Head South to Save the Day?

Is the cavalry coming to save the day?

First was the arrival of Justin Verlander pitching the way they envisioned him delivering when the Mets signed him as a Jacob deGrom replacement.  Next came the comeback game from Max Scherzer who demonstrated he is far from finished.  Kodai Senga has been mostly good save for an occasional bump in the road and Carlos Carrasco threw with quality in his rehab start.  Can the Mets pitching rotation be on the way to dominance?

Of course, pitching isn't the only thing wrong with the Mets these days.  Hitting has been erratic and inconsistent.  There have been a few good games here and there by some of the thus-far underwhelming members who earn their living with a wooden stick.  Even Mark Canha had a good game.  

Still, the fans and media are all clamoring to have the Mets take a look at the .334 hitting Mark Canha with and the .353 hitting Ronny Mauricio.  In a way it's easier to promote Mauricio if he's going to take over at second base alongside Francisco Lindor with Jeff McNeil sliding into left field.  Mauricio has been on fire since the middle of last year, through the Winter League and during Spring Training.  This positional change is relatively simple to make and no one will shed tears if Canha becomes a bench weapon for the duration of his 2023 Mets contract.  

The tougher one remains doing what everyone except the Mets seem to understand how best to utilize Mark Vientos.  Everyone associated with the Mets dismisses the notion of a young hitter with positions blocked by others becoming a full time DH.  That never works.  No young player is ready for that kind of responsibility.

Wait a minute...isn't Seattle Mariner Edgar Martinez in the Baseball Hall of Fame after becoming a full time DH before turning 30?  It's surprising how other clubs will do what it takes to win instead of stubbornly refusing to entertain new ideas.

Right now I won't rehash the minimal output from Daniel Vogelbach other than taking bases on balls and clogging the basepaths.  We all know what Tommy Pham hasn't done.  We are quite familiar with the slumping Eduardo Escobar based upon most of the 2022 season.  

Mark Canha theoretically could be a DH since they're paying him over $12 million per year when his best ever year was back in 2019 when he slugged 26 HRs and batted .273.  Unfortunately that performance was an outlier and he's only a .248 career hitter with limited speed.  Think of him as a more slender version of Daniel Vogelbach with theoretically less home run power though big Vogie isn't making anyone remember what a middle of the order hitter looks like.  

Of course, there may be a more pressing issue to resolve with the still-injured Omar Narvaez, the still disabled Tomas Nido and the soon expiring option on Gary Sanchez who is teeing off on AAA pitching.  Of late in his major league career Sanchez has struggled with the bat and he's never been known for his glove.  However, the Mets have only until May 19th to decide whether to make him a member of the big club or let him go as a free agent (for the second time this season after he gave up on the Giants).  

If they feel he is a better spare part than Michael Perez then the opening is relatively easy to make.  Perez has left handed hitting in his favor but when Narvaez is ready to return the Mets will get another lefty hitting catcher so it doesn't seem all that essential to keep the weak hitting Perez around.  The club could decide Sanchez is the power hitting option they're so desperately missing outside of Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor.  

Given Billy Eppler's horrific track record in making trades, few are holding out any hope for reinforcements through the exchange of players.  However, it is the rest of May, June and July until the trade deadline approaches and folks are hoping against everything they hold dear that another Darin Ruf is not on Eppler's radar.