Tom Brennan - Joey Wendle, By The Numbers

Joey Wendle, with new fellow Met Tyrone Taylor sliding in.

My brother and I were talking about the benefits of signing Harrison Bader, Tyrone Taylor, and Joey Wendle. 

I convinced him those moves are NICE, for a team that has often had dreadful back end offensive players. Dreadful offensive second tier players, as attentive Mets fans have learned the hard way, can have dreadful results.

Today is my Joey Wendle Day. 

Why was signing him NICE?

I hear he is well liked in the clubhouse, which is good, but this is about the numbers.

The numbers are in point of fact very interesting. 

A 13.4 career WAR in slightly over 2,000 at bats, for starters. NICE!

Lots of folks see his career numbers and think, they're not so good.

But he is a lefty hitter, and what is his career splits vs. righties?

.269/.313/.401.  I say that's NICE!

Lefties? He hits them not nearly as well. 

Solution?  Don't play him against lefties, if at all possible.

Now, if I told you a guy played his whole career in Oakland, Tampa and Miami, your first thought might be, "pitchers' parks".

Well, on the road in his career, he is .282/.332/.424.  Really good.

At home? .240/.290/.344. NOT terrible, but not really good.

I think right now, Citifield qualifies as a pitchers' park, but perhaps less so than those 3 locales.

So...play him a lot on the road, less at home.  NICE solution? Think so.

Steals? Even though he is getting older, turning 34 in late April, he has stolen 61 of 80 in his career.

To say it with the swiftness it deserves, that...is NICE!

Career, he is a .256 hitter with runners in scoring position, which is NICE!

Fielding? 

Career POSITIVE fielding numbers, which is....repeat after me...NICE!

So, I have not thought about him much this off season, but when I do, they are NICE thoughts.   

My only concern is will he show any signs of age-related decline in 2024.  It would be NICE if that does not turn out to be the case. 

Joey Wendle AND Joey Lucchesi, both on the Mets?  Doubly NICE.

That qualifies as “Joey Heaven”, if you ask me.

BEN GAMEL SIGNS A MINOR LEAGUE DEAL…

He has 1.0 career WAR, and played mostly in the minors in 2023.

Filler piece (sorry, Ben).