The Mets have had their fair share of injuries so far this season. None has been more of an impact to the team, the overall roster and the fanbase as when Jason Bay went down with a fractured rib. Why? It cleared the way for Kirk Nieuwenhuis (or Captain Kirk as I refer to him) to stay in Queens.
Capt Kirk was supposed to be groomed for the leadoff role and center field position in the minors this season after the team sent him back to AAA at the end of Spring Training. Instead, he was called back up when Andres Torres went down and impressed everyone.
He has a .310 AVG, two Home Runs and 12 RBI. More importantly, he has a .383 OBP. He just finds a way to get on and finds a way to extend innings for the team. He has 35 hits and 13 walks in 33 games. He has scored 18 runs.
When he gets on, he makes it count. Fans have embraced him and it is no coincidence that the team has done very well since his call up. When Bay went down, it was a no-brainer; he had to stay up with the Mets. Since Torres has returned, Capt Kirk has been getting comfortable in that number two spot in the order and making himself at home quite nicely in left field.
No one has missed Bay. The Mets are hopeful he will be ready to start a rehab assignment as early as next week. This brings up a tough question: should Bay ride the bench as the fourth outfielder when he comes back?
Bay is batting .240 with just 15 games played. He is in his third year of a four year contract that has been plagued with injury and nonproductive plate appearances. If anyone could use a change of scenery, it's him.
Trouble is that his contract is so big the Mets would not be able to move it. And to sit someone making all that money in place of a younger and better hitter, would be nearly insane.
A platoon may knock Capt Kirk out of rhythm and prevent Bay from getting his stride too. Therefore, it would be worse for both players. So we have arrived at a stalemate. What is more important; the value of a contract wasting away on the bench or the health of a young team?
It's easy to say the player with the big contract has to play. It's harder to have to guts to sit him. In this case, it very well may be better for all involved right now to sit him and let Capt Kirk start when Bay does return healthy.
While it may not be the best choice for their wallets, the Mets must realize it is the best option. Bay has not done well here and is not going to either. He has not shown any signs of turning it around to make that contract remotely justifiable.
Therefore, they have to just suck it up and come to the realization that they bought an over-priced lemon that will have to sit in the garage while they take the inexpensive newer model out for a spin. Such is the way of the Mets.
In the end, giving Capt Kirk that chance and showing him that support and faith, would be far more value to the team in the long run. It would boost his confidence and give him a chance to work on the facets of his game that need the most improvement at the major league level.
This could be more beneficial and pay off for the next decade as opposed to having him ride the pine or shattering his confidence by sending him back down to AAA for a player only expected to stay around another year after this one.
If the Mets wanted to make a statement and a commitment to their youth movement, their fans and the league that they are sticking with the younger players. they must choose Capt Kirk over Jason Bay when the time for decisions is upon is.
Hopefully, for all of our sake, they make the right decision.
3 comments:
I'm pretty sure TC is going to use a platoon split with Bay and Kirk. Despite the risk of screwing with his rythem, Kirk has been flat out awful against lefties and deadly against righties.
As for Bay, even when he's struggling he had managed ways to hit lefties at least marginally well. If the combo works then we're in for some more Winzzz
I'm going to keep reminding people of this until someone listens to me...
Kirk Nieuwenhuis will NEVER make it as a full time MLB outfielder until you let him swing against every kind of pitcher.
The only place he's going to get that chance is AAA.
I agree 100% with Mack. I used the following analogy not long ago:
Protecting Kirk Nieuwenhuis from lefties is akin to keeping a pre-med student who is bad at chemistry from taking chemistry courses. Sure, the student might have a sparkling GPA in all of the other pre-med classes but they won't get into med school.
In this instance, "med school" is playing full time in the big leagues. Chemistry is hitting lefties. Kirk can either do that up in the bigs in a "sink or swim" fashion or get the needed experience at AAA. It may not be the most popular choice, but I think he might need that chance at AAA instead of the bigs.
Does anyone have his vs. L/R splits from the minors? I just cannot find them anywhere.
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