New York Mets Need To Keep Both Travis d’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki
By Bryan Zarpentine
@BZarp
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
With a strong offensive performance during the second half of the 2014 season, Travis d’Arnaud all but solidified his spot as the New York Mets’ catcher of the future. But the Mets have another young catcher working his way through the minor leagues, and that prospect is Kevin Plawecki. With half a season at Triple-A under his belt, Plawecki is fast approaching being ready for the big leagues, leaving the Mets with quite a quandary: Is there room on the major league roster for both d’Arnaud and Plawecki?
It’s a difficult question, but for the Mets, it’s not such a bad position to be in. They know that d’Arnaud is a major league caliber, possibly even All-Star level catcher, but Plawecki is also projected by many to be an everyday catcher in the big leagues, albeit with a different skill set than d’Arnaud.
The Mets could seemingly use one of them as a trade chip, as there may not be room on the major league roster for both of them whenever Plawecki is ready to make his big league debut likely some time in 2015. But despite a crowded catcher position, it’s important that the Mets keep both d’Arnaud and Plawecki.
It’s important to remember that d’Arnaud was somewhat injury prone throughout his time in the minors. In 2012 and 2013, he played just 67 and 63 games respectively. He stayed relatively healthy in 2014, which may be a sign that his injuries are a thing of the past, as most of them were freak occurrences rather than recurring problems. However, d’Arnaud did suffer the third concussion of his professional career in 2014, which is something to keep in mind. The history of injuries with d’Arnaud, concussions in particular, is reason enough to keep Plawecki around as a way to protect against further issues.
There’s also no guarantee that Plawecki will pan out as expected if the Mets choose to keep him and use d’Arnaud as a trade chip. He’s a safe bet to be a solid major league catcher, but with a relatively average set of tools, Plawecki could end up being an average or below average starting catcher who doesn’t have the ceiling or All-Star potential of d’Arnaud.
Plawecki saw his OPS dip nearly .100 points when he moved from Double-A to Triple-A last year, and a similar drop when he moves to the big leagues would leave him well below the level of an average MLB starting catcher.
Looking ahead to the next few years, there’s nothing wrong with d’Arnaud being the Mets’ starter and Plawecki the backup, or vice versa. Having both on the major league roster would protect the Mets from an injury to either and give them little drop-off from starter to backup.
The two could split time, keeping them both fresh, while allowing the Mets to play whichever one has the hot bat. Those are all good reasons for why the Mets need to keep both d’Arnaud and Plawecki and why both players should be in the Mets’ future plans behind the plate.
Bryan Zarpentine is a New York Mets writer at www.RantSports.com. Like him on Facebook, follow him on twitter @BZarp and add him on Google.
Related links:
New York Mets Prospects: 5 Options for Kevin Plawecki in 2015
Travis d’Arnaud on Thin Ice With New York Mets
New York Mets’ Top 10 Catching Prospects
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