Duda is a caged animal
WEST PALM BEACH — Lucas Duda has to learn when enough is enough. The veteran first baseman has been a “cage rat” his entire career, but injuries have forced him to miss games the last two seasons and held him back this spring. He has to learn to walk away before he takes too many swings.
“Some guys take more, some guys take less. I am still trying to find the right equation or whatever you want to call it,” Duda said Saturday after his second game of spring training. “I like to hit, that’s what I do. So finding that balance, staying in between too much too less, finding that median that’s what I am trying to do.”
Whatever he has done this spring, it is translating into power. Duda had two doubles in the Mets’ 3-1 win over the Astros at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches Saturday. It was his second straight spring training game after having been shut down for a back spasm and to get cortisone shots in his hips.
“The point is, he is swinging and seeing the ball good,” Terry Collins said. “It’s nice. He didn’t have to come today, but he came in this morning and told me he wanted to play. That tells me a lot.”
Duda said he physically feels good and that at the plate, despite having had fewer practice swings, he
GRANDERSON GOOD TO GO
Curtis Granderson, who jammed his thumb and tore the nail back making a diving catch on Thursday, said he was taking a second day off to let the thumb heal. He said the swelling had gone down.
It is the same thumb in which he tore ligaments during the 2015 playoffs, requiring surgery after the season.
A SECOND OPTION
Gavin Cecchini is making an impression. The Mets’ first-round draft pick in 2012 (12th overall) doubled again, his second in six spring training games to go with a home run and a .500 batting average.
And he is taking to second base, which could give the Mets an option for the future.
“He’s going to be a good player. Think he’s in the right position right now,” Collins said. “Second base has become an offensive position. I think this young man is going to be a good offensive player.”
Neil Walker is seeking two more years to go with the one-year, $17.2 million deal he has for 2017 after accepting the Mets’ qualifying offer. He was seeking around $50 million before talks with the Mets stalled last month.
But after having Cecchini switch to second base in the Arizona Fall League, the Mets may have a cheaper option. HOMERLESS
The Mets’ streak of hitting home runs in six straight games was snapped Saturday. The Amazin’s had hit homers in seven of their first eight spring training games.
Last season, the Mets set a franchise record with 218 home runs in a season.