d'Arnaud issue not going away any time soon
THE starting catcher started Saturday night for the Mets, which early this season actually is news.
Because on Sunday night — on national TV with Noah Syndergaard on the mound — Travis d’Arnaud will not be behind the plate. At that point, the Mets will have played six games, and d’Arnaud will have started half. That is a byproduct of the early season and Rene Rivera being Syndergaard’s personal catcher.
But it also reflects on d’Arnaud, who once upon a time was the guy the Mets absolutely had to have when they traded R.A. Dickey to the Blue Jays. Syndergaard was the second piece in that trade.
“I still feel like a main piece,” d’Arnaud said. “That is nothing on Noah, who obviously is unbelievable.”
Syndergaard will try to jolt a lethargic Mets team that has been outscored 15-3 in the first two games against the Marlins after an 8-1 dismantling Saturday. The club is not playing well offensively or defensively and has shown worrisome signs about pitching depth five games into the season.
This befits the responsibility of a No. 1 starter, to be asked to help a team reverse course. That he will not be throwing to d’Arnaud puts him on the shortlist for No. 1 problem.
D’Arnaud is an offensive catcher who has sunk to eighth in the lineup (when he does start) and — like his last name — the other side of d’Arnaud’s game comes with a lower-case “d.” He no longer catches Syndergaard because of the duo’s inability to jointly control a running game.
Yet d’Arnaud’s importance — short and long term — remains large for the Mets.
He is the lone Mets starting position player under 30.
He is not a free agent until after the 2019 season. The Mets face 10 free-agent defections after this season. They will have to direct money to fill a lot of holes. They do not want to add catcher to that list.
“Big time,” d’Arnaud said when asked if he still considers himself a significant part of the Mets’ present and future.
He is going to get an opportunity to validate that. But can he finally stay healthy for a full season (multiple concussions in his past remain as big a worry as anything)? Can he defend well enough — particularly throw — to have a staff regain full confidence in him? Can he hit like 2015 (.825 OPS) and not 2016 (.629)?
The signals are mixed. On Thursday, he delivered the key hit of the game, a two-run double off Atlanta southpaw Jamie Garcia — after not having an extra-base hit against a lefty all of last season. In addition, the Mets were pleased with how he worked with Matt Harvey, guiding the righty not just to huff and puff but to use his changeup and curve, too. D’Arnaud was awarded the crown by his teammates as the star of the game. His reign was short. On Saturday night, Rivera caught Zack Wheeler. Terry Collins talked about the need to preserve d’Arnaud over the long season. The unstated reason was the Mets preferred the steadier, headier game calling and pitcher handling of Rivera to nurse a starter who had not been on a major league mound for two years.
The dynamic has similarities to the 2007-09 Yankees for Rivera reminds me of Jose Molina, a similar defense-first catcher with limited offensive punch whom pitchers preferred over Jorge Posada (who missed most of 2008 with injury). But Posada could sway a game with his offense. Mike Piazza could not throw well but had defensive attributes such as game calling and blocking pitches and — of course — might have been the best-hitting catcher ever.
Glenn Sherlock, who was brought in specifically to work with d’Arnaud after the Mets did not have a dedicated catcher coach last year, insists d’Arnaud has “good arm strength” and is an “excellent receiver.” But the Mets would be more tolerant of defensive liabilities if d’Arnaud were an offensive asset. He was 0-for-2 with a walk as an impotent Mets’ lineup managed just three hits and struck out 13 times against five Marlins pitchers.
The regression of Kevin Plawecki has left the Mets without a ready-made alternative should d’Arnaud get hurt again or not regain his offensive prowess.
They did try to obtain Jonathan Lucroy at the trade deadline last year and Lucroy will be a free agent after this season. But his starting price might be in the five-year $100 million range, and the Mets have all those free agents plus their starters about to get more expensive.
The Mets shunned catchers such as Welington Castillo, Jason Castro and Matt Wieters last offseason, They wanted to go with d’Arnaud again, see if the two-way excellence they once saw in him can be coaxed out by Sherlock.
“At this moment, I feel like the same player I have always been,” d’Arnaud said.
Is that good or bad for the Mets?