Get the Buck out of here
Let me begin by saying the Mets have virtually no alternatives at
catcher, so to a certain extent I understand why Terry Collins keeps
putting John Buck behind the plate game after game after game. Having
said that, it is time that Buck be given an extended break and the Mets
allow Anthony Recker to catch several games in a row.
This is not what the script read coming out of spring training. By now, we all figured Travis d’Arnaud would be our everyday catcher. When Buck got off to his hot start in April, my feeling was, “Well at least when d’Arnaud comes up, we will have a reliable backup and someone with pop on the bench.” Given his career numbers, no one expected Buck to keep up his torrid pace, but at the same time I don’t think anyone expected the May and June to follow. After a 9HR/25RBI start, Buck hit 2 homers in May with 10 RBI. June was even worse. He had 1 HR and 2 RBI until June 30th whe he hit a 2-run HR in the bottom of the 9th in a game the Mets were losing 13-0. Counting tonight’s game, he is 3 for 37 in his last 10 games with 16 strikeouts. That’s a .081 average. And if you watched tonight’s game, he committed one of the biggest baserunning blunders you will ever see. After the Mets had tied it up in the 9th, they had 1st and 2nd with 2 outs. Buck, the runner on 1st, meant nothing. On a ball in the dirt that didn’t get far from the catcher, the runner from 2nd broke for 3rd, a heads up play. After a moments hesitation, Buck broke for 2nd and was easily thrown out, ending the inning. Someone who has played as long as Buck had to have known his run meant nothing. There was absolutely no reason to take a chance there, and yet he did. The man is both mentally and physically fatigued.
Consider this. Last week, the Mets were off on Monday. They then played 2 games in Chicago before moving on to play 1 game in Denver. Even though they had the Monday off day, Collins elected to give David Wright the day off in Colorado as well (Buck got that game off too). Buck plays a far more
demanding position than Wright and is older than him, and yet has only
played 8 fewer games. There’s this notion that he needs to catch our
young pitchers, Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler. If Buck were to be our
catcher for years to come, I’d agree with this. But since he’s just
keeping the position warm until d’Arnaud arrives, there is no need for
him to develop a rapport with those 2 guys.
Starting Recker multiple games in a row will not improve the Mets offensively. He is hitting only .157. But if a few days off will allow Buck to come back and be half of what he was in April, it will be time off well spent.
This is not what the script read coming out of spring training. By now, we all figured Travis d’Arnaud would be our everyday catcher. When Buck got off to his hot start in April, my feeling was, “Well at least when d’Arnaud comes up, we will have a reliable backup and someone with pop on the bench.” Given his career numbers, no one expected Buck to keep up his torrid pace, but at the same time I don’t think anyone expected the May and June to follow. After a 9HR/25RBI start, Buck hit 2 homers in May with 10 RBI. June was even worse. He had 1 HR and 2 RBI until June 30th whe he hit a 2-run HR in the bottom of the 9th in a game the Mets were losing 13-0. Counting tonight’s game, he is 3 for 37 in his last 10 games with 16 strikeouts. That’s a .081 average. And if you watched tonight’s game, he committed one of the biggest baserunning blunders you will ever see. After the Mets had tied it up in the 9th, they had 1st and 2nd with 2 outs. Buck, the runner on 1st, meant nothing. On a ball in the dirt that didn’t get far from the catcher, the runner from 2nd broke for 3rd, a heads up play. After a moments hesitation, Buck broke for 2nd and was easily thrown out, ending the inning. Someone who has played as long as Buck had to have known his run meant nothing. There was absolutely no reason to take a chance there, and yet he did. The man is both mentally and physically fatigued.
Consider this. Last week, the Mets were off on Monday. They then played 2 games in Chicago before moving on to play 1 game in Denver. Even though they had the Monday off day, Collins elected to give David Wright the day off in Colorado as well (Buck got that game off too). Buck plays a far more
demanding position than Wright and is older than him, and yet has only
played 8 fewer games. There’s this notion that he needs to catch our
young pitchers, Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler. If Buck were to be our
catcher for years to come, I’d agree with this. But since he’s just
keeping the position warm until d’Arnaud arrives, there is no need for
him to develop a rapport with those 2 guys.Starting Recker multiple games in a row will not improve the Mets offensively. He is hitting only .157. But if a few days off will allow Buck to come back and be half of what he was in April, it will be time off well spent.
No comments:
Post a Comment