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While the answer to Vic's who bats leadoff? question is currently Lagares, that just leads to more questions. Which leads to more questions throughout the lineup.
The Mets have a solid answer at every spot in the lineup, and that's a cool thing for mid-November, but the only one without a cloud hanging over his head is the one on the trading block.
[list]1. Lagares: Looks to produce solid (if not eye-popping) batting averages, but has excelled thus far with neither his walk rate nor his slugging rate, which makes his batting average a disconcertingly disproportionate percentage of his productivity. Just now trying to be more aggressive as a base-stealer.
2. Murphy: As good a bet as anybody on the team to produce right around where he did last year. Perhaps as good a bet as anybody in the league. Not an excellent player, perhaps, but no question marks here, except for who he'll be playing for next season.
3. Wright: Finished the season with an injury, supposedly one that had long hampered him. How much of his depressed numbers can be attributed to the injury, and how much to an overall decline? Will the injury return? I don't know!
4. Duda: Breakthrough season! Hits righties like an all star! So why does he hit lefties like a junior college player? And does his goofy personality effect his game negatively or positively?
5. Cuddyer: Will he stay healthy? How much of his productivity is Rocky Mountain productivity? Can he stay young?
6. Granderson: Will a shorter fence stop him from hitting under .230? Not bloody likely! When he's hitting badly, why does he look so... bad?! Will the new OLD batting coach help? MUST WE REMAKE THE WHOLE ORGANIZATION TO SATISFY ONE DUDE AND HIS YANKEE SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT?!
7. d'Arnaud: Half a good season, plus two months of disaster and one month in the minors is not a complete act! We hope he's put his early season doldrums behind him, but has he? I recall having similar hopes about a man named... IKE DAVIS!
8. Flores: Why worry about whether he can hack it as a shortstop, when he hasn't turned the corner as a big league hitter yet? Who was it who said he can shake a tree and get ten glove guys to fall out, but he has to search high and low to find a single guy to hit big league pitching? (Maybe that was my cousin.) Anyhow, he's out of options, but in 375 plate appearances has shown only hints of his minor league hitting ability.[/list:u]
The questions run so deep for such simple man. This could all work out, but, well, it's unlikely to all work out. Thank Heaven we have a bunch of big hairy pitchers.
Here's a question: We seem to have stumbled into a pitching-dominant era. Does this mean we shouldn't be so concerned about our lineup, because every team is having similar (or worse) problems fielding an effective offensive squad? Or does this mean we shouldn't be so enthused about our pitching, because every team is similarly (or more) stacked with talented, effective pitchers?
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