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Shortstop 2017

Centerfield Oct 14 2016 03:03 PM

Shortstop is probably the position with the least amount of uncertainty going into next season. Barring some disaster, we are looking at Asdrubal Cabrera. Jose Reyes can slide over as the backup when Cabrera needs a blow, and Wilmer Flores is your emergency guy. Gavin Cecchini looks like he is close to ready and may have a little hitting in him, and Amed Rosario is probably a year away. The Mets look like they could be talented and deep at this position. So what should we expect from Cabrera? He mashed his way to an .810 OPS. He did so with an OPS of .746 for his first half, which is right around his career average (.748) but then went balls out in the second half (.911 OPS). He was particularly hot in August (1.221 OPS) and September (.973). Logic would suggest he is due for a correction year. But can he sustain this into next year? If you asked me a year ago, I would have said no. I would have said that he had, say it with me, "the best six weeks of his career". But now, since we've seen how Cespedes and Murphy, and to a lesser extent, Kelly Johnson have done, part of me wonders (and hopes) if he can keep it up in 2017. So what is it? Like Murphy, has Cabrera benefited from instruction from Kevin Long? Is there a tangible adjustment, difference that has led to this success? In this article in the Times, the answer appears to be no. “On good pitches — I don’t care what pitch it is — he’s not missing,” the hitting coach Kevin Long said. “He’s squaring it up, and it’s got extra carry to it.” Long said Cabrera’s improved plate discipline had been the biggest key to his solid numbers this year. He said that perhaps the knee injury had indirectly forced Cabrera not to swing too hard. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/25/sport ... .html?_r=0 Doesn't sound very convincing to me. Seems like Kevin Long is saying that Cabrera has found a way to hit pitches, instead of missing them, and has been hitting them harder. I dunno. Kinda sounds like a hot streak. Maybe if he regresses next year, someone can go out and twist his knee.

Fman99 Oct 14 2016 03:20 PM Re: Shortstop 2017

Jeff Gilooly, a lonely Mets nation turns its eyes to you.

Ceetar Oct 14 2016 03:22 PM Re: Shortstop 2017

It was almost all SLG and the numbers do suggest that it was plate discipline related. In that he stopped making as much contact with pitches out of the zone. He SWUNG more at pitches, both in and out, but he missed more of the pitches that would've probably led to him softly grounding out and as a result was able to get another pitch that might've been in the zone and when he did hit it, it went far, because it wasn't a pitch he was lunging for because he kept missing those, so more of the pitches he made contact with were pitches that were easier to drive. so yeah, sounds like it might be knee related. But Cabrera's career norms are fine for SS and maybe he makes a few more defensive plays with a healthy knee.

Edgy MD Oct 14 2016 04:04 PM Re: Shortstop 2017

Centerfield wrote: Maybe if he regresses next year, someone can go out and twist his knee. It makes little sense, but I sometimes wonder if some injuries that are nagging but not debilitating can help lock a guy in. Whether it helps guide their focus or whatever, I could only conjecture. Wildly. But watching him perform the way he did when he could barely answer the bell the last six weeks was pretty spectacular.

Benjamin Grimm Oct 14 2016 04:07 PM Re: Shortstop 2017

He was amazing. One of the brightest stories of 2016 for the Mets. I don't know if he'll be as good in 2017, but I want him to get every chance to do so.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 14 2016 04:11 PM Re: Shortstop 2017

I think they stick with him, why not, but he's also about as tradeable as they come: Affordable reliability & versatility at a premium position where the team possesses some depth. IF Sandy were to decide that trade market could provide us what we needed now, or in July, he could really pay off. He was a guy I'd overlooked generally coming into last year, and I think most fans underestimated. Even fewer I think would have picked him to serve the role he did as a Veteran Leader(TM).

Ceetar Oct 14 2016 04:15 PM Re: Shortstop 2017

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: I think they stick with him, why not, but he's also about as tradeable as they come: Affordable reliability & versatility at a premium position where the team possesses some depth. IF Sandy were to decide that trade market could provide us what we needed now, or in July, he could really pay off. He was a guy I'd overlooked generally coming into last year, and I think most fans underestimated. Even fewer I think would have picked him to serve the role he did as a Veteran Leader(TM). It's all in the helmet removal. But yeah, in a way you could use Murphy's success as a selling point for Asdrubal and sell high. Reyes isn't great defensively but he's serviceable enough there, though I could see looking to emphasize defense up the middle too.

Ashie62 Oct 14 2016 04:31 PM Re: Shortstop 2017

There are worse things than being stuck with Asdrubal Cabrera.