Mar 19 2019 04:15 PM
I'm hitting a robust .182 this spring. I was a stinkeroonie last spring too, and everybody doubted my mad uppercut skillz. And then the season started, and a month in, I was hitting .339. WHEN IT COUNTED, JERKWEEDS!
Yeah, I got hurt. I got hurt when it counted, too. And I missed the whole season. But that progress is still nascent inside of me, and I'm still covering the ground and making the throws out there. It's Broxton who is redundant, not me. You don't need the new Juan Lagares. You still got the original model.
Guess who had the 27th best non-pitching WAR season in Mets history. I know. The fact that I AM asking you probably tips it off. But if you guessed me, and I see no reason why you shouldn't have, you'd be right. Back in 2014, I scored 5.3 WAR, and everybody ahead of me reads like a who's-who of Met Hall of Famers. Plus Bernard Gilkey. And Lance Johnson. And maybe Jon Olerud. He probably didn't play here long enough to make it either. But still.
THAT'S STILL IN ME. Yeah, it was more than half defense. And yeah, a big piece of that defense was taking out baserunners, and that's often a lot of luck. But I bet, if I'm a fulltime centefielder, I still have 3.0 WAR in me from defense alone. If you get ANYTHING offensively out of a guy like that, he's a useful player!
I'm probably not going to play every day, because there's a lot of talent to go around, but what if I get off to a hot start again? That might get me a ticket to Firststringsville! Maybe I'm SAVING my base hits for the regular season. Prove that that's a lie!
But OK, even getting that 5.3 WAR prorated down to 120 games instead of 150 is a part of the show right? The big show? I think I'm going to be a big part of the big show this year.
What do you think?