(*) PT TOMORROW: NL East—Who will play shortstop for the Mets?
Feb 17 2015
Plenty of rumors have swirled about who the Mets could bring in from outside the organization to play shortstop. However, on the eve of camp, none of those have come to pass. As of now, it appears that they will open the season with Wilmer Flores (INF, NYM). It remains to be seen whether he will be effective enough defensively to hold down the spot over the long haul, but the team seems ready to give him an extended look. A strong September at the plate (92% ct%, .791 OPS, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 133 HctX and 134 xPX in 90 AB) provides reason for optimism, but he’ll need to show that wasn’t a fluke.
Rubén Tejada (SS, NYM) is expected to earn a bench spot to back up Flores. He slashed .237/.342/.310 with 5 HR, 34 RBI and 1 SB in 355 AB last year. There has been some talk he could see starts when Jon Niese (LHP, NYM) is on the mound. Niese, of course, induces plenty of groundballs (49% GB% in 892 career IP).
The more interesting potential option here is Matt Reynolds (SS, NYM). The 24-year-old split time between Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Las Vegas last year and did a fine job at the plate (.343/.405/.454 with 6 HR, 61 RBI, 20 SB and 0.50 Eye in 543 AB). Though Reynolds played third base in college, shortstop was his primary position in high school, so it’s not surprising that he impressed scouts last year, especially in the Arizona Fall League. If Flores stumbles, Reynolds, who was the team’s second round selection in the 2012 draft, figures to get an opportunity to claim the gig.
The departure of Aaron Harang (RHP, PHI) leaves an opening for the fifth starter job. Eric Stults (LHP, ATL), Wandy Rodriguez (LHP, ATL), Michael Foltynewicz (RHP, ATL) and Manny Banuelos (LHP, ATL) are the leading candidates.
Stults, who was signed to a minor league contract earlier this month, has posted a 4.10 ERA, 5.7 Dom, 2.0 Ctl and 1.32 WHIP in 55 starts for the Padres over the past two seasons. That included a 4.64 ERA away from PETCO Park.
Rodriguez, 36, is trying to bounce back from a tough 2014 that ended with June right knee surgery. He also has an arthritic left elbow, so he shouldn’t be relied upon for much at this stage of his career. If he proves himself healthy, he could have a shot.
Foltynewicz and Banuelos are recent acquisitions who have quite a bit of potential, but would probably be best served by spending additional time in the minors refining their craft.
Foltynewicz is a hard-thrower who has been known to throw a triple-digits fastball, but is still working on improving his command and change-up. He sported a 5.08 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 8.9 Dom and 4.6 Ctl in 102.2 IP with Triple-A Oklahoma City in 2014. The right-hander pitched out of the bullpen with the Astros late last season, where he allowed 23 hits and 11 ER while walking seven and fanning 14 in 18.2 IP.
Banuelos has not thrown more than 100 innings since 2011 and missed the entire 2013 season after having Tommy John surgery. He pitched at three levels in 2014, spending most of his time at Double-A, where he had a 4.59 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 8.1 Dom and 3.5 Ctl in 49 IP. Overall, he owned a 4.13 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 8.4 Dom and 3.7 Ctl in 76.1 IP last year. The 24-year-old could make his major league debut at some point in 2015, but chances are it won’t be until late in the summer. The team’s main goal for him is to put in a good season’s work at Triple-A to show that he is fully recovered.
Chien-Ming Wang (RHP, ATL) will also be competing for the fifth starter spot, but he has to be considered an extreme long shot. The 34-year-old last pitched in the majors briefly back in 2013 and had a 4.13 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 3.8 Dom and 3.0 Ctl in 172.1 IP at Triple-A in 2014.
The most likely scenario is that Stults or perhaps Rodriguez will open the year as the fifth starter only to eventually cede the role to Foltynewicz or Banuelos later this summer. Another thing to consider is that the team also has a long relief role up for grabs, so Stults or Rodriguez might wind up there if they miss out on the rotation slot.
The Marlins brought in Michael Morse (1B, MIA) to play first base and supply power. However, is there still reason to be a little concerned about first base?
Morse will attempt to top the production the team got out of that position a year ago (.723 OPS, 16 HR, and 70 RBI in 674 PA). It's improbable that the 33-year-old would match his 31 HR season of 2011, but should be a pretty good bet to put up numbers similar to those of 2014. It’s worth noting his ct% has slipped to a below average 72% over the past two seasons and his FB% was just 33% last year. He also has a rather lengthy history of getting hurt.
Should the injury bug strike Morse again in 2015, Jeff Baker (1B/2B, MIA) and Justin Bour (1B, MIA) would appear to be the beneficiaries.
Baker, unsurprisingly, couldn’t match his power display of 2013, but still offered decent production when called upon despite an unlucky 7% hr/f. He has feasted on left-handed pitching throughout his career (.868 OPS with 37 HR in 870 AB).
Bour will be battling this spring for a spot on the bench. The 27-year-old excelled at Triple-A New Orleans last year (.306/.372/.517 with 18 HR, 72 RBI, 3 SB and 0.68 Eye in 385 AB) and tallied 21 hits, including 1 HR, in 74 AB with the Marlins. The left-handed hitter figures to begin the season at Triple-A, but should get the call, if needed.
Cody Asche (3B, PHI) heads to spring training as the heavy favorite to claim the third base job, but prospect Maikel Franco (3B, PHI) could have something to say about that.
Asche didn’t progress during the season as some would have hoped. After slashing .248/.315/.388 with 4 HR and 24 RBI in 165 AB over the first three months of the year, he managed a .254/.304/.392 with 6 HR and 22 RBI in 232 AB the rest of the season. What’s perhaps most alarming is that some of his skills declined in the second half (1H: 77% ct%, 9% bb%, 110 HctX, 107 xPX; 2H: 72% ct%, 7% bb%, 84 HctX, 98 xPX). It’s clear that he will need to make some adjustments in order to hang on to that gig.
Franco had a rough first half of 2014 (.230/.285/.364 with 6 HR and 0.44 Eye in 343 AB), but a strong second half (.309/.326/.551 with 10 HR and 0.20 Eye in 178 AB) earned him a September call-up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to Philadelphia. He looked completely overmatched against major league pitching, and struck out 13 times while collecting ten hits (0 HR) and one walk in 56 AB. The 22-year-old then went to the Dominican Winter League pitching where he hit .272 with 7 HR and 34 K in 147 AB in the regular season, and followed that up by hitting another 4 HR in the DWL playoffs.
While it’s certainly possible that Franco could overtake Asche with a strong spring, it’s much more likely that he will open the year at Triple-A to get some additional seasoning. Another key factor here is that the Phillies can delay Franco’s free agent eligibility by a year if he spends the first six weeks or so in the minor leagues. Given that the Phillies aren’t truly aiming to contend in 2015, it would make sense to give Asche at least a couple months to show what he can do, but Franco may get an opportunity at some point this summer.
It’s also worth noting that Asche has been working out some in left field just to see if he can handle it. Franco can also play some first base, so there are other options at play that could allow both Franco and Asche to be in the lineup at the same time if that’s the direction in which the team eventually wants to go.
It was recently announced that Danny Espinosa (2B/SS, WAS) has given up switch-hitting and will bat exclusively from the right side this year. Might this enhance his value?
Well, the move makes a lot of sense. Espinosa has always hit left-handed pitching far better than right-handers (.271/.343/.460 with 15 HR and 73% ct% in 454 vs LHP; .213/.283/.362 with 40 HR and 67% ct% in 1,307 AB vs. RHP). Those struggles against right-handers have deepened over the past two years as he managed a putrid .448 OPS vs. RHP in 2013 and a meager .532 OPS in 230 AB vs. RHP in 2014. It will be interesting to see how he does hitting against same-sided pitching.
With the team’s infield set, Espinosa is expected to once again have a spot on the bench. However, Yunel Escobar (2B/SS, WAS) hasn’t exactly been stellar over the past couple of seasons, so if Espinosa’s change does him good, it’s possible that he might eventually steal a little playing time at Escobar’s expense.
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