Mets' Kevin Plawecki: Set for increased workload in 2018
Plawecki will earn more starts against right-handed pitching this season, Kristie Ackert of The New York Daily News reports. "With the way our catchers are, the way they hit, we're going be able to cover opposing pitchers pretty good. Obviously [Travis] d'Arnaud is really good against lefties and I feel like Plawecki hangs in there really good against tough righties," Mets manager said Mickey Callaway said Friday. "So I think we'll base who's catching more on that type stuff, (rather) than who (pitchers) prefer to throw to."
This situation likely won't devolve into a full platoon, as Plawecki's career .628 OPS against RHP is actually worse than d'Arnaud's .704 mark, but it sounds like Callaway will use Plawecki's .270/.345/.459 line in 84 plate appearances against righties in 2017 as an excuse to split reps behind the plate more evenly this season. This will do more to hurt d'Arnaud's fantasy value than boost Plawecki's, but the 27-year-old does become marginally more interesting as a bargain option at catcher in deep NL-only formats.
