The Mets announced on Friday that catcher Kevin Plawecki suffered a broken left hand when he was struck by a pitch on Wednesday night against the Marlins. Manager Mickey Callaway initially said X-rays on Plawecki's hand were negative, but a subsequent MRI revealed the fracture. While Mets say surgery will not be required, the fact that it's Plawecki's glove hand could mean a lengthy absence.
Here's what you need to know about Plawecki's injury and what it means to the first-place Mets ...
The Mets were already without their starting catcher
Plawecki's injury occurs mere hours after the Mets lost starting catcher Travis d'Arnaud to serious injury. D'Arnaud has a partial tear of his UCL and may be facing Tommy John surgery. That, obviously, would shelve d'Arnaud for a long time. The Mets expressed confidence in Plawecki's capabilities when it comes to filling in for d'Arnaud, but now, of course, Plawecki has serious injury concerns of his own. That's bad news. The less bad news is ...
They haven't got much production from their catchers this season
In a certain sense, there's some optimism buried in the numbers. The Mets have of course barged to a 10-1 start in 2018, and they've done that despite poor plate production from d'Arnaud and Plawecki. Thus far in 2018, the two catchers have combined for a line of .171/.341/.286. That's a good OBP, as catchers go, but they've done nothing else with the bat. In terms of OPS, Mets catchers -- i.e., d'Arnaud and Plawecki -- presently rank 11th in the 15-team NL in OPS. As for replacing that production ...
The Mets still have internal options
Prospect Tomas Nido was added to the roster pursuant to d'Arnaud's injury, and he's surely in line for playing time. The Mets also have veteran backstop Jose Lobaton stashed away at Triple-A, and he figures to be added to the roster now that Plawecki has been placed on the disabled list. That's a solid enough tandem, especially as emergency plans go. Speaking of which ...
Nido has real potential
Perhaps the 23-year-old Nido could emerge as the regular. Nido was ranked as the Mets' no. 6 prospect by Baseball Prospectus. He's got some power potential and excellent framing skills, which makes him potentially valuable, at least as fallback options go. The former eighth-rounder has a career .676 OPS across parts of seven minor-league seasons. Those numbers don't jump out, but bear in mind that young catchers often develop late with the bat. As well, the Mets' farm system is generally a pitcher-friendly one in terms of leagues and ballparks. Also, Nido's signature defensive skill fits in nicely ...
Nido can frame
As noted above, Nido has a strong reputation as being able to frame pitches for strikes. That also happens to be d'Arnaud's chief merit behind the plate. Given how pitching-driven the 2018 Mets figure to be, that's vital. To be sure, Nido will need some reps to get familiar with the big-league staff, and that will have to happen on the job in games that count. In the event that things don't work out ..
There are external options
If the Mets prefer to go with an all-veteran arrangement or just want to add depth to hedge against yet another injury, then names like Miguel Montero (recently designated for assignment by the Nationals), Geovany Soto, and Carlos Ruiz might come into play. Obviously, a trade is also a possibility. Consider:
And ...
And ...
Before Mets rooters start stumping for trades, though, bear in mind ...
The Mets were prepared to go with Plawecki as the regular
The reality is that Plawecki in 555 career plate appearances in the bigs has a slash line of .219/.309/.305, which comes to a basement-level OPS+ of 69 (not nice). The Mets were prepared to go with him as their starting catcher, perhaps for the hefty balance of 2018. Plawecki has some defensive merits, but they're not such that they can make up for the bat. In reality, we're not talking about the Giants losing Buster Posey or the Cubs losing Willson Contreras. We're talking about a likely contender facing upheaval at a position that wasn't a strength. Given the baseline in place, the Mets should still be fine, especially if Nido passes muster right away.
In the end, he Nido-Lobaton arrangement looks like a workable one, especially considering how little the Mets have gotten from d'Arnaud and Plawecki to date.