Heading into the 2016 season, the New York Mets are in an enviable position in the sense that they have two players in Travis d’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki who are both capable of being the team’s primary catcher. Faced with such a scenario, there are rumblings that the Mets will give both some exposure at different positions during spring training. For Plawecki that may not be a bad idea, but New York would be foolish to consider moving d’Arnaud at this point in time.
Over the past two seasons, d’Arnaud has proven that when he’s healthy he’s a productive big league hitter and a potential All-Star. Plawecki did a fine job filling in for him while d’Arnaud had two separate DL stints in 2015, but d’Arnaud’s upside offensively leaves little doubt that he’ll be New York’s primary starter in 2016. With that being the case, there’s no need for the Mets play him at an unfamiliar position just to get him a few extra at-bats. Having Plawecki as the backup helps to limit the drop-off on days d’Arnaud is not in the lineup, making it unnecessary for the Mets to go out of their way to keep him in the lineup.
More to the point, d’Arnaud is still learning and developing as a catcher, and until he’s significantly closer to mastering the art of catching, the Mets should not waste time in spring training teaching him another position. Instead, d’Arnaud needs to spend time in spring training improving his skills as a catcher, most notably his ability to throw and contain the running game of opposing teams. Taking time to learn another position would stunt his growth as a catcher, and that’s not what d’Arnaud needs at this stage in his career.
The reason why d’Arnaud is so valuable to the Mets is the offensive production he provides from the catcher position. If his offensive production were to come from a left fielder or a second baseman, it would not stand out from the pack. While playing behind the plate, d’Arnaud is one of the more productive players at his position. This makes the idea of the Mets giving him a second position to play a foolish one.
