John Mayberry Jr. is starting and playing left-field on Friday night against the Braves. He is 4-for-8 with three doubles in his career against LHP Eric Stults, tonight’s starter for the Braves.
Apparently, this is going to be a regular occurrence, as Terry Collins told reporters in Atlanta on Friday he intends to start Mayberry regularly against left-handed pitching.
It’s not clear whether or not either Lucas Duda or Curtis Granderson will end up in a platoon. But if Mayberry is going to get consistent playing time, one of them obviously has to sit.
The Mets signed Mayberry for his ability to come off the bench and play against lefties as well as serve as the primary right-handed bat in a pinch hitting role. They were terrible off the bench against lefties last year, Mayberry has been a good role player in his career – especially against lefties – so it stands to reason why the Mets liked his qualities.
But the main concern I have tonight anyway is Duda is sitting against a lefty, something Collins said would not happen at least early on in the season. Again, it’s these situations why Mayberry is here, and it’s pointless to have him rot on the bench when the opportunity arises to take advantage of something the player is good at. But Duda or Granderson qcan’t prove they can hit lefties if they’re not hitting against lefties.
I get it, but it’s a tough call to take a primary source of power out of the lineup, even if Mayberry can contribute towards the overall production out of the position he’s playing.
It’s worth mentioning including today, the Mets are scheduled to face three left-handed pitchers in the next six days. So, presumably one of Duda or Granderson will be getting a couple of days off in that time.
Just Mets 