Just Mets

So far, Lucas Duda is doing just about everything right, both at the plate and at first base.

Duda is hitting .342 with a .955 OPS through the season’s first 13 games. He’s only walked three times but is reaching base at a .396 clip.

12 of his 17 hits this year have either gone up the middle or to the opposite field, and his line drive rate, while it’s a small sample, is nearly 40 percent.

“He is on the verge of absolute stardom, right on the cusp,” Mets hitting coach Kevin Long recently told Joel Sherman of the New York Post. “He has strength and size and ability and aptitude and work ethic. He is hitting lefties and he is going to keep hitting lefties. I think he is close to having no deficiencies.”

Duda has indeed hit lefties – he’s 5-for-9 against them so far after going 7-for-23 against them in Spring Training. And yes, his emerging completeness as a hitter is turning him into one of the great offensive threats in baseball and unquestionably a star in the making.

Long has worked extensively with Duda on his approach, specifically against left-handers and trying to get him to use the entire field against them. Being that long throws from the left side, the work is only more emphasized during the drills Duda performs on a routine basis.

On the other side of the ball, Duda has already recorded three defensive runs saved, according to FanGraphs. He’s shown quick reaction and been very fundamentally sound, the lone exception being his inability to stretch for a couple of thrown balls which has cost the team runs in exchange for outs.

But, given how well he’s performed at the plate, the couple of defensive scratches can easily be swept under the rug, especially since the team has overcome those minor mistakes.

His improved agility and speed is a credit to his work at Barwis Methods over the last two winters. Barwis told Sherman Duda has doubled the power output in his upper and lower body.

“If you drive a VW Bug and then you drive a Ferrari, you will notice the difference,” Barwis told Sherman. “The reality is that [for a body] Lucas Duda now has a Ferrari.”

This evolvement has been so exciting and fun to watch with Duda. He’s a complete player, he’s a reliable player, and he’s put all the doubts about his ability to grow at such a late age (for a ballplayer) to bed in a matter of just 12 months.

Perhaps the most important thing for Duda has been confidence. He could be stronger, faster, and more mature as a player, but if he lacks confidence, that can be blinding on the diamond.

Knowing he is the everyday first baseman has done wonders for him, as many people around the team have said over the last year. He still struggles with breaking pitches, especially against left-handed pitching, but he seems to have grasped the concept of selective aggressiveness and understands his abilities in certain areas of the zone a lot more than he used to.

Whether he had or didn’t have it before, he clearly has it now. And, he’s putting the whole package together to become the star his hitting coach believes he’s close to being in this game.