Kevin Plawecki was called up to serve as the team’s primary catcher in the absence of Travis d’Arnaud on April 20 after d’Arnaud broke his hand getting hit by a pitch.
Despite being 2-for-his-last-16 at the plate, Plawecki has performed admirably in d’Arnaud’s absence – five of his 15 base hits this year are for extra-bases, and he’s notched ten RBI in his first 74 big league plate appearances.
However, his time in the big leagues is likely coming to a close, for now.
Terry Collins hinted on Wednesday afternoon Plawecki will likely be optioned to Triple-A when the club activates d’Arnaud, which could happen in about a week.
“When Travis comes back, you’re looking at guys who both should be playing, and that’s hard to do when only one of them can be out there,” Collins explained.
He’s right. Plawecki has shown over the last month he belongs in the big leagues despite his current slump. But it does him and his development no good to play once a week behind d’Arnaud.
Collins has been impressed with the way Plawecki has handled his first stint in the big leagues, particularly behind the plate.
“[Plawecki has] done great. He’s played very well. He’s blocked the ball very well. He’s actually thrown better than [expected],” Collins explained.
There’s been some speculation one of Plawecki or d’Arnaud could eventually transition to a corner outfield spot, but right now, the Mets see neither as anything but catchers. That’s the smart play for the time being, considering they could always look to trade one of them. They play a premium position which could have a lot of value in the market if they choose to move one of them. And, moving one of them out from behind the plate could lower their value in the market, which is probably not ideal under the current circumstances.
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2 responses to “Kevin Plawecki likely returning to Triple-A when Travis d’Arnaud returns”
KP has a good run, but I feel like he could be tiring a bit as his bat has not look great over the past week or so. Just my opinion, as he seems to be missing more pitches. And that is to be suspected as KP has done a very good job handling a big staff at the big league level daily.
This is no knock against KP as the Mets have not had a lot of days off as well.
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Tend to think Monnel’s promotion threw both Plawecki and Recker off a little. Roles became less certain. Notwithstanding, when TDA returns, KP should return to AAA and work on areas that need improvement. He certainly has hit better than TDA in his first MLB stint, so KP has performed admirably. He’s going to be a good one.
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