Was his hot streak at the end of 2017 a fluke or can he become a productive everyday player for the New York Mets?

Photo: AP

When Travis d’Arnaud made his debut in 2013, Mets fans were told that he was the catcher of the future. Initially considered the crown jewel of the R.A. Dickey trade, Travis has had an injury-riddled and mostly disappointing career. He’s flashed at the plate a few times but those streaks lasted roughly the same length as ‘Linsanity’. Five years in to d’Arnaud’s career, we know who he is; a strong pitch framer with a weak arm (*cough* 2015 World Series) and an inconsistent bat. Mets fans had been clamoring all off-season for the signing of Jonathan Lucroy (who just signed with the A’s on a one year deal), but all the Mets need is a catcher that works well with the pitching staff and can be consistent at the plate, not a catcher whose best years are behind him.

I hate to break it to you, but there are few elite hitting catchers in the MLB. Outside of Posey, Sanchez, Contreras, Realmuto, Yadi and Salvy Perez, the rest of the league’s catching situation is kind of a crap shoot. Most Met fans want a change behind the dish, but the majority of MLB teams are in the same position as the Mets. Most teams would sign up for a consistent hitter with plus defense from their catcher. The only notable catcher to mention that was available in FA this past offseason was Lucroy, who turns 32 in June and regressed hard last season, both in the batter’s box and behind the plate. He signed with the A’s for just a 1 year/ $5 Million dollar contract. Lucroy was obtainable, but the Mets front office must believe that the answer to the Mets catching situation is currently on the 40 man roster. In Kevin Plawecki.

It’s easy to dismiss Plawecki as a busted prospect; for the majority of his career he’s been nothing but an easy out. When he was recalled from Triple-A last season (August 19th), he went on an unprecedented tear (for him) while platooning with d’Arnaud. Plawecki hit .303/.411/.474 until the end of the season, with an encouraging line of .278/.400/.426 in the month of September. This wasn’t the first time we saw Plawecki in 2017 — he made a brief stint in the majors in late April/early May, after d’Arnaud suffered another injury. He had three hits in 28 plate appearances and spent the majority of the 2017 season in Las Vegas.

Many fans have dismissed Plawecki’s productive streak in 2017 because the Mets were out of contention and the lack of competition the Mets faced. This is a bad way to judge productivity. Games still count in September (ask the 2007 and 2008 Mets. Well don’t do that, but you get it.) Just because I needed to use The Ludovico Transformer Treatment from A Clockwork Orange to watch the end of the season, the games count the same as they did in May. Plawecki and the Mets faced three playoff teams in that time span: the Cubs, Astros and Nationals (twice), along with the Braves, Marlins and Phillies. It was when facing that competition in which Kevin Plawecki, for the first time in his career, put together a productive month in the big leagues. It’s a small sample size (90PA), but Kevin made a few changes to his swing. With these changes, I believe that Kevin Plawecki can be a productive catcher at the major league level.

From 2015 to early 2017 we saw Plawecki come to the plate 469 times, where he had a long step and bad timing, throwing off his whole swing. Watch how he stands in the batter’s box in this footage from 2015.

Plawecki vs C.C. Sabathia (04/25/2015) Video: MLB/SNY

Kevin begins his stance upright, his feet parallel and does not have a wide stance. He is standing a bit off the plate. When the pitcher begins his delivery, Kevin leans slightly into the plate to enter into his ‘loading’ position. He has a bad habit when he tries to take his ‘step’, he drags his left foot closer to the plate and then lifts it when has timed the ball. This is not effective, and the foot drag makes it look like he is double tapping his foot. Ideally you want to place your ‘step’ early, when the ball is roughly 10 feet out of the pitcher’s hand. His drag step is clunky and adds length to Kevin’s ‘step’, making it likely he will place his ‘step’ when the ball is 20–25 feet out of the pitcher’s hand. This is the biggest flaw I saw in his swing. He would make contact when he was able to time the ball right (as shown in the gif above), but his ‘step’ was usually late. When he timed his swing right, the rest of the mechanics followed suit. He has always had great bat speed but was never able to utilize it. When he mistimed his step, he would chase pitches causing his head to move and take his eyes off the ball. He would not fully extend his arms and would often lose balance. We saw this constantly from Kevin until he returned to the Mets in August 2017.

Plawecki retooled his swing in Las Vegas, and the adjustments he made are obvious. Look at where he is standing in the batter’s box in late 2017.

Plawecki vs Homer Bailey (09/09/2017) MLB/WPIX

He begins his stance loaded in the box, leaning into the plate. His stance is wide, with his left foot is ‘pigeoned’ out, away from the plate. He stands over the back of the plate now, instead of slightly off of it. He doesn’t have to move when the pitcher begins the delivery, he’s been ready since he got set at the plate. His ‘step’ is now one fluid motion, getting rid of all excess movements, which will allow him to time the pitch and track the ball with ease. With his improved ‘step’ he should be able to utilize his bat speed and stop chasing pitches in an attempt to make contact.

By no means do I believe that Kevin Plawecki will now follow in the footsteps of Gary Carter and Mike Piazza because he made a few mechanical adjustments. He has never been a great power hitter, and while his September 2017 was good, he still had a low SLG% .474. The Mets don’t need him to be a great power hitter, they just need him to be consistent at the plate. The Mets are built for power with Cespedes, Bruce, Frazier, Conforto and Gonzalez (Just kidding, AGon is built for strikeouts). d’Arnaud and Plawecki will most likely begin the season in a platoon, batting either 7th or 8th. While more power from Plawecki would be nice, I think we’ll see consistent hitting at the plate. He has had a great spring so far, hitting .384/.458/.619 in 24 PA. Those stats don’t count, but it’s an encouraging sign for a Kevin Plawecki breakout season in 2018.

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