Lucas Duda, who has been on the shelf with an intercostal strain, is making a forward step in his rehab assignment, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York:
Lucas Duda’s rehab assignment moving from Gulf Coast League to Class A St. Lucie tonight. #mets
— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinESPN) July 29, 2013
To say that Duda’s performance in the GCL was uninspiring could be considered an understatement. In four games played, the outfielder walked to the plate 16 times, putting together a .000/.188/.000 line with three walks and eight strikeouts. Ouch.
Prior to getting injured, Duda was hitting .235/.353/.438 with 11 home runs and 23 RBIs in 226 at-bats (68 games).
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Mets use the same strategy with Duda as they’ve done with Ruben Tejada. Once he makes it to Triple-A, they should take him off his rehab assignment and keep him with Las Vegas until he proves he’s ready to return to the big leagues. With Marlon Byrd, Juan Lagares, and Eric Young, Jr. playing so well in the major league outfield, New York has leverage to do this again.
It’s worked so far with respect to motivating Tejada; he’s hitting .337/.389/.418 in 107 at-bats with the 51s.
I would have left him in the GCL until he got the hang of hitting 18 yearolds and moved from there. I know this is rehab but his performance there was putrid
I agree with you. It was pretty bad, and I would have left him there until he showed some kind of progress. We’ll see how how the rest of his rehab assignment goes. Thanks for reading!
By the way you guys are doing a very nice job here. It has become one of my daily must read sites keep up the good work.
The Mets have to cut bait with both Dud-A and the Mighty Ike Davis. These guys don’t ever seem to get better. Start grooming Flores for 1B.
These 2 clowns have been given enough time with nothing to show but their lack of improvements. If they go somewhere else and make it, so be it.
Mets need to start clearing spots on the 40 man roster and players like Capt K, Baxter, Duda, Davis, Schoewies (how ever is spelled) should be let go/traded.
I dont necessarily agree on Duda…He has been ok all year not great/spectacular but good.
I dont think he is a core guy that helps carry a team but I do view him as a useful piece. While he is below avg defensively in LF I could live with that if I have Lagares as my Center Fielder. Most Left Fielders in this league are below average as long as his bat is solid. And I think Dudas bat is solid and can give you 25+ homers a year.
Before he got hurt he was out 2nd best hitter behind David Wright…I remember because around this time many(myself included) wanted Marlon Byrd sent packing because he was terrible prior to that last game versus the Yankees. Fans were just frustrated that Duda wasnt getting enough RBI’s. His OPS and OBP were right behind Wright and he was 2nd on the team with homers behind Buck at the time.
Minnesota gave up on a 27yr old Ortiz whom turned into a stud in Boston
They couldnt leave him there in the GCL had to give him more atbats versus higher level competition. Since they need to decide whether to call him up to the big league team or demote him to the minors since he is just on a “rehab assignment”. After the assignment is over(Im not sure how many days/games it is) theyd have to make a decision.
I do agree he looked really bad but in all fairness to the guy….he is coming off from a long layoff from swinging a bat not to mention the injury was to his intercostal which effects swinging a bat immensely especially for a power hitter.
Justin Turner and Cory Vaughn looked bad in the GCL as well doesnt mean they can hit the pitching there. Most of those kids pitching there are extremely WILD and dont throw a lot of strikes and they are working on their craft, certain pitches[ie a pitcher might be asked to throw a set amount of changeups to practice that pitch in games. So its hard to gauge a major leaguer versus them. Where as in St. Lucie Duda will face better pitching and give the Mets a better understanding where Duda is and if he needs more time in the minors.
Just my opinon