While the big league team is having a problem finding productive offensive players to run out every night, that isn’t a problem at Double-A Binghamton. Cory Vaughn and Cesar Puello have been taking a lot of the headlines, but Allan Dykstra has been enjoying a fantastic season in the Eastern League for the B-Mets.

The 26-year-old is a San Diego native, and was selected twice in the MLB draft before he decided to sign. First, he was taken by the Boston Red Sox in the 34th round of the 2005 draft. As a senior at Rancho Bernardo High School, Dykstra didn’t sign with the BoSox to attend Wake Forest University.

The decision was a good one, as his hometown Padres selected him with the 23rd overall pick in the 2008 draft. After not progressing much in the San Diego farm system, the Mets acquired him in May 2011 in exchange for Eddie Kunz. Now in his third season with Binghamton, the 26-year-old is finally starting to put everything together. In 176 at-bats (56 games played), Dykstra is hitting .318/.470/.585 with 10 home runs and 42 RBIs. That also includes a ridiculous .412/.553/.824 line in the month of June.

What’s been the reason behind him revitalizing his professional baseball career? Dykstra tells Robert Emrich of MiLB.com:

Being a first round pick, there was a lot of pressure on me. I have a natural uppercut swing and they were kind of trying to change things that didn’t click with me. It’s just one of those things that with age I believe in my talent and believe in what I can do. I think for a couple of years I lost belief in myself. I didn’t trust myself and really didn’t know exactly where I was going or what I was doing. I would just show up and I’d hope things would go well. I felt like I was getting lost with the Padres. After I got traded, it was a fresh start for me. I’ve been able to mature and find my swing.

See? A fresh start can work wonders for a ballplayer. It’s refreshing for Dykstra to get a hold of his career before it was too late. It’s fun to watch him starting to mesh his physical ability with the wisdom he’s gained since being drafted in 2008. Those two things coming together are bringing some major results on the field for a career year. Here’s how he stacks up against some of his fellow Eastern League counterparts:

• .318 batting average (5th)
• .585 slug% (2nd)
• .470 on-base% (.470)
• 42 RBIs (7th)
• 48 walks (1st)
• 1.055 OPS (1st)

While this is a year Dykstra has never put together before as a professional, his ability to get on base shouldn’t be a surprise. He owns a career OBP of .402, and the lowest it’s ever been at the end of a season is .372. His career walk-rate through six seasons of minor league baseball is nearly 18%. That’s insane!

As I said before, players like Vaughn and Puello are getting a lot of the attention for their stellar play this season, but the B-Mets own the best record in the Eastern League (42-26) by large margin because of the entire team effort. Dykstra is a huge part of that success, and his emergence continues to give the Mets organizational depth moving forward. It remains to be seen whether these players end up getting promoted to Flushing or used as part of a trade package, but this solid play will hopefully benefit the Mets in some way very soon.

(photos courtesy of Gordon Donovan)