A team insider has confirmed to ESPN New York that catching prospect Travis d’Arnaud is indeed slated to replace John Buck when he heads to New York for the birth of his baby.
The Mets promoted d’Arnaud to Triple-A Las Vegas so he’d be close by when Buck is placed on paternity leave.
“I feel like my timing is back,” d’Arnaud told the Press & Sun-Bulletin. “I feel good at the plate. I feel good behind the plate. I just feel good in general.”
He went 1-for-3 with a walk in his first game back at Vegas..
It will be great to finally get a look at D’Arnaud who’s spent about three months recovering from a broken foot. The key piece to the R.A. Dickey trade is batting a combined .259 this season with ten double, two home runs and 16 RBI in 102 plate appearances.
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According to Lynn Worthy of the Press & Sun-Bulletin, Travis d’Arnaud is on his way to Triple-A Las Vegas.
The highly regarded catching prospect received the news from manager Pedro Lopez of the Binghamton Mets after Thursday night’s 1-0 win over the Altoona Curve.
The logic is that with the Mets hitting the road for a series in Arizona beginning Friday night and then a series in Los Angeles, d’Arnaud will be close by in case the Mets need him should John Buck miss any time with the birth of his child.
If d’Arnaud is activated and Buck goes on paternity leave, Recker will likely be the backup. Once Buck returns Travis will be optioned back to Las Vegas where he’ll continue to play everyday. We should see him again once rosters expand in September.
D’Arnaud was 0-for-2 tonight with a walk and batted .222 in seven games with Double-A Binghamton.
Thoughts from Matt M.
Like Joe D. said above, this isn’t all that surprising, especially with the big league team heading out to the West Coast to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks. If he does get promoted when Buck goes on paternity leave, I’m not a huge fan of bringing him up for a week in the middle of August, then send him back down for another week before rosters expand. If they’re going to promote him, just leave him in the big leagues. I know a decision would have to be made with Recker, but who is the future here?
However, it does make sense to send him back to Triple-A for the time being so he can continue to get at-bats and more games under his belt. Call me greedy, but with all of these debuts happening this summer and these young guys getting consistent playing time, I just want Travis to stay up and play every day. Instead of making him rack up frequent flying miles, I’d rather the Mets make room for Juan Centeno and allow d’Arnaud the consistency of Triple-A before September 1st rolls around.