Zach Lutz is no stranger to playing with the Mets. He made his major league debut on April 24, 2012 against the Marlins. Three days later against the Colorado Rockies, he recorded his first major league base hit. This season, Zach was called up to the Mets on June 25th when Lucas Duda went on the disabled list. In his brief time on the big club, he went 1-for-4 and was sent back to Las Vegas on July 2nd. Upon his return to the 51s lineup on July 4th, Zach made fireworks of his own and hit his ninth home run of the season. For the remainder of 2013 in the minors, he batted .293 with four home runs, and overall had a really impressive season with the 51s with 13 homers and 80 runs batted in.
The one key thing that holds Zach back from winning a permanent spot with the Mets is that he plays a position that will most likely be occupied for many years to come. Unless David Wright decides that it’s taking too long for the Mets to be winners, and he wants to move on from New York, which is highly unlikely, then Zach will not see any time at the corner infield position.
On September 2nd, upon Zach’s return to the Mets, he had a pinch hit double and recorded his first Major League RBI. On September 7th, he started as the Mets DH and went hitless, but last night he pinch-hit for the pitcher in the 7th inning against Washington Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez, who was dominating the Mets and pitching a no-hitter. Zach calmly hit the first pitch down the right field line that broke up the no-hitter. He will always be remembered as the answer to the question, “In 2013, Who was the batter who broke up Gio Gonzalez‘s no-hitter in the seventh inning?”
Zach deserves a chance to show that he belongs in the major leagues, but I just do not feel he will fully get that shot with the Mets. Utilizing him only as a bench player is unfair to this talented third baseman. Hopefully, Zach will continue to get the chance to play and show that he has the talent to stay in the bigs, but I am just not sure what team will actually take a chance on him.
The problem with the Mets is they are big market team who are undecided as to which way they want to go. Due they want to rebuild or do they worry about the fan base and don’t want to go with the young guys and waste their time with old stars or stars that should have been (Davis). The Tampa Bay Rays and the Oakland teams are perfect examples of teams who have small budgets but are successful because they know how to draft and place their young players in the positions not to fail. The 1990’s Yankee teams developed their stars and went on to win numerous World Series. Lutz could turn out to be one of those players who could become a star if given the chance. The Mets have the base and could be a team to be reckon with and the fans will wait if they see progress. These past several weeks they have regressed a little, so why not give the kids that David has been writing about a chance to see what they can do. Let’s get rid of the Duda’s, Davis and other players who have been given a chance but have not produced and maybe we might have a gold nugget among one of these kids, so that the fan base can get excited and have some hope for the 2014 season.
Uhh… Duda has produced this year, hes certainly better than say Satin or Lutz…