Photo by Ed Delany, MMN
Sam Haggerty
2018 Stats: .239/.369/.384, 21 2B, 5 3B, 4 HR, 39 RBI, 26 SB, 7 CS
2019 Stats: .271/.376/.387, 15 2B, 6 3B, 3 HR, 26 RBI, 23 SB, 4 CS
When the Mets traded Kevin Plawecki to the Cleveland Indians, the hyped return was RHP Walker Lockett leaving INF Sam Haggerty as almost an afterthought. If he was in fact an afterthought, Haggerty would certainly make his presence felt during the 2019 season.
When he was obtained by the Mets, Fangraphs noted of Haggerty, he was a switch-hitter whose “best offensive skill is his eye for the strike zone, which has enabled him to walk at a 13% career clip.” As it turned out, Haggerty had many more skills than just the ability to get on base.
During the 2019 season, Haggerty would be rated by Baseball America as not just the best base runner in the Eastern League, but also as the best defensive second baseman in the league.
Given Haggerty’s ability to play across the infield and outfield, he was showing himself to potentially be a future Major Leaguer. To a certain extent, that was a result which was not readily anticipated when the Mets obtained him from the Cleveland Indians. A large part of that was how he performed.
During the 2019 season, he was named an Eastern League All-Star. In 68 games, he hit .259/.370/.356 with eight doubles, five triples, two homers, and 13 RBI. That made him a better than average league hitter as evidenced by his 120 wRC+. As impressive as that was, as mentioned above, he was more impressive on the basepaths.
Haggerty stole 19 bases being successful in 82.6% of his attempts. Those 19 stolen bases were only good for 16th in the league. However, that overlooks his playing in fewer than 70 games at the level. Another important caveat is Haggerty was caught stealing fewer times than anyone else in the top 15. This speaks to just how smart a base runner he was.
His skills as a base runner not only led to his being named the best base runner in the Eastern League, but it would also lead to Haggerty receiving a promotion to the Majors. Much like when the Mets obtained Eric Young Jr. in 2015, the team viewed Haggerty as a skilled pinch runner who could help the team win some ball games.
While the Mets were still competitive in the Wild Card race, Haggerty would enter the game as a pinch runner eight times, and he would score two runs. Notably, in the Mets September 6 game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Haggerty would enter as a pinch runner for Todd Frazier, and he would ultimately score the go-ahead run in the eight inning off a Pete Alonso RBI single.
In that moment, we got a glimpse of what Haggerty could be at the Major League level. He is a smart player who gets everything out of his ability. He gets on base, and he runs the bases extremely well. He is also a good and versatile fielder. More than any of that, he became a Major Leauger at the end of the 2019 season.
