It’s the bottom of the ninth, and James Loney takes his lead from second. He represents the tying run. With his speed, or lack thereof, the ball is most likely going to need to be hit deep in the outfield to score him. With that in mind, Terry Collins knows he can’t let Rene Rivera bat in this situation, and he turns to his bench. He then summons Ty Kelly because he seriously had no better choice to make.
With that said, Kelly was the wrong choice. It should’ve been Travis Taijeron there.
On a bench with a dearth of power, Taijeron would be a welcome addition. This year Taijeron is hitting .310/.394/.580 in AAA. As we saw in Spring Training, his slugging isn’t a Vegas desert mirage. It’s legitimate power. He’s hit for power at each and every level he’s played. On top of that, Taijeron is a good corner outfielder. With that’s said, with the amount of strikeouts he accumulates, there is a legitimate issue as to how his skills will translate to the majors.
A year after leading the entire Mets minor league system with 25 homers he currently has the second most doubles in minor league baseball with 27. He is tied for second in the PCL with 142 total bases, third with 56 runs batted in and tied for third in runs scored with 48.
What we do know is that Kelly’s skills don’t translate well. Despite his one home run, he hasn’t hit the ball with much authority from either side of the plate. It’s why he’s hitting .160/.222/.280 in his 27 plate appearances. And yet, the Mets won’t move on from him allowing Taijeron to get his chance.
We don’t know if Taijeron would’ve come through in the ninth inning on Saturday. What we do know is that Kelly didn’t, and no one reasonably expected him to get that big hit. Saturday was yet another reason why the Mets should send down Kelly and give Taijeron his shot.
Sorry but that makes sense and the Mets don’t do anything that makes sense.
Beating a dead horse … Taijeron is not on the 40 man roster. So the Mets would have to waive a player,in order to call up Taijeron. The Mets already will need to waive a player to activate Wheeler. Don’t get me wrong, if the Mets wanted to risking losing Ty Kelly or Eric Campbell by exposing them to waivers, I would not protest. I’d trust the front office’s judgement. Also if the Mets are going to trade for a major leaguer and only trade away low level prospects … they Mets would have to waive a player to create the roster spot for the player acquired. So I don’t see the Mets in any rush to waive anyone now, just to have Taijeron on the bench. (Similarly, if TJ Rivera was not injured, I don’t see the Mets rushing to waive anyone, just to call up TJ … a player who I would love to see get a shot)
I think Ty Kelly should be waived to make room for Taijeron. I would have no problems if he was claimed by another organization.
Bat on the ball is more important than the long ball in that situation.
Put wright on 60day dl, put Kelly and cambell on waivers pickup Sanchez for catching depth; add Taijeron on 40 man and bring him up to Platoon with Conforto and/or grandy and bring up nemo. And add TJ to 40 after he comes off dl and continues to rake and sign gourriel. Lastly, send down Robles so he can learn to pitch and bring up gilmartin, edgin anybody.
DW to the 60-day DL, add TJ Rivera to 40-man. Release deAza, add Taijeron to 40-man and 25-man. Waive/outright Kelly or Seth Lugo, add Wheeler to active 40-man. Conforto down to LV for awhile, Nimmo up. Kelly down to LV, TJ Rivera up.
Well, neither one is going to fix this offense, but I wouldn’t mind seeing what Taijeron could do (although most likely he’ll never make enough contact to be much more than a AAAA player). The LV lineup will be interesting to see tonight. I would imagine, if they’re being called up, Herrera and Nimmo would both be out of the lineup. Also, can someone please explain to me why Rosario is still in A+. What more could the organization possibly want to see from him.
That’s a reasonable statement. However, Kelly’s bat on ball skills aren’t effective.
Very true. But reasonable expectation that he makes contact. Albeit, as you hint at, weak contact.
Love the Mets but the team really has no clue as to how to run their minor league or MLB team. Yes. The Mets should have called up Taijeron instead of Kelly. Kelly is a AAA player only. The Mets should have had Taijeron trying to learn how to play 1st and 3rd while he was in Vegas but they did not try him at these much needed positions. They could have also brought up Gavin Cecchini or T.J. Rivera as T.J. plays all infield positions plus LF and he might be able to handle RF too?. They need to release d’Aza and bring up Taijeron. Granderson is not hitting or walking as much as he did last year and that has really hampered the Mets in scoring runs. Reyes will be an improvement speed wise but can he really play 3rd base? I’d love to see if he can play the outfield because if he is decent he will then become the super sub that they really need. I’d really like to see them use Reyes at 3rd and in the OF while he spends 2 weeks with one of the Mets minor league teams.