A plan for the Mets to minimize PA for players who can't hit

For years, you’ve read some form of the following from me – days off are a good thing. But there’s a corollary to that, which is that it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. You don’t want to run your stars into the ground by having them play 160 or more games, year after year after year. Yet you don’t want them to spend too much time on the pine. So, where should we draw the line?

It’s impossible to have a one size fits all answer to that question. And the answer gets further muddied by injures. But let’s pretend the latter doesn’t exist for our purposes right now. If you play 150 games, that means you take 12 games off. That’s two a month, which seems reasonable to count as playing every day.

Yet that’s only part of the equation. If we want our stars playing 150 games a year, how often do we want our reserves to play? If you’ve got a good reserve, like 2024 Jose Iglesias, you don’t mind him playing a lot. But if you have a reserve who can’t hit, like 2024 Zack Short, you want him playing as little as possible.

Unfortunately, most reserves are closer to 2024 Short than they are to 2024 Iglesias.

We should acknowledge that it’s tough to thrive in a reserve role. Would it be better to give our reserves a little more playing time, to help them establish some confidence? Well, that depends on the reserve, doesn’t it? If a reserve has shown the ability to put up solid numbers in 200-300 PA, perhaps he should play more than twice a month.

But if our reserve has little or no history of success in the majors – why should he play more than twice a month? This is an important difference between hitters and pitchers. You couldn’t possibly survive with a pitcher who was only used that little. But, given health, you can absolutely start a reserve batter just twice a month. You just have to be willing to accept that guys who can’t hit should hit as little as possible.

Another thing that you should accept is that if a guy can field and run – but not hit – that there’s no reason not to use him primarily for defense and pinch-running. Those things have value. And when you stop trying to force a square peg into a round hole – asking a guy who can’t hit to have 200 or more PA a year – you can maximize the value of your roster.

The 2024 Mets had 15 players amass at least 100 PA last year. And three of them had an OPS+ of 86 or worse. That trio combined for 802 PA with production that, quite frankly, just isn’t good enough. And the thing is that the Mets did a fairly good job of moving on from those players. They sent Brett Baty to the minors, they released DJ Stewart and the only reason Harrison Bader played as much as he did was due to the injury to Starling Marte and the disappointing performance of J.D. Martinez.

Your backup catcher is going to get more than 100 PA and may not be a good hitter. Outside of that player – and Luis Torrens had an 88 OPS+ in 130 PA last year, so he was more productive than our trio mentioned above – the goal should be to minimize the PA given to guys who can’t hit. A lineup can be very productive with multiple average hitters mixed in with stars, so long as there are no sink holes contributing next to nothing and playing a lot.

Every lineup spot doesn’t need a HR solution. The trouble is thinking that your solid solution needs to be fixed is what gets you in trouble. There’s no better example of that than Wayne Garrett and 3B. If the Mets would have just said that Garrett was fine and they didn’t need an upgrade, they wouldn’t have traded away Amos Otis and Nolan Ryan.

Garrett had seven seasons where he played at least 100 games and in six of those, he had OPS+ marks between 91 and 118. If Garrett is your worst problem, you’re going to win a lot of games. Now, it’s true that the one year he didn’t reach a 91 OPS+ was in 1969, which may have prompted the trade of Otis. But after posting a 118 OPS+ at age 22 in 1970, it should have inspired some faith that he was an answer long-term.

Of course, it’s easy to say that now. OPS+ didn’t exist back then. But the Mets focused on what Garrett couldn’t do – hit a lot of HR – and not on what he could do – get on base. And teams certainly knew about OBP at that time.

But let’s not dwell on 50-plus years ago. Instead, let’s look at center field here in 2025. The Mets had a perfectly fine CF last year in Tyrone Taylor, who posted a 99 OPS+ in 345 PA and in 1,317 lifetime PA in the majors Taylor had a 101 OPS+. And while not a great fielder in center, he was comfortably above average, with a +6 FRV in 1,191.1 innings in CF.

This is a position that should have been considered solved, until a minor league player with better credentials was ready. Instead, the Mets traded for Jose Siri. Unlike with the trades to supplant Garrett, the cost was not outlandish. Instead, the issue is taking a perfectly fine solution and then inserting what is likely an inferior player into the mix. And right now, the Mets are divvying up playing time equally between Siri and Taylor.

Siri has played 100 games in a season three times and in two of those he was below the Galvis Line, with OPS+ marks of 75 and 76 last year. In 2023, Siri had a 105 OPS+, thanks to a .272 ISO. In his other two seasons with significant playing time, Siri has ISOs of .126 and .179 last year.

We never know what’s going to happen. But if someone offered you a wager on Siri having an ISO of .200 this year – much less .272 – my hope is that you took the under. And in our very, very brief sample of 24 PA, Siri has a .050 ISO. In his last 523 PA, dating back to August 24 in 2023, Siri has a .181/.252/.354 line, which is a .173 ISO. That’s not a bad number. The issue is that in that same time frame, Siri has a 37.1 K%. The bottom line is that he doesn’t make enough contact and Siri’s power isn’t good enough or consistent enough to make up for it.

But Siri is a great defensive player and is a very good baserunner, too.

My preference would be to see Siri start twice a month but to be used frequently as a defensive replacement and pinch-runner. What might that look like? How about 100 games, 200 defensive innings and 50 PA as ballpark numbers. That way you maximize his strengths and minimize his weaknesses.

Maybe Siri gets more PA, if he serves as the primary OF reserve and spells guys getting days off at all three outfield positions. Or maybe Jesse Winker can be the primary OF corner reserve, leaving Siri to only start when Taylor gets a day off. And with Jeff McNeil soon to return, he offers the flexibility to play a corner spot, too, providing they have a reserve infielder worth playing.

Without needing to hit for pitchers, the need for a pinch-hitter is vastly decreased. And with the Mets running a platoon at DH, they effectively have a PH available to fill that role, whenever it may arise.

A 26-man roster with 13 hitters means four reserves. The backup catcher is one and essentially whatever he hits, you sort of accept. Running a platoon should mean two league-average or better hitters at DH. Which leaves two reserves. How much should these two reserves play? If they can hit, then they can get 200 or more PA. We all hope that either Luisangel Acuna or Baty can grow into this role.

But if they don’t hit, cut their playing time. And right now, there’s more evidence than not that our trio of Acuna, Baty and Siri can’t hit at an acceptable level. The first two are young enough that we can hope for improvement, especially Acuna, who’s in his age-23 season. But at this point, in his age-29 season, Siri is what he is. And that’s not a good enough hitter to demand significant playing time.

Siri got hurt in Saturday’s game and no one knows how long he might be sidelined. You should never wish for an injury to a player – that’s just inviting bad karma. But perhaps Taylor can take advantage of some consistent playing time and be the hitter he was from June 1 onward last season, when he had a .763 OPS. The splitting of playing time so far between the two players hasn’t worked for either of them. Siri has a (-6) OPS+ in 24 PA, while Taylor has a (-2) in 30 PA.

With Francisco Alvarez and McNeil both playing rehab games, the Mets will hopefully be back to full strength with their hitters soon. Once they reach that point, my hope is that the Mets play Alvarez somewhere around 80% of the time. We have to see what happens with McNeil but if his play merits it, here’s hoping he plays even more than Alvarez.

And it’s my belief that Taylor should be in the same boat as McNeil. Even if that busts Acuna/Baty and Siri to minimal ABs. More PA for guys who can hit and fewer PA for those who can’t. It seems like a win-win proposition.