Mets: Why they must sign Devin Mesoraco to a contract extension

After a fast start, the New York Mets must sign a player they didn’t think they would need when the season started: Devi

At the Beginning of the 2018 season, the New York Mets believed they had their catching situation in place. Travis d’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki were set to split the season and both get an equal amount of playing time.

Things quickly changed as d’Arnaud had a partially torn UCL in his throwing arm. He opted for Tommy John Surgery and will now miss the rest of the 2018 season.

Immediately after, Plawecki who was supposed to carry the load in the catching position goes down to the disabled list with a broken hand after being hit by a pitch. He should be coming back soon as he recently began rehab games in Triple-A in Las Vegas.

After having the catching position thinned out in a blink of an eye, the Mets relied on veteran Jose Lobaton and Tomas Nido from the minors. After just 18 games played, Lobaton was designated for assignment after posting a .152 batting average and 14 strikeouts. Nido has also struggled, owning a .159 batting average with 16 strikeouts in just 21 games played.

The Mets have not had a stable catcher since the days of Paul Lo Duca and Mike Piazza and that’s a big problem. When the Mets traded Matt Harvey to the Cincinnati Reds, many fans were grateful they even got someone for him. To the surprise of many, Devin Mesoraco has been much more than just a body but has become an important part to the catching position so far this season and a much needed offensive support the Mets needed as of late.

In just 46 at-bats for his new ball club, Mesoraco has hit five home runs with ten RBI, while posting a .261 batting average. His five home runs is already more than any Met catcher this year because of their inability to stay healthy.

If healthy, Mesoraco can provide that huge offensive impact much needed for the position. However, staying healthy has been a problem for the former 2014 All-Star.

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He signed a four-year, $28 million dollar deal with the Cincinnati Reds back in 2015, and has only played 39 games in total in 2015 and 2016. These were due to hip and shoulder surgeries that derailed his seasons.

Mesoraco has a second chance in a new atmosphere to show he can come back to All-Star form and if he can, The Mets must pursue Mesoraco in the off-season as he becomes a free agent at the end of the year.

This should be one of the top things to do in the off-season for The Mets if he stays healthy and continues to provide for The Mets. His five home runs have all been in the eighth inning or later. On multiple occasions, Mesoraco has continued to help the Mets cause to stay in ballgames and come up clutch late in the game to try and grind out some much-needed wins for this team.

His first home run as a Met gave the team the lead in the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies. The blast helped win the game. Mesoraco also tied the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 19th for yet another victory. Again, he gave the Mets the lead in the ninth inning on the first game of the May 28th doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves, later resulting in a loss.

Mesoraco can be a great fit for the Mets as you can also credit the staff for his resurgence. He credits Mets hitting coach Pat Roessler for his recent success. Roessler believed he was hunched over too much, resulting him to be too late on pitches.

If continued to be groomed staff, they can find more ways for Mesoraco to become successful in the batter’s box and even behind the plate.

If Mesoraco has continued success and proves to not be injury prone anymore the Mets must make a top priority to sign Mesoraco to fill in the gap in the catching position due to the health issues the other catchers have been facing for the past couple of years.

Next: Nimmo needs more ABs for any shot at All-Star Game

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