Mets should give Plawecki first chance at catcher in 2019

Who should start behind the plate for the New York Mets in 2019? The first option should be Kevin Plawecki.

The New York Mets will have many questions to answer as they head into the offseason. One of those questions is who will be the primary catcher in 2019.

New York has gone through quite a few catchers this year alone, mostly because of injuries sustained during 2018. Travis d’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki came into the year as the two main backstops for the Mets, but we also saw Devin Mesoraco and Tomas Nido play a role as well.

Although many teams always give themselves plenty of options, it is always good to have one primary catcher. Based off of what we have seen recently, Plawecki should get that first chance to be the guy.

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Plawecki has received the bulk of the playing time down the stretch in 2018. Although his numbers don’t jump out at you, they are good enough to warrant the playing time. Over his last 30 games, Plawecki is only batting .220, but has hit 4 HR and more importantly stayed healthy for a good part of the season.

They have looked to d’Arnaud for the past couple of years as the catcher of the future. He was supposed to be the headline of the R.A. Dickey trade from a few years back. But d’Arnaud has not proven he can stay healthy for a full season and his numbers do not really warrant him to be granted the full-time job.

Mesoraco has not done much since being traded to the Mets for former dark knight Matt Harvey. The Mets even had Mesarco on the trade block this past deadline which also tells you he may not be in the future plans. Nido has shown some promise with the bat but it has also been a slow process to get him going as well.

New York could look to free agency to upgrade at catcher next year, but there is no knowing what the teams spending will look like, and if past years are any indication it may not be very promising. Plus some of the top catchers on the market like Yasmani Grandal and Jonathan Lucroy may be persuaded to join teams that are a bit closer to contending than the Mets are.

Plawecki has proven that he can handle the pitching staff as he has been with this group of guys for a good amount of time. Perhaps with more playing time Plawecki can pick up the offense and be the catcher the Mets need him to be.

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Although it may sound like he should win the job by default, it’s still worth giving him the first crack at it.